"Cold Is Great!"

Two weeks ago the sensor on our washing machine detected a leak and shut off the water in mid-cycle, leaving us with a pile of wet but still dirty clothes.

We called in a plumber and he said that our pipes were "brittle" and needed to be replaced, all the way from the basement, where the water enters the house, to the washing machine on the second floor. When he set out to do that replacement work, however, he ran into all kinds of trouble. After several days of unsatisfactory progress, we ended our relationship with him. We were left with no working washer, holes in our laundry and dining room walls, and furniture moved aside to gain access to those walls.

We also had lots and lots of dirty laundry. We weren't used to going to the laundromat and we didn't start now. Ben and I dipped into our apparently endless supply of clothes and we bought Paul a few more shirts to get by.

It took a while, but we finally got a plumber in who knew what he was doing. About an hour ago he got the cold water pipes hooked up to the washing machine and working without a leak.

Oh, happy day! As I type this, I hear the pleasant hum of the washing machine busily cleaning a load of Paul's shirts and shorts. And just in time, as Paul is on his last shirt again and I'm really looking forward to sleeping on clean sheets.

The good plumber will be back Saturday to make life even sweeter by adding hot water to our washing choices. Meanwhile, as Ben said, "Cold is great!"