The Dryer, My Nemesis...

I would never deny being a girl who likes nice things, but I am on a budget. When I moved into my last apartment I needed a washer and dryer... luckily one of my coworkers is a man who knows how to get things. And into my life came my $100 washer and dryer. A couple of the guys I work with drove and hour in a 1970's Chevy pick-up and after the hour drive back to my house the two of them hauled it up the three flights of narrow stairs (in the middle of Tennessee August) and hooked them up into the last apartment.

I love them. They're old. The washer is Roper brand and the dryer is a General Electric Heavy Duty. The washer has two settings and the dryer would have 3, but the knob broke off and it's stuck on "normal". For the last two and a half years they have kept my clothes wonderfully clean.

Enter the burly movers for the relocation of my favorite $100 appliance duo. The strapping gentlemen took the washer and dryer back down the three flights of narrow stairs, loaded them into the truck and replaced them in the (first floor) laundry room at the new place. Can you see how cute they look? Ok, maybe cute isn't the right word.

Here's the trouble though: Upon moving the gorgeous washer and dryer into the new place, my oh-so-burly moving man pulled me into the laundry room to tell me that I needed change the cord on my dryer. What? I'm sure the look on my face was some strange combination of confusion and terror. Once I recovered, he told me that it was pretty simple and that I could head to Home Depot and they'd hook me up.

He was right. An orange-aproned Home Depotian directed me towards the appliance section where they had an end-cap dedicated to dryers making the transition from three-prong to four-prong. I bought my new cord, snapped a picture of the instruction board, and went home to start my super-handy project.

I was so proud of myself, I pulled out the dryer a little and shimmied behind it with my screwdrivers, ready for action... And this is what I encountered... hexagonal screws too big for the bolt driver in Becky's toolbox. So back to Home Depot I went...

Upon returning to the house after my second trip to the Depot, this time with a 5/16" attachment for the bolt driver, I crawled back into the cubby behind the dryer and undid the plate that sheltered the cord. Victory! My handy-woman skills are finally beginning to emerge... except the nuts holding the cords in place are yet another size larger, rendering my bolt driver useless once again. Back to Home Depot.

This time I bought a multi-pack of attachments so I'd be prepared for every size part I could possibly encounter, crawled back behind the dryer once again and attempted to work. Somehow the wells of the bolt driver were too shallow to get at the nuts and loosen them up. It was about the worst new ever, and after a few choice words between me and the dryer, I gave up. Game over.

Jeff, one of my co-workers and branch specialist at all things handy and DIY, came over after work the next evening to switch the cord for me. What a sweetheart. Its so nice to work in a place where my coworkers take care of me when my XX chromosomes incapacitate me. And now the dryer and I have returned to a peaceful cohabitation so all is well in West Nashville.

...until my next project.