Household Appliance Meltdown

Isn't life lovely?

I mean when things are going well... they are really going well, and then there is just the opposite - one unfortunate thing can lead to another and the next thing you know you are 2K in the hole.

The weeks leading up to E's birth, I noticed our washing machine was acting up.  It would wash things fine, but would not spin them.  Heavy items were always soaking wet and had to be spun three or four times, and lighter items would spin but not to the previous performance ability of the machine.

Our washing machine came with the house, and since our house was only a year old when we bought it (in '05) and the appliances were bought brand new by original owners, you would think this machine should have had another 15 or so good years left in it... but OF COURSE, the week E was born, the damn thing was really on the fritz, so we had an appliance guy come and assess the situation for $50. His recommendation was that we needed a $300 part + labour, so our best bet was probably to replace the machine, since there was no guarantees this repair would last for 5 years or even 5 weeks.

So.. week 2 with E in the house, we trucked all over the city shopping for a DEAL on a washing machine, and dropped $1200 on a good one! $1200 I could handle... I mean we have an emergency fund for exactly this, unexpected events that require money. I actually really like the new washer and chalked it up to: 'these things happen, could have been worse'.

Apparently, it really can get worse... as now the damn dryer is acting up, as our low heat setting (which I basically dry all of our clothes on) is on the fritz. On of the selling features of the super duper washer we got is that its suppose to super spin the clothes now at x more amount of RPMs, making the clothes virtually dry when you take them out of the washer... requiring less drying time in the dryer, but now my stupid dryer can't even keep up with reduced need for drying. It's upsetting because when we bought the washer there were so many washer/dryer combo deals, but at the time we didn't need a dryer so paying an extra $500 for something we didn't need seemed stupid.  Now... I am not definite that the dryer has to be replaced, but I am confident that something is wrong with it - and if we have to go out and buy a new dryer 2 months after the washer - heads will roll (somewhere!).

In addition to the washer/dryer issue... our hot water tank busted last night.  I had been home with E all day yesterday and finally when PC got home, we ate, and I escaped the house for 30 minutes to go to Shopper's Drugmart. I am not there 15 minutes when PC calls my cell and leaves an emergency message 'the hot water tank busted, and I need help at home with E'.  

HONESTLY!

The hot water tank... WHAT? I get home to PC mopping up water from all over our laundry room. We call our water tank rental supplier and they can't come to look at it until today at 2pm.  After the inspection today, the tank needs to be replaced which is free of charge, but since the tank was installed the piping needs to be redone as the building code has changed, which comes with a small fee of ONLY $300, and the earliest they can get here to do all this is Saturday between 12 and 4pm.

A month ago I had a hard time wondering what I wanted for Christmas, but with the appliance meltdown we've been having, my Christmas list is all taken care of! 

AND to boot our stupid Christmas lights that PC put up a month ago... well we turned them on this week and there are shorts in every strand, so PC had to rush out to Cdn Tire to buy new lights (or risk being the eye sore of the neighbourhood ... but that's a whole other blog). Apparently they don't make the same colour of lights we had bought 4 years ago... so we had to get all new lights - OF COURSE!

What a week its been... I think I need to get out of the house, but since I haven't showered today and won't get to until Saturday night, I don't think I am going anywhere soon!  

Oh the joys owning a house! Has anyone else experienced the 'when it rains it pours' with unexpected household expenses? What do you do to keep yourself sane in these situations?