2008 Tax Refund Commemorative...

washer! Whoo hoo!

I did not file my taxes on time (as I understand it, if the IRS owes YOU money, there is no penalty for filing late). I had not filed my taxes because I was still looking for receipts.

On Saturday I did six or seven loads of laundry, and just before the rinse cycle on the last load, there was a noise resembling an auto collision coming from my laundry room, followed by silence. As I'm not mechanically inclined, I pushed and pulled the knob a few times. No reaction from the washer. Turned the knob and pushed and pulled again. Still nothing. Then I went to the fuse box (Yes! I know where that is!) and turned the fuse off and back on. Pushed and pulled the knob again with no result. Moved the washer away from the wall to take a look behind it and noticed a small oil spill on the floor underneath the washer.

The washer is dead. It's older than Arnold. It has served me well for a very long time.

On Sunday I went to Spenard Builder's Supply to purchase a washer. The customer help dude looks on the computer and tells me they have one washer in stock for under $500. Great! I'll take it. Well, they can't physically locate THAT washer. Cassie and I walk out to the yard and poke through the appliance stockroom with another dude, who finds a different washer. He does not know the price. I ask him "can you talk to that other dude on your radio and give him that stock number?" Well, they have their conversation and determine that the washer in the stockroom is not in stock. "Maybe we already sold this one?" they suggest.

Okay, thanks for your help, SBS! (I just now noticed how their acronym ends in 'BS'.) SBS promises to call me on Monday to let me know if I can buy the washer from the stockroom. I doubt this will happen, and it hasn't yet.

On Monday, I call Home Depot in Juneau and ask if I can buy the Maytag washer that is listed as "internet only" but is not available for shipment to my zip code. Well, no. That washer is $100 more in Alaska, and it's discontinued, and they don't have one in stock. BUT, they have a washer that's exactly the same (only cheaper!) that they'd be happy to put on the barge for me.

So, wa hoo! New washer! Soon!

This wasn't exactly in the budget, so on Tuesday I got busy looking for receipts so I could file my taxes. Filed them electronically this morning and there's enough to cover the cost of the washer and even,

perhaps,





a commemorative purse...

(to be continued)