Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Two Loads a Day

Our washing machine broke, and what a cause for rejoicing! We'd been wondering what to do with our overabundance of money lately. And since we're not in the mood for shelves to put our books on, or light fixtures to cover the bare bulbs that are still hanging in every room of the house, and we're not really that into paying bills, either, we were so glad when the washing machine suddenly needed replacing, as it gave us some direction for our money spending.

Since we moved into this house, washing laundry has been a community affair. Not in the same sense as it is in some places in India (as seen on The Amazing Race), or Africa. No, we don't all wash our laundry together like they do in those places, but it's just that all the neighbors were aware when the Pawliks were washing laundry. This is because our washing machine was apparently fitted with some device that caused it to be significantly louder and more rumbly than was remotely necessary for it to fulfill it's function. The obvious reason for this special feature was to give people living within a 1/2 mile radius an idea of the amount of laundry we do. (See post title if you're curious, too, and don't live within a 1/2 mile radius of us)

The best way to illustrate this is to share a conversation I overheard when David and his friend Kacper were playing in the front yard. The bathroom window was open and the laundry was washing. The spin cycle starts and Kacper says, "What's that?" David answers, "Oh, that's just the washing machine." "No way is that a washing machine. OH! I know, it's just a train." We live right near the train tracks, so when one goes by it's quite loud and shaky, and David could NOT convince Kacper that this was actually our laundry going.

So anywho, we had to go get a new one. I'm a terrible shopper and this is definitely the worst kind of shopping for me. There were probably 30+ washing machines to choose from. Ugh. I eventually decided we should just choose one with the awesomest name brand. In the end it was a toss up between "Mastercook" and "Candy." I just could NOT decide which one I loved more (which name, that is--it really was that bad, almost) so we ended up getting an Indesit. Don't know anything about the brand, but it looked cool (by European standards, anyway). Yes, this is the way Greg and Lisa make decisions when buying major household appliances.

Besides looking awesome, it's heavy on the innovation. There's no making a bajillion decisions with each load. It's just load, add your cleaning agent of choice (into the door, which is way cooler and cleaner than having a separate drawer for it), and push two buttons. Look how easy:

That's not my hand or anything, but it's even that easy when I do it at home. There should be an infomercial for this washing machine on the shopping network that shows some lady with masses of hair leaning over her regular washing machine with a puzzled and frustrated expression on her face, pushing lots of buttons and giving all sorts of sighs and grumblings and sticking out her lower jaw and lip in order to blow the hair away from her face in exasperation. At which point she is finally presented with this washing machine which is the answer to all her time consuming, confusion inducing laundry struggles. I would volunteer to be the actress in this infomercial, except that now there's never any hair coming down in my face (reason #296 that I hate my bangs: lost acting opportunities)...

So it's super easy to use, which will be good for Greg for the two weeks a year that he washes laundry, while I'm in the States with the kids. Plus, this model is called "moon" and Greg loves astronomy, so that was actually the main reason we got it.

I had a sneaking suspicion that it was all too good to be true, and I found I was right the first time we used it. It was WAAAAAY too quiet! What is that all about? What will the neighbors think of us? That we suddenly stopped washing our clothes? That will never do! I'm too shy to knock on their doors to tell them what the deal is, so instead, every time I start a load, I'm just going to raise a big flag with the words "we're currently washing laundry" (translated into Polish, of course) on the pretty, pretty telephone pole in front of our house. I'm really surprised actually, that I've come up with such a good solution. While it might not be that convenient, especially when it's raining/snowing, it's much cheaper than having someone come in to fit this model with the same noise and shake enhancing device that our old one had.

*Yes, I just wrote an entire post about our washing machine, and yes, if you're reading this, you probably actually read the whole thing. Crazy. And YES, you will soon see my hair and glasses! Promise! Oh, and please answer my poll question, because it's for a very important study I'm doing. Or actually, it's just because I'm really curious. And aren't you glad that I finally figured out how to get pictures off the Internet to add to my posts so you can finally see some really interesting pictures of things like washing machines and people pushing buttons on washing machines? I knew you would be!

11 comments:

Katherine Bouldin said...

