We often don't appreciate our friends until they spin out of control and spontaneously combust a half hour before one of our children fills a poop-filled toilet bowl with toilet paper and flushes.
Every single towel in our house was needed to clean up the sewage spill.
"I need a new washing machine NOW!" I told my husband.
After cordoning off the toxic spill site, I went shopping at the only place open at midnight: Craigslist.
I responded to 15 posts from people living in several states along the Eastern Corridor. My emails were surprisingly coherent and calm, given the circumstances.
"I HAVEN'T TAKEN A SHOWER IN TWO DAYS AND EVERY TOWEL THAT I OWN IS COVERED IN POOP," I wrote in capital letters. "I NEED YOUR WASHING MACHINE WAY MORE THAN THE FRAT BOY/NEWLY-DIVORCED MALE THAT EMAILED YOU BEFORE ME. PLEASE HAVE MERCY ON A MOTHER OF FOUR."
It's been 9 hours since I sent the emails and I still haven't heard back from anyone yet.
I wonder why.
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What the weekend semi-truck driver didn't have any washers or dryers?? LOL
When my washing machine broke, I put an ad up on Craigslist that said, "It's free and sitting on the corner. Come pick it up." Then I put it outside with a sign that said "FREE" on it.
I think it rained. Whatever. It disappeared in a few days.
I loved living in a trashed apartment complex in a neighborhood full of Mexicans south of BYU campus.
Oh, and you should consider filling it with dirt and flowers and putting it with the leg cast. It adds personality to the neighborhood ... everyone will love it.
There is something wrong with the neighbor!
I let Lowe's haul away the old washer......and I was frantic to get a new one before sunset the next day!
Good luck
i use craigslist a lot, but find people are a pain in the butt on there... i've "sold" my double stroller half a dozen times... no one ever ACTUALLY shows up for it though :-/
Can you call a junk removal place? They usually do it for a very minimal price.
Oh, man!! I am so sorry! Yes, Craigslist people can be "interesting"...
I think you should put it at the end of your driveway, but not to give it away. Use it as a decorative planter! You could even have the kids go to town on it with paint.
I had a morning just like your night. Bought a new toilet because the kids flushed something in it and broke. Went and bought a new one. The plummer arrived and it turns out the toilet that I just bought the tank is shattered. UGH!!!!!!
After our garage sale we had several (big) items that didn't sell...we put them on the curb with a 'free' sign on them and they were gone within a few hours...of course, that might just be our neighborhood...
My daughter threw in the cardboard roll in the toilet yesterday....I can relate to your woes. Fun times!
Lift that bad boy up on top of your waste management can, then they'll have to take it.
I think that cast is a bird feeder...isn't it..how creative of your neighbors. As far as the washer...put it on the curb with a free sign...and it will disappear
We were able to get a repairman to come get ours to see if he could recycle/fix it. I hated the idea of it being in a landfill somewhere. Another person left theirs with a sign that said 'free' and it sat for two weeks until they put a price on it; once it had 'value', someone 'stole' it. OTOH, I know someone else who did that and when the thief figured out it didn't work, they returned it to the curb. lol
....still laughing out loud at this one. Sounds like you are having a GREAT day.
The funny thing is, I haven't had much luck with unloading things on Craigslist in the past. That is, until I listed something recently. For Free. I think I had over 200 emailed responses within 12 hours. Just. Like. Yours. It was agonizing deciding which potential serial killer to give out my address and let into my home. Good luck on that. I'm sure they just haven't checked their email yet.
In 2004, I was sick with rotovirus (and 8 weeks preg with #4), so I enlisted my friend's hubby to run to Best Buy and haul home the dryer in his minivan we had diligently picked out on line. It all worked out great!
If there is anyway to swing getting a front loader, I'd do it! We did a couple of years ago and I LOOOVE ours. There is nothing better than to be able to get an entire hamper done in one load. We can even get our super fluffy comforter in there :) Good luck finding something that works for you!
They probably paid about the same amount for the plastic cast thingy at their physicians office. We get rid of just about everything on freecycle. I really thought I would need a dumpster for my spring cleaning this year and you never know what others are willing to come and pick up until you advertise it. I told my husband when our dryer broke that if he wanted me to still use the washing machine he would make sure there was a working dryer when I got home from my massage. Whew, there was.
And about a year after getting that new dryer from Best Buy, we sold it and our washer to my newlywed brother to get the frontloaders. Now THAT'S a "best buy" :) I wash all 4 kids clothes in one load. LOVE THOSE MACHINES!
I agree with making it into a planter. It could be the new craze in shabby shiek.
You never fail to entertain me! Aren't you thrilled your pain is my good laugh for the day?
Seriously, freecycle the old washer. Go buy a new one NOW! No mom can live without a washer for more than 24 hours without being buried alive in laundry, and that's without the sewage station in the bathroom.
We have a Fisher & Paykel washer and dryer and I've never loved an appliance more!
I have found if you put "FREE" on anything you can't give it away...but if you put a price on it...no matter how large or small...it seems to be gone the very next day!
My washing machine was broken for three weeks before it could be fixed.
And there are no laundromats here.
And none of my friends have washing machines.
It was a stinky time for me.
Ouch all I can say is ouch, I really feel for you and am so very grateful it is you dealing with that crap and not me.
I say that of course because you handle it with so much more grace and dignity than I could manage.
I'd say make sure wherever you buy a new one from part of the deal is that they haul off the rubbish.
I can totally empathize- we lost power for 6 days with hurricane Isabel back in '03, and I had 2 2 yos with diarrhea and the barfs. After 5 days I found a laundrymat across town that had power and spent morning there daring people to cut me in line.
And craigslist is full of weirdos, you don't even come close to most of them with your email!
I'm a teeny bit frightened of your meighbors.
Crazy! That looks exactly like my washing machine! I've fixed it, like, 100 times, resurrecting it's sorry butt from certain death and putting it on life support to chug away for a few more months. Probably what my kids will do to me when I finally keel over and die. I feel your pain and wish you luck in your quest for laundry equipment. We are currently saving up for one of them new-fangled front loaders. With a big family, ya gotta have one!
Just get a new one delivered. A washing machine is a necessity! Delivered for sure-why? I helped my husband carry our new dryer up a flight of stairs because I had to have it NOW! A few weeks later after slowly going downhill I was unable to stand upright. When my head became level with the coutertop (because I insisted on keeping everything up, out of fear) I keeled over to the floor unable to move. 2 months and $2000out of pocket expenses later I was nearly back to my old self.
Here a company associated with Waste Management takes away any appliance for %25 dollars.
Okay - I've been blog stalking for months, but I HAD to respond to this. This exact thing happened to me last month! My 9 yr old step-daughter plugged the toilet up and didnt say anything! I was feeding my 6 mo. old, and could hear water running - upon investigation I found about 4 inches of brown, poopy water in my bathroom and hallway! AGH!
Needless to say, every towel in my house was used. I had a screaming baby, and an overloaded washing machine. I seriosly thought I broke it. I had to unload all the poopy towels (ugh again) and put them in my laundry basket to wash in 3 loads. just gross.
I'm sorry you had to experience it, but glad it happens to others. love your blog!
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