I'm Not Quitting My Day Job To Become A Repairman

My dryer has not been drying.

I think that must have been pretty hard on it's self esteem.  If you're a dryer and you don't dry that may present something of an identity crisis.

Well, it would dry, it would just take two or three tries, depending on how many towels were in there and have I mentioned how much these three children are swimming?

I thought so.

This dryer thing has been a raspberry seed in my permanent retainer (I think that's on it's way to becoming a mainstream idiom).  I've talked to my dad about it.  Adam and I have consulted the world wide web and tried to find some time to deal with it.

Did I mention that Adam was gone on a scout camp out for 36 hours?

I thought so.

So yesterday I had a heap of swim towels and other clothing.  And determination.  I was going to figure out the dryer.

We suspected a clogged duct.  Our dryer vent is conveniently located about 25 feet into the air on the side of our house.  Adam promised me that our 20 foot ladder wasn't tall enough.

I decided to see for myself.  Have I mentioned Adam's a lot smarter than I am?

I thought so.

My ladder wasn't working.

Then my neighbor Matt drove up to his house next door.  He's a fireman.  You know how doctors get asked medical questions from friends?  I wonder if it's the same with firemen.  "Hey, want to climb a ladder?"

I asked Matt if he had a taller ladder.  He did.  He brought it over.  I told him he didn't have to climb it and risk life and limb for the sake of my dryer vent but he was about halfway up the ladder by then, in flip flops.

Firemen are heroes.

He said there was a little bit of lint by the vent but not a lot.

"It might be down inside."

I told him my dad said it was a fire hazard.  Matt looked me square in the face and said solemnly, "It is."

I called my dad.  Three times.

On our third phone call I said, "Are you glad I don't live by you?"

He said, "There are plenty that do live by me."  ( I wonder if he ever thanks his lucky stars he only had three daughters.)

I pulled the dryer out from the wall far enough that I could climb onto the washing machine and drop down behind the dryer.  I was wishing that I was more agile and graceful about then.

I vacuumed my little heart out and my hair was a halo of lint.  On my dad's instructions I covered the dryer exhaust with a nylon sock and ran it venting into the house.  It was warm day and warm in the house.  It became a tropical jungle with hot humid air pouring out of the dryer.

My hair went from a lint halo to an extremely frizzy and curly lint halo.

Dryer repair is less glamorous than you'd think.

The clothes still weren't dry and I was thinking it was time to bid a fond adieu to the dryer.

Last night though, after 10:00, Adam convinced me to help him try cleaning out the duct work with a little apparatus we bought for the purpose.  You hook it to a drill and feed it into the duct work and voila!

 look how much fun!

After cleaning the vent...three times, I again pretended to be a contortionist and twisted my body into a pretzel to try to hook up the dryer vent in the tiny space.  Adam was in charge of moving the dryer...and then I left Adam to clean up and I went to bed. 

He's a gem, that one.

I have more laundry today and am writing about it rather than trying out the dryer.  Because if it doesn't work...

I don't know if I can take the disappointment.