Lisa, I feel for you. Having to use something European sized is a pain enough without the added frustration of the noise factor! I am so glad to hear that you got a new one that is quieter, though. Side note: when Ian was about 2 years old we had to use our shop vac for some mess he had made and it was so loud compared to our regular vacuum that Ian dubbed it "the noisy one" so now we always call it that. "Hey, there's a big mess here ... someone go get the noisy one!" K.

Erin said...

That is so weird that an appliance brand name is "Candy". I would have been tempted by that too. Especially if it came in some pretty candy colors. I think European appliances seem to be way cooler looking. When we were shopping for ovens, I really wanted the Bosch one because it was so cool looking and very simple to use. It did not have a zillion buttons like the American ones. The only reason I didn't get it was that the knobs to control the range were in kid reach instead of at the top. Way to go European designers--don't you have kids running around your prototype testing rooms??

Andi Kate, Children's Author said...

Hey! Our washing machine is broken too, but we are unfortunately waiting for a part for it to be fixed. Kind of bad timing, what with the rampant diarrhea and vomit at my house currently. Ugh. Hurray for my neighbor going on vacation and leaving us their key to do laundry--I really don't know what I would be doing otherwise.

Your washer does look pretty sweet--so euro and mod! Hope it works into being loud and proud for you again. :)

Karen E. said...

Your washer does look pretty nice, but I don't understand why the front loaders are all the rage now. What do you do if it gets stuck in the middle of the load and you can't open the door without water spilling everywhere? All of the laundromats in France have front loaders, and I hated doing laundry because I was always afraid my clothes would end up stuck in one of those machines forever.

Becky said...

Umm, hi. Fellow blogger here. I always feel like I've walked in on someone in the nude the first time I post, cuz it feels intrusive somehow. Ah, well. I'll get over it. Anyway... you're right. I did read the whole post about a washing machine. I was hoping there would be a moral to the story, and I think I found it: make sure your neighbors know that you do your laundry and hence, wear clean clothes. Am I right? :)

Elizabeth said...

Your posts just keep me laughing. Sure wish we had the same problem with money as you do...just kidding :) Please post pictures soon of the new haircut. I never had a good experience with hairdressers there, no matter who was translating or how much I paid.

Nancy said...

You are funny. You're doing what I started out wanting to do w/ my blog, just writing fun stories. Then I got sucked in needing to post pictures, etc. and it snowballed from there. So the moral of my comment, don't get carried away with the pictures. Or something like that. But seriously, you are very very funny and I enjoy reading your blog.

LisAway said...

Katherine- Wow! That's a looong tradition then, with the "noisy one" Cute! One little phrase and you'll remember baby Ian forever!

Erin- Ooooo, candy colored pralki! I could go for a periwinkle one! And it would match our bathroom, too!

Andrea- I think ours actually broke because of yours. There were some kind of waves sent out my computer when I read that yours was on the fritz (I think on facebook?)our washing machine decided to go on strike as well. Forever.

KC- I don't really love front loaders with all my heart either. In Poland you can get top loaders, too, but their drum is situated in the same on-its-side position. You open the door at the top and then you actually have to unhook a metal latch to open up the actual drum. It's completely ridiculous. With a capital R.

Becky- I assure you, I was fully clothed when you dropped by! :) And, sure, that can be the moral. Although I'm really more about the long story that doesn't actually have a point.

Elizabeth- Coming soon, really!

Nance- Thanks a lot. You're nice. It's funny, I love YOUR blog because of how opposite it is to mine! Short posts, lots of pictures and such an interesting variety of reviews (book, toy, etc.), recipes and family. It's great!

Olivia Petty said...

hehehe very funny. I loved this post. And I read the whole thing on my aunts iPone. Yes, I'm posting this using an iPhone!!! So cool. Anyway, if you ever find yourself with spare money, go ahead and mail it to us. :)

Anonymous said...

I thought everyone made their major appliance decisions based on looks. Are there really other criteria? That washer looks sweet.

Annette Lyon said...

Hahahahaaa! This is hysterical.

I think this summer washers and dryers must have banded together to and gone on strike. We had to get a new set, which, as you know is a delightful way to spend money you don't have. We had to do it right after replacing the 10-year-old van's transmission. FUN!