I have grown up with the great advances of modern technology where if something is broke it can typically be fixed in a couple days. We do things the quick way...the easy way...and enjoy this lifestyle right?!? Well what happens when that is all turned upside down - even just for one thing? Frustration....aggravation...and patience to the ultimate test....and then almost giving up! Or at least that has been my situation recently...and all caused by some lint.
So have you curious? Well let me share with you my recent trials and tribulations with my washing machine here in Italy…and let me remind you I ONLY have a washing machine and everything has to be air dried.
How it all started...
My washing machine stopped working sometimes back in December. It had been working okay and then one day I did a load, opened the door and water flooded out and the washer wouldn't drain at all. I had to use towels, the one bucket I have, and a mop to try to clean up the mess! I had emailed my landlady (which I have found the best way to communicate since I don't speak much Italian and she doesn't speak much , plus she's in Milan most of the time), but she did not respond to most of my emails other than saying she was contacting her agency about it. So then I contacted the agency that helped me find my apartment and they contacted my landlady and after a couple weeks arranged for a repairman to come over. This was around February I believe. Oh and of course this repairman only comes into the center on Tuesdays, so I had to meet him on the Tuesday after they called or wait another week.
Warranty? Good question!
One of the reasons it took so long at first to schedule someone to come out was because they wanted to know if the washer was under warranty. And the answer is...that it SHOULD be since my landlady bought it and had it put in last year right before I moved in. (I asked if the place had a washer and they said no problem we will take out the dishwasher and put in a washer!) Now the problem is that my landlady told me she left me everything. So I went through all of the papers and found the manual, found all sorts of papers, found the warranty paper BUT it says you must have the receipt with it in order for it to be valid. (Also remember all these documents are in Italian, so just going through this is a struggle and also involved me bringing the papers to work and asking some of my coworkers to help me!) So I asked my landlady and she said she left it with me....I can not find it anywhere nor do I remember it. Then when I asked several times where it was purchased so I could go get a duplicate receipt, she finally told me that a friend of hers actually bought it and the place she bought it at is now closed so it's not possible to get a receipt. Then she told me that they should be able to tell that it is new, but of course they can't accept the warranty under that assumption. In the email I received today she said that with a witness (lady from the agency) she left everything with me and so if I don't have it is my problem and I have to pay. Oh well...it's like fighting an uphill battle I can't seem to ever win, so at some point you just have to waive the white flag and move on!
Repairman #1
So the repairman comes out (and mind you he doesn't speak English and I don't speak Italian well, so lots of pointing and hand gestures going on!), but all he did was clean the filter and said he couldn't get the washing machine out so if anything else was wrong he would have to come back with someone else to help me. I paid him the €40 (see warranty issue above on why I have to pay!) & he went on his way....and the washer worked for about 2 weeks and I was happy.
Then it started doing the same thing again and flooded my kitchen floor as soon as I opened it....so called the agency again to see if they could give me the number of the repairman so I could get him to come out again. After me following up for weeks...then months...they finally said the repairman said he won't come back until I fix the problem with him not being able to get the washing machine out so he could look at it (they put the washing machine where a dishwasher was under my kitchen cabinet so it's a tight fit). And the agency asked me if I fixed the problem. I emailed back asking HOW was I suppose to fix that?!? There is no way I could move the wall so it can't be changed!!
Repairman #2
So a couple of weeks ago...in desperation and realizing that going through the agency wasn’t getting me anywhere…I finally asked one of the secretaries at my office if she knew someone I could call myself to come fix it. Being the nice person she is, she called around and found out for me that it had to be the manufacturer of the washer. After getting some more information from me, she kindly called them to make a request for me.
Finally yesterday, when I was about to give up hope, they called and said someone could come this morning to fix it.
So the repairman come this morning and in about 30 minutes determined there was NOTHING wrong with the washing machine & it was just that the drain that was blocked. This guy was much more knowledgeable than the other guy...despite being about 30 years younger than the 1st! He too found the filter was blocked and cleaned it, but this time he took out this little plastic part that was in there that was causing it to clog up easier. So it was all that lint (or whatever that stuff is called) that has caused me so much grief for over 6 months now!!! Oh yeah and he charged €70 to do that...of which my landlady won't pay. BUT if it works from here on out it is worth it!! AND this time I watched how he took it off and cleaned it, so I need to buy a wrench so I can do it myself next time instead of waiting months for someone else to do it!
I washed a load of clothes this evening and was SO happy when they were done and I opened the door and no water came out! I wanted to go on my balcony and yell ' I just washed my clothes in my washing machine! It works!!!'...but refrained! I never thought I'd be so giddy about a working washing machine!! (I even took a picture of the moment…the one in this blog!)
So how have I lived without a washer for all this time you're asking?!?
It has NOT been easy! At first I thought it would only be a couple weeks, so I just went through my clothes wearing things in the back I don't wear that often, sticking to mostly dry cleaning clothes, and then hand washing my 'delicates' when needed (after wearing those ones you keep 'in case you really need'...yeah I know you have those too! The ones you don't want to throw out or get rid of, but don't really want to wear! Yeah I was on those!). Then after a while started hand washing more - I've even hand washed jeans, towels, bed sheets, you name it! And all in the sink since I don't have a bathtub! AND drying them is a whole other story! Since when you hand wash there is no spin cycle the clothes are soaking wet, so I couldn't just let them dry in my living room or my whole floor ended up soaking wet. Yes I learned a lot by trial and error! With my sister came to visit, she helped me figure out a way to set up the drying rack in my shower where the water would drip off into there...and although a very tight fit, it worked. Then when the weather got warmer and I got more and more desperate...I took the plunge and put the drying rack out on my balcony and even hung my 'delicates' out there! Now I must remind you my balcony faces a very busy street in Rome...so all passers-by and tourists on all the open air buses and horse drawn carriage rides could see all my undergarments hanging in the breeze...but desperate times call for desperate measures...and I was in desperate times by that point.
Why not a Laundromat you might ask? Well I guess the simple answer is laziness and being cheap! The only one I had found originally was one about 6 or more blocks away and was a very small one with small washers and dryers that cost around €7 -9 a load. I thought about going there many times, but could just not bring myself to drag all my stuff over there and sit in that tiny place for hours washing my clothes. Then about a month a coworker told me about this new Laundromat that opened next to her where you could drop them off and they do it for you. I figured I could pay €9 a load if they do it for me! So as soon as she told me about this I loaded up some of my clothes (a huge duffle bag and 2 big shopping bags to be exact!) and took them there on a Sat. The biggest problem is that to get to this place I have to take 2 buses and walk a ways. Let me tell you THAT was a workout!! After paying about €40 or so I returned several hours later to nicely washed, dried, and folded clothes! Thank goodness another co-worker went with me to pick them up though because it took BOTH of us to carry them to my apartment! I have gone to that place several times since and it was at least a little comforting to know that I could have clean clothes in a couple hours if I was willing to pay…and went there when they were opened.
Lessons Learned
BUT I did survive and now am even more appreciative of a working washer and don't even mind the fact that I don't have a dryer! And now at least I can dry my clothes inside without having streams of water everywhere.
So what lessons have I learned from this:
1) Appreciate your working washer (and dryer when you have one) because it's a pain in the butt when you don't have one…especially for months and months!!
2) Don't underestimate the power of lint!
