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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Washing Machine Blogging

So, you may be wondering, "how did that washing machine installation go?"  Well, not too badly.

The installer arrived on time.  A real plus there.  He had tools in a hard case instead of the usual cloth bag.  He began by unboxing the washer.  You may have noticed in my previous picture the two heavy plastic straps about three quarters of an inch wide securing the carton .  He got out his Bic lighter, flicked it and quickly burned his way through those.  No box cutter or utility knife required!

After he started to drag the machine across the tile floor, I quickly stepped in and helped carry it back to the bedroom.  Bedroom?  Yes we have an unusual location for the washer.  Most Egyptians put them in the bath or in the kitchen.  Egyptian kitchens are quite small and even our "American-style" kitchen isn't big enough to clutter it up with a washer.  We had given up three feet of bedroom to install closets with the intent that one would become home to the washer.  Plumbing and electrical connections were installed during the original construction.

The installer connected the plumbing, clipped the plug off the electric cord and hardwired it into the standard heavy duty fused switch that is found around water heaters, air conditioners and the like.


With that done, he crawled back out of the closet over the top of the washer - where is my camera when I really need it?  He lifted the washer into the closet, flipped the power switch on the wall, set one of the eighteen programs and pulled the knob.

Nothing!

Check stuff.  Still nothing.  He pulled the switch cover off and got out his voltmeter (will wonders ever cease to amaze me!) and pronounced the verdict: "mafeesh electicity!"  (There is no electricity.)

So now we have a nice new washer in the closet but an additional electic problem.



And yes, we do have lights in all four of our closets, and they work reliably.  Perhaps the only lights to work 100 percent of the time.


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