Sounds like the name of a scary movie, right? Stephen King-ish if you ask me.
Today started out nicely with a conversation with my new client for whom I am going to do internet research and writing (two of my very favorite things, and yes that's nerdy so what's it to ya).
I was very excited about the washing machine installer coming. He was scheduled between 1:00 and 3:00 pm. That's probably why he showed up at 10:00 am. The scary thing is that that makes perfect sense to me after only seven weeks of living here.
So the installer and the assistant installer came in and unpacked the washing machine. This was it, folks, the moment of truth. Was this machine intact or was it broken, only to be sent back again?
Yay! It was perfect! Well, except for one teensy weensy thing.
So he hooks up the machine, praises my wisdom in buying it, shows me how to use it, and then looks at me seriously and then tells me about the teensy weensy problem, "You know, the washer is 7 kilo and the dryer is 8." Uh oh. What did I do wrong now? "Well, he says, the dryer is on top of the washer, and since it's bigger, it may TUMBLE DOWN OFF THE WASHER AT ANY MOMENT!" So I imagine myself standing by the dryer every time I put a load in, holding it on top of the washer for its entire cycle.
"What should I do?" I ask. "Well, you will probably need something to stabilize it." Uh oh, I think, here it comes, they are about to sell me something. A magic dryer-is-bigger-than-washer-stabilizer for only 1000 shekel!
But no, he just shrugs and says, "Oh, it's probably ok, watch it for a couple of times and if it stays on top of the washer don't worry about it." What am I supposed to do with this advice? But at least I'm a bit relieved - I mean if he's not worrying about it, why should I?
Then he sits down to write up my receipt and points to his company's flyer and asks very sweetly, "Why don't you have this water filter?" It only costs _______ shekel (he says the number really fast and my Hebrew is just not up to speed yet, but I'm pretty sure the word "elef" was the first one, so it's at least 1000 shekel). Now, to be honest I've been thinking about a water filter becasue the other option is to shlep huge bottles of water up three flights (our elevator is not working yet and won't be for a while - another story).
So, I did it. I bought the water filter. And guess what, I got a present! That's right, I'm not as big a sucker as you all are thinking right now (I hear you, so stop pretending you are not thinking that) - because he gave me a new phone as a present! And we needed a new phone! So see, I was not suckered in that much. OK, let's move on.
As soon as he leaves I happily run to the hamper (how often do you hear that phrase?) and throw a load of laundry in. Now the washer is made in some European country and the manual is all in Hebrew. There are hieroglypics on the front of the machine indicating which kind of wash you are doing. You basically need a Rosetta Stone to figure this out. So I THINK I remember what the guy said and push some buttons and voila! it works.
And works.
And works.
And works.
About an hour later I see it is still spinning and rinsing. Hmmmm. Probably not good. I play around with it and it starts a spin cycle. And it sounds like it is about to launch itself into outer space. I stand there and look at it as it makes this ever-higher whirring noise. Then - it stops. Oh, ok, it's supposed to sound like that. I hope.
In other news, we are closer to getting our new car, which is very exciting. I went to the bank today to transfer the money to the dealership. As I waited for the bank to reopen at 4:00, I hoped that our English-speaking bank friend was there to help me. If not, I needed to know how to say "transfer" in Hebrew so I looked it up on my handy dandy Google translate app on my phone. And memorized it. And forgot it. And looked at it again and memorized it. And forgot it. Luckily, the nice English speaking lady was there. We transferred the money and the dealership has many of our shekel right now.
The car salesman promised that the car would be ready in a couple of weeks. At least I can understand the controls in that machine.
And the closet. Well, the nice carpenter built us a beautiful series of shelves and poles in which to put our clothing. Last night I finally was able to make sense of our clothing and it was such a relief after living out of suitcases and plastic bins for almost two months.
I began to hang things on the poles and guess what? They started to sag. Carpenter is coming back to fix it next week. It just never ends.
Oh, and last but not least I purchased a trashcan. I know that sounds mundane but we'd been debating whether to spend a small fortune on a nice step-on trashcan and finally I did it. I am tired of having plastic trash bags laying around the house so I made an executive decision.
Ahh, the power.
Today started out nicely with a conversation with my new client for whom I am going to do internet research and writing (two of my very favorite things, and yes that's nerdy so what's it to ya).
I was very excited about the washing machine installer coming. He was scheduled between 1:00 and 3:00 pm. That's probably why he showed up at 10:00 am. The scary thing is that that makes perfect sense to me after only seven weeks of living here.
