Oh noes!

[thefuriouscynic]

I broke the door-handle/locking mechanism of my washing machine. It snapped right off while I was wrenching the door open to gather my freshly laundered bedsheets. The bad news is that the washing machine will not run unless it is 'locked' properly with the handle

Comments

[springheel_jack]

can be fixed with household tools if parts kit is ordered! Dunno availability in slum island.

[thefuriouscynic]

Hmm, I'll check! There's a number to call on the machine for 'parts', so maybe they can help me out. God knows I won't do anything as long as the situation remains bearable, though.

[prorogue]

No wonder it finally broke - that stupid thing was waaayyyy too hard to open. Do you think your landlady will spring for the repair? It just seems to me that there is more wrong with that door than the handle.

And, careful with that screwdriver, Eugene - you don't want to pay for a whole new machine!

[thefuriouscynic]

Well, as far as I can tell, the screwdriver serves the exact same function as the handle - it just 'pushes in' the little clip that locks the door into place, so I don't see myself wreaking total destruction with this one. Or I hope, at least.

And ha! No, I doubt that my landlady would spring for half. Landlords in this country are protected by bulletproof armor, and they live in enormous fortresses flanked by shark-infested moats. And the sharks shoot bees from their mouthes! Honestly, if this house suddenly became sentient and went on a rampage and ate some people, I'd have to pay for their funerals.

So something tells me that a washing machine door handle will not be covered. If anything I'll buy spare parts and fic it myself, but fuck hiring someone to fix such a stupid little thing.

i am proud of your resourcefulness.

[jmargethe]

uh, have i ever told you about our family mantra of "works if you"?

my parents had, for many many years, an ancient and filthy microwave. the handle had broken off and been replaced with a binder clip. they refused - as they have done with everything from cars to mop-heads to, well, spouses - to replace the microwave on the grounds that "it works if you use the binder clip".

it finally occurred to me that this phrase summed up just about everything that was both right and wrong with my entire family history, and when i said so to my siblings, it instantly caught on.

ps, we finally got them a new microwave two Christmases ago.

Re: i am proud of your resourcefulness.

[thefuriouscynic]

Hmm... a binder clip! Good idea, I'm totally going to give that a try. Once again, your family has inspired me! And seriously, I'm the same. I'll live with a broken appliance for years in lieu of properly fixing it (or, heaven forefend, replacing it). I think for me it's related to only child territorial pissing. If only I know how to make it work, that means you can't use it!

I got the idea for the screwdriver from Lisa's washing machine and drier, which require similar jimmying. There are all these tools lined up near the machines so that all the dials and buttons she's broken off can be pulled and prodded at manually.