Home ownership...

... is great, don't get me wrong. But today, we experienced our first holy-shit-we-need-to-do-something-about-this-now episode. I was innocently doing a load of laundry when the washer stopped running. At first, I thought nothing of it and assumed the load was done. I walked over and realized it was in the middle of the cycle. And no, it wasn't something simple like the power outlet tripping. I'm not THAT bad. I fiddled with it for five minutes or so and got it working again. But it's been a horrible machine since we moved in. It's one of those all-in-one dealies (washer on the bottom physically attached to the dryer -- the standard condo type). It's also circa 2002. It also doesn't dry anything very well, and has a buzzer that you can't turn off.

Cut to D & P at Sears. That's right, Sears. The place I pick on my parents for going to. We met a nice salesman (Hi, Dennis!) who helped us with stackables. Interestingly, he advised us against purchasing one specific brand, which also happens to be the brand that stopped working this morning! Everything was fine until he started asking questions that we couldn't answer. In this respect, I AM that bad.

1. Is your dryer vented? My answer: a confident yes. And it is, it's just that what I thought was the vent was actually the drain pipe. The vent was on the back.
2. Is it gas or electric? My answer: I think it's electric. WRONG! It's gas.

To answer both of these questions, we had to come home, look and go back to the store. I'm sure poor Dennis thought we weren't coming back. I actually started sweating in the store when I couldn't answer his questions. But, it's good thing we did that, because we don't have the option for an electric dryer and it costs more to get the gas version.

In any event, we now are the proud owners of a new washer and dryer. Pretty, efficient, stackable and new -- delivery on Tuesday. It even makes this friendly beeping sound when you turn it on, as if to say "Hello again, D! What can I help you with today, good sir?" It's also very quiet, which is good since our current one is not and is just off the living room.

I'm also the un-proud owner of a Sears card. Between that and my itemized deductions for 2009, I feel ancient.