So the installer and the assistant installer came in and unpacked the washing machine. This was it, folks, the moment of truth. Was this machine intact or was it broken, only to be sent back again?
Yay! It was perfect! Well, except for one teensy weensy thing.
So he hooks up the machine, praises my wisdom in buying it, shows me how to use it, and then looks at me seriously and then tells me about the teensy weensy problem, "You know, the washer is 7 kilo and the dryer is 8." Uh oh. What did I do wrong now? "Well, he says, the dryer is on top of the washer, and since it's bigger, it may TUMBLE DOWN OFF THE WASHER AT ANY MOMENT!" So I imagine myself standing by the dryer every time I put a load in, holding it on top of the washer for its entire cycle.
"What should I do?" I ask. "Well, you will probably need something to stabilize it." Uh oh, I think, here it comes, they are about to sell me something. A magic dryer-is-bigger-than-washer-stabilizer for only 1000 shekel!
But no, he just shrugs and says, "Oh, it's probably ok, watch it for a couple of times and if it stays on top of the washer don't worry about it." What am I supposed to do with this advice? But at least I'm a bit relieved - I mean if he's not worrying about it, why should I?
Then he sits down to write up my receipt and points to his company's flyer and asks very sweetly, "Why don't you have this water filter?" It only costs _______ shekel (he says the number really fast and my Hebrew is just not up to speed yet, but I'm pretty sure the word "elef" was the first one, so it's at least 1000 shekel). Now, to be honest I've been thinking about a water filter becasue the other option is to shlep huge bottles of water up three flights (our elevator is not working yet and won't be for a while - another story).
So, I did it. I bought the water filter. And guess what, I got a present! That's right, I'm not as big a sucker as you all are thinking right now (I hear you, so stop pretending you are not thinking that) - because he gave me a new phone as a present! And we needed a new phone! So see, I was not suckered in that much. OK, let's move on.
As soon as he leaves I happily run to the hamper (how often do you hear that phrase?) and throw a load of laundry in. Now the washer is made in some European country and the manual is all in Hebrew. There are hieroglypics on the front of the machine indicating which kind of wash you are doing. You basically need a Rosetta Stone to figure this out. So I THINK I remember what the guy said and push some buttons and voila! it works.
And works.
And works.
And works.
About an hour later I see it is still spinning and rinsing. Hmmmm. Probably not good. I play around with it and it starts a spin cycle. And it sounds like it is about to launch itself into outer space. I stand there and look at it as it makes this ever-higher whirring noise. Then - it stops. Oh, ok, it's supposed to sound like that. I hope.
In other news, we are closer to getting our new car, which is very exciting. I went to the bank today to transfer the money to the dealership. As I waited for the bank to reopen at 4:00, I hoped that our English-speaking bank friend was there to help me. If not, I needed to know how to say "transfer" in Hebrew so I looked it up on my handy dandy Google translate app on my phone. And memorized it. And forgot it. And looked at it again and memorized it. And forgot it. Luckily, the nice English speaking lady was there. We transferred the money and the dealership has many of our shekel right now.
The car salesman promised that the car would be ready in a couple of weeks. At least I can understand the controls in that machine.
And the closet. Well, the nice carpenter built us a beautiful series of shelves and poles in which to put our clothing. Last night I finally was able to make sense of our clothing and it was such a relief after living out of suitcases and plastic bins for almost two months.
I began to hang things on the poles and guess what? They started to sag. Carpenter is coming back to fix it next week. It just never ends.
Oh, and last but not least I purchased a trashcan. I know that sounds mundane but we'd been debating whether to spend a small fortune on a nice step-on trashcan and finally I did it. I am tired of having plastic trash bags laying around the house so I made an executive decision.
Ahh, the power.
By the way, the phone is TOTALLY a "Thank you for being a sucker" gift. I know because I ALSO got one when I signed up for the extended warranty. (Although I have to give mine back because Donny subsequently canceled it.)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to doing laundry in this country. It takes FOREVER. Titchadshi on the W/D, water filter and trash can. Wow, such fun! :)
ReplyDeleteWe brought our awesome dog- and baby-proof trash can from the US. True story. And now have to import trash bags from Costco. Also a true story.
ReplyDeleteHi , welcome! The length and noise level of your washer is normal. Also, your washer has a 7 kg CAPACITY, and your dryer has an 8 kg CAPACITY. But the weight of the washer is actually like tenfold that of the dryer. Which is why its on the bottom. Don't worry.
ReplyDelete