Well, I'll Be

Seldom am I ever shocked, but this week has been full of surprises:

Condo:
Back in April, we bought a Condo in Starkville for our youngest to live in till he graduates.  With Morgan being a Co-op student, it made since, and with a roommate, it will pretty much pay for itself.

The Condo needed some work, including a massive cleaning, paint, updates in the bathroom, and issues with three appliances.  Dish washer needed a new back roller, no problem, Internet.  Bathroom needed new light cover, no problem, Internet.  The microwave needed a new handle and that was taken care of by the seller.  We did not run it because of the broken handle, but turns out the magnetometer  was shot and the dryer needed a new heating element.  $60 later both were repaired, courtesy of the warranty paid by the seller. 

The biggest thing that bothered us them most, was that the dryer was not hooked up to the vent and there was 2-3 inches of lint compacted in the was closet.  That stuff had run outta room and was working its was up the wall!  We got all that cleaned up, hooked up, and thought we were in Condo heaven.  Wrong.....

A month passed, and Morgan called complaining that the new heating element did not help the drying time.  Rather than spend another $60 on repair, he found another unit on Craig's list for $125.  Hooked it up, same thing.  Hummm.  I told him to get a pair of panty hose and hook them up to the vent hose, to see if the vent pipe might be stopped up. Morgan said there was no way he was going to buy a pair of panty hose, after all, he had an image to protect.  He used some cheese cloth, which worked just as well. (I thought I had him with the hose! Dang it!)  Turns out both dryers worked perfectly, which means its that dern vent pipe.  Off to Starkville I go!

The vent pipe had an elbow under the floor, so neither the vacuum or water hose were of any use.  I thought about running water through it, but being on the second floor, that could lead to a disaster for the downstairs neighbors.  Off to Lowe's we go for an electric blower.

We insert the blower into the vent pipe and stuff a towel around it to force the air down the pipe.  This pipe is over forty feet long, to the other end of the building.  Morgan stationed himself outside to see which outlet was his.  I turn the blower on, and in less than a minute I get a call from Morgan.  "Holy shit" Dad!  Three gallons of water came pouring out the end of the pipe.  No lint, as it was all in the closet.  Glad I didn't turn the hose on how.  A little research and we discover than most likely it was condensation from the time the building was build 20 yrs ago.  No wonder the previous owner didn't have the vent pipe hooked up!  Well, I'll be.....

Lawnmower:
I've had the same mover for at least 7 years.  Lots of things have either come off, broken, or just quit working.  But it did run, and the self propelled still worked.  Wrong!  No sooner do I get started mowing, and the dang cable to the self propelled handle broke.  Its been over 30 years since I have pushed a lawnmower, and this one just about did me in!  Time for a new one.  The old one will me on the street for the "drive by picker upper guy" that comes early each garbage day.  Boy, will he be happy!

Go to Lowe's, and the first thing, I start lifting up the mowers to see where the oil plug is located.  Loved that last one to death, but you had to pull the #$$%^ blade every time you changed the oil.  Musta been a cruel joke from some Yankee engineer to come up with that.  The Lowe's Guy walks up, scratching his head at what I'm doing and says "Can I help you"?  You can spot the Lowe's Guys real quick.  They all have on the same red vest, and all look too eager to help.  I tell him I was wanting to find the oil drain plug.  He says "Well, you aren't going to find it looking under there".  I'm thinking he has just pulled one on yours truly.  I say "say what?"  Lowe's Guy "they did away with the oil plug.  You now just turn the mower upside down to drain it".  Well, I'll be.....

I decide on the Troy-Built model with the big wheels on the back, and the variable speed hand grip, seeing that it was only $20 more.  A man has got to have things big!  I notice this plug protruding from the mower deck.  I ask, "ok, what the heck is that".  Lowe's Guy: "That's a water hose connection so you can clean the deck by connecting your hose and cranking the engine."  I just had to ask, "will it clean my deck out back too"?  Lowe's Guy chuckled, and said, "never been asked that, but anything is possible, I guess". Good answer.  This too, has me saying, well, I'll be.....

House:
Well since I had mastered the "vent pipe cleaning process" on the condo, I figured what the heck, I'll do this at home.  Our dryer at home was also taking longer to dry.  I put a bucket at the outside connection of the pipe to catch what ever came flying out.  I went inside, crammed the blower into the vent hose and turned it on.  I went outside to check, only to discover that very little air was coming out.  Here we go again....  Years ago, we installed a pipe extension on the outside to divert the airflow away from two air conditioner units.  I picked up the pipe, pointed it down, then shook it violently.  Before I knew it, the bucket was full of lint!  Well, I'll be......

So.  To all you happy home owners with drying time issues, I highly suggest that you "blow you pipes".  You never know what might be coming out!