"Alright", I thought," clean up the kitchen and then I'll be done with the housework" as I picked up a plastic container and headed to the garage. " Wait a minute, what is that sound? It sounds like the washing machine filling with water but louder", I think, as I looked around to see where it was coming from. "Oh shit" I said, as I saw a fountain of water coming from the vacinity of the washer, spewing 6 feet in the air drenching the walls, the electric panel and everything in the area of the washer. "What has broken, where is the water coming from, is it the washer or the water heater, how do I get it to stop? Do I need to call a plumber or an electrician?" Thoughts running rampant through my mind in the brief seconds after seeing the flood that was taking place in my garage. "Quick, grab the church key and shut off the water at the main, no that will take too long, find the shut off valve for the water heater, turn the water off there. Won't budge, shit fire save on matches, try another valve. " Finally the geyser stops. Water is dripping off the electrical panels, running down the walls, flowing out from under the washer, water heater and the dryer, soaking into the old green shag carpet piece I had put down in the garage many years ago. I start grabbing things and throwing them out the door onto the deck, soggy carpet pieces, wet towels, clothes that were hanging above the dryer. It was about then when I stopped and took a deep breath and assessed the damage. My biggest concern, after getting the water stopped, was the wet electrical panel and the possibility of shorting out the electrical system of my whole house. After a few minutes, I decided it might be ok and went about the task of removing the water from my garage. I needed to pull the dryer away from the wall so I could get to the water under and behind it. I realized the dryer plug (all 220 volts) was still plugged in, there was water on the plug, and I was standing in a rather large puddle. I had on my rubber clogs and figured if I pulled real fast, I wouldn't get shocked too bad. Thankfully I got the dryer unplugged without permanently curling my hair. I still didn't know for sure where exactly the water had come from but was pretty certain it wasn't from the water heater and was most likely from the filler hose on the washing machine. About 30 minutes later, I had gotten the majority of the water mopped up and had a fan going to dry out the walls. I then turned my attention to the washer. Just as I thought, the filler hose on the hot water inlet had burst. I decided while I was letting the area continue to dry, I would scoot over to Sears Essentials to pick up new hoses. So I hopped on my new scooter and off I went to Sears, wearing my new fluorescent green safety vest secure in the thought that Sears would have what I needed. NOT. That Sears Essentials store is about as useless as teats on a bull. They don't carry any parts, said the parts had been sent to the service center on Amnicola Hwy. Now isn't that just handy as it can be. Got back on the scooter and headed home to trade vehicles. I was going to have to go to Ace Hardware, and I'm not quite ready to ride that far yet on the scooter.
Got the truck and headed to Ace, still cussing about Sears Unessential not carrying parts. About 3 blocks from the house I remembered I had left my wallet in the scooter trunk so I turned around and headed back home. So much for conserving gas. Found what I needed at Ace and headed back home to finish fixing the washer. Finally after 3 hours of mopping, cleaning, drying out, and replacing, I was ready to get back to what I was getting ready to do when the flood struck-mopping the kitchen floor.
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