The Economy

Well, I would like a CD player back in my car.

 

More tech = more $$$$ = more stuff to break.

And it's not just cars. I'm likely going to have to replace a 3-year-old Samsung washing machine because its computer keeps detecting an unbalanced load during the final spin cycle. Instead of just (gasp!) finishing the damn spin cycle anyway, it refills with water in an attempt to rebalance a load that wasn't unbalanced to start with. And the cycle never stops.

 

Is it level and plumb?

If you don’t have a level, put a marble in the middle of the top and see if it rolls off. (Grandpa trick.)

 

I believe so. Repair guy has been out three times (last time it was the senior tech, who did a recalibration, so now it will occasionally finish a spin cycle properly).

Samsungs have an awful reputation for washers. The good news is the repair company sells tons of other brands, and he said if I want I can apply the $425 I spent on a mostly useless repair toward a new machine. And they have some pretty well-reviewed machines for as low as $525. So I'd be out only an additional $100 or so.

But after yesterday's $4,400 veterinarian bill, I'm kind of in financial PTSD right now.

 

Everything I’ve heard is that washing machines and refrigerators from the last 10-15 years are pieces of shit to rival anything from a Detroit car factory 50 years ago.

 

And that’s why I will never sell my 2006 TJ that doesn’t have a single computer in it, standard transmission, manual windows. As long as it’s got oil, unleaded, a full radiator and a battery, it runs.

 

Eagle?

 

There is a refrigerator in my mom's basement that came with the house in 1973 that is still running like a top.

 

I bought a washer-dryer set two years ago that hasn't presented a single problem.

 

You should be able to say the same in 8 years. But likely won't be.

Repair guy told me appliances are basically 3-5 years these days. Utterly disgraceful.

I asked him what brands make the sturdiest washers, and his answer was like a list of game-show prizes from my youth.

Kenmore
Maytag
Speed Queen
GE

 

We're getting a new stove delivered on Wednesday -- day before Thanksgiving. The potential for tragicomic holiday disaster looms.

 

Our oven died two days before Thanksgiving last year. Thankfully we weren’t hosting.

And then the hot water heater went out three days later. I walked around shooting lasers out of my eyes for a couple days.

(Guess where my holiday bonus went…)