The Porsche of Washing Machines

Yesterday, July 4th, so many Americans were celebrating our nation's independence, but I selfishly was celebrating mine.  You see, about 5 months ago, my dryer went out and being the prairie-girl that I am, I embraced that challenge to it's fullest.  No, ma'am, I did not complain when I had to hang out my laundry in sub-zero temperatures and snow....

but the Lord knows my heart.....I wanted to.  And, I would like to say that to date I didn't complain....often.  And, in my final days of a dryer-less life, I would like to note that it wasn't me that complained the loudest.  I did learn that you can, in fact, freeze dry clothes. Who knew, right?  However, with the changing of the seasons and  the sudden, and quite unexpected monsoon season brought on with Hurricane Alex, I found myself making statements to my son, innocently looking for a pair of jeans, like...."I don't know what to tell you...do chores in your undewear, we live in the country, boy!"  I tried that on my husband and that's when the axe fell.  Okay, not really, but it was getting down to the wire on his clean clothes inventory. 

So, this is the story of how we acquired a new, or not new, dryer (and washer)...

For those of you that know our family intimately, you know that any "major" purchase is excruciating for me.  It feeds an ongoing inner-struggle of do we 'want' or 'need' said item.  And, with this particular issue, the pendulum swung between 'want' and 'need' depending on the weather.  And given the length of time one needs to research every reasonably priced laundry appliance thoroughly, there has been many a change in weather.  So, yesterday morning I slept in until 6:08 and was greeted with a cheery phone call from Hye Country Heather who chirped , "Goooood Morning!"  She was clearly dillusional and had lost track of her days.  It is an unspoken rule that Sunday is a day of rest and should be considered sacred.  So, I quickly assessed that she must have lost Sunday and had moved on to Monday."Heather, what in tarnation are you doing up this early on a Sunday?".   Her family had purchased a rather large quantity of some of the Texas Hillcountry's finest peaches and she was dutifully going to her mom's house to peel, slice, dice and chop those babies to turn them into the nectar of the gods....her prize winning Peach Preserves (I am hoping she will share that recipe on her blog at a later date...if not, because you all need it, I will do what any good blogger does and steal the secret family recipe and blog it for all the world to read!).  She later confessed that she was trying to "get" me since I routinely call her...daily...as her morning wake up call. You know the one, "IT'S TIME TO GET UP! THE DAYS AWASTIN'! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, A PRINCESS OR SOMETHING?" **Note to all of you who also provide, as a service to your friends, morning wake up calls....make sure it is the intended person that actually answers the phone before battering them with a barrage of loud verbal assualts. I am quite convinced that only the intended person will truly appreciate being woke from their slumber this way.

So, for the next 6 hours at my home, the great search was on for THE perfect dryer.  We scanned craigslist and researched and looked online at Independence Day sales.  In the beginning, I was excited, hoping to find 'THE ONE'.  But, somewhere between hour 4 and hour 5 of the research, I began to lose my enthusiasm.  I am not sure if it was hunger or the nagging feeling like we should be putting up the chicken yard and planting honeysuckle around it, but something caused me to have a change of heart.  Oh, I remember now, it was the fact that the sun was shining at this point and I didn't need a dryer (did you see the pendulum swing right before your very eyes?).  After all was said and done, we had decided on a Fisher & Paykel dryer.  Mainly because the consumer reviews on both the washer, which sounded amazing, and the dryer were almost unanimously good.  Lowe's had them and were running a special that all major appliances were 10% off....all, that is, except Fisher & Paykel!  WHAT?!?! 

The end of all to the day was we found a Fisher Paykel washer and a Kenmore Elite dryer (which had terrible reviews) both which were 4 years old for $250.  That price for the washer alone would have been a great deal in itself.  You see this magical washer does amazing things to your laundry; things like spinning at 1000 rpm's during the spin cycle and starting every load with a 5-10 minutes intense wash with a minimal amount of water and your detergent.  Oh, and the major selling point to my husband (and almost a foreign language to me), it has a direct drive motor.  Girls, this means something like... there is no belt and it's more like a power tool, I think.  Now, the pendulum flat broke because at this point, I definitely no longer need a dryer, but I NEEDED that washer.  So, we merrily drove 2 hours away to pick this set up and I resigned to using the (terribly reviewed) Kenmore Elite dryer to its death all the while enjoying the awesomeness of the Fisher & Paykel washer.  It definitely will make up for the junky dryer, right? Oh, I shouldn't be so hard on the poor ol' Kenmore dryer.  It's a Mr. Fancy Pants, too.  He is all digital and fancy and even has a moisture sensor, but no matter how I look at him, he will never be a Fisher & Paykel.  Non-the-less, he is mine and I will use him. 

So, on a side note, Hye Country Heather called as we were on our way to pick them up.  I hadn't talked to her all day to let her know of our adventure.  I immediately tell her of the F&P washing machines greatness and this was her response:

      It sure is hard to be your friend sometimes.  Here I am sitting here at home, perfectly content with my washer and dryer and you have to go out and find the Porsche of all washers and dryers....

I reply...."Yep!"

So, I am off to finish up driving my Porsche....errr....washing anything and everything I can find.  My laundry today has been unusually clean and that is a miracle.  Between my farm-schooled kids and my hubby who is a farrier (does anyone out there know how bad stinky horse feet mixed with sweat smell),  it is truly a testament for the cleaning power of the Fisher & Paykel Ecosmart washing machine!  Oh, just to quell your curiosity and to help you be efficient of your time, here is a pic of the little beauty.  I don't want you to go off wastin' more time looking around for one on the internet.  I mean, I am sure you have laundry to do or somethin', right?

Lubya,

Prairie Kerri