It's been a cold winter (by Vancouver standards) and Emmy Lou has been revelling in her stench for a couple months now, secure in the knowledge that it's too chilly to bathe her outside and that we would NEVER try to get her in the tub again after the last time. Sometimes, at night, I still hear the screaming.
But last weekend it was time for Ol' Corn Chips to get a sluicin', so we hauled her out into the sunshine and scrubbed her down as she vibrated with her customary rage. Once we'd towelled her off, we turned on the fireplace so she wouldn't catch cold and bunged all of her corn chippy bedding into the washer for a hot n' heavy wash.
An hour or so later, I went to move her bedding into the dryer and I noticed that there were some inexplicable patches of water on the floor. As I stepped towards the washer, the hardwood felt...squishy. Then I took another step and watched in horror as soapy water welled up from between the floorboards. It was like Noah, but with just the one animal.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.
I'm no expert in ... anything, really, but I know that water coming up from the floorboards is "not good". I was pretty sure that we'd have to rip out the floor, the wall, replace the washer, take out a second mortgage...basically, I was prepared for things to suck around here for several weeks. I started looking up local laundromats while Katr called our "handy" friend to see if he had any recommendations. And he did.
Our friend Dase recommended Chris (actual human name), whose Cambie Appliance Repair serviced our area. Chris managed to fit us in the next day, and within minutes had figured out that the whole catastrophe had been caused by a cracked drainage hose that had been slowly leaking out the bottom of the washer for an untold period of time. It wasn't spewing gallons of water at a time - but because we do, like, 4-5 loads of laundry per week, all on the same day, the water would add up and mess up the floorboards...then dry throughout the week...then fuck up the floorboards again. Emmy's extra corn chip load pushed it over the edge.
Chris ordered a new hose, came to install it two days later and then...my favourite...made a video of himself testing our washer for archival purposes. It's 9 minutes long. You don't have to watch it. But if you want to know what the inside of a front-loading Whirlpool washer looks like, NOW YOU KNOW.
And then Chris charged us for his work, gave us some friendly, helpful tips on washer maintenance, and was on his way. AND THAT WAS IT. Magic!
So the moral of this story is, if you live in East or West Vancouver and your shit breaks, call Chris!! He is awesome.
Anyway, back to Emmy Lou. Once her blankie was clean, this happened for the very first time:
Usually when I try to put a blanket on her, she LEAVES THE ROOM. But she was so worn out from her bath that she stayed all snoodled up and it was the cutest thing ever.
