Up in flames
Last time we were at the Mister's mom's house, we were all set to leave her condo and go out to lunch together.
"Oh no! I can't leave. The washing machine is running."
"Huh? What?" asks the Mister.
"I can't leave while the washing machine is running because it might catch on fire."
WTF? The dryer i can maybe understand, or maybe not. But the washing machine? I remembered this moment just this morning as i was leaving the house with the washing machine, the dryer, the dishwasher and the refrigerator all running. I hope the house is still there when i return. (I am at my volunteer gig. See how hard i am working?)
46 comments:
BWAHahahahahaha!!
I'm SO glad I'm not the only one who thinks about this stuff. I, too, left the house the other day with the dishwasher and the drier going, and I wondered for a split second whether it was wise to go. I went anyway, and my house was fine. Still, such thoughts do run past the mind; they're just not enough to keep me in the house...
I only worry about fires because of the dog. I think she could survive a flood.
But mostly it's too low on the GAS meter (ooh, got to use that!) for me.
Seems to me that if her washing machine is running then your MIL better hurry up and run to catch it.
I'm guessing that she spends her time sitting with a fire extinguisher watching the washing machine as it goes through it's cycles, while she is ready and prepared to put out that anticipated fire.
Did I turn the whatever on, did I turn it off? Did I leave the dogs out..
Do I have my wallet and/or debit card..aww fuck it..I just go or else I'd be in my house forever never able to leave..
The only thing I will turn my car around for is if I think I left the dogs out. And I've yet to actually leave them out..
Whoa. I do not leave the house or go to sleep when the washer or dishwasher is running because of flood reasons.
Too funny. Sounds like my mom. She goes around and unplugs things. Nutty.
We had a dishwasher that failed. The water just kept pouring in. It was only by pure dumb luck that my husband happened to go into the kitchen before the house floated away.
Since then, we have never left the house nor gone to bed while the dishwasher is still running.
Pat
Oh, snap! Meno? Did De just say "GAS meter?" Is this catching on? Like fire? In a washing machine?
Oh, and I lurve you. And not just because I've been drinking.
(#1 sign of drinking? Usage of the shift key.)
sometimes I read these things and feel I'm in a small minority of people that have a sane family. and consequently a much more boring life.
Maybe she didn't want to go to lunch? If she hadn't been doing laundry, she would've said the water heater might explode.
OCD? ya think? MIL, not you. Or maybe she's just weird.
Sounds to me like Bob is challenging us to come mess up his life...
I'm in.
Anyone else?
OH NO - I don't need any help messing up my life, I do well enough on my own. I just don't get help from wacky relatives like some of y'all do.
well, wait, wouldn't the water put the flames....
nevermind.
I know where this comes from. It was in Dear Abby once about 25 years ago, some lady warning because she burned her house down leaving the washer on and the belt caught fire etc...I still remember it.
I commonly leave the house with the fire in my fireplace going, so effectively my house already is on fire. Ergo, I win.
flutter's comment really made me laugh! that actually happened to my brother - some electical something started sparking in the basement and was about to ignite at the exact same moment that my niece realized she had flooded the washer!
My brother called the plumber and asked him to pick up the electrician on his way over.
I love the universe!
I will confess that I never leave unless the washer/dryer is off. But then again, my house is out to get me.
BTW - a couple of folks have taken the "ME too" button off my blog and used it on theirs. Thanks again!
Well, Meno, how could you leave the house with the refrigerator running? That's very irresponsible.
Honestly I love to hear that other people have slightly, um, rationally challenged relatives too.
She projecting onto the washing machine. She's really afraid that she will spontaneously combust if she she leaves the condo.
mrs. chili, i'd never leave the house if i worried about all that stuff. If i'm not doing laundry, Em is.
de, yes, my GAS meter is down to a Mf on this one. :)
lynn, one can never be too careful about these things. Okay, one can.
ttq, that's how i get out the door too, just leave. Oh, where are my car keys? Damn, where is my wallet? Oh, now i need my sunglasses.
cagey, that at least seems more reasonable than fire.
em, you just never know what those electrons will get up to in your absence.
pat, that sounds iike a real mess. I might be shy after that too. At least for a week or two.
liv, de did indeed say GAS meter. My number one sign of drinking is failing to fix all my typos.
bob, either your family is sane, or you are too crazy to realize how insane they are.
stucco, i am quite sure that she didn't want to go to lunch, although that's what we went down there for.
mamap, she got weirder the older she got. Haven't seen her in a few years, so who knows what's happened to her in that time.
amusing, oh, i am so in. Bringing him a lawn chair too.
bob, coward!
flutter, i know. Utter fail in the logic department.
suebob, i bet you are right. I bet she read that and decided to fear the washing machine. Excellent memory.
furious, Dear Abby would frown at you. If she weren't dead that is.
dianne, see, my MIL was right and i will rue the day! Glad the button is being out to good use. If only it could change the law.
susanne, i know, i need to turn it off every time i leave. :)
patches, agorophobia. It's coming for you.
At our old house, you couldn't take a shower and have someone flush the toilet without being scalded. Now in our new(er) house I always wonder if I should run the washer and the dishwasher at the same time, but that won't cause a fire.
Like I'm going to short out the water supply or something, I don't know.
Must be related to my Dad - unplugs everything before leaving the house - what a nightmare.
Cheers
by her criterium, I would NEVER EVER get to leave the house.
and you know, what if the wires in the walls just spontaneously shorted and a fire started? better stay home. who needs food when the house needs a sitter?
maybe you can just take the lawn chair over...and sit watch over the washer..
I went to work one morning with the stove on high and a pot on it full of water.
I came back and the stove was still red hot and the sides of the pot were still there.
Damn, Meno, you sure know how to multi-task.
You're sure this was not a variation of "I have to wash my hair tonight?"
Wow, I do not have this level of paying attention in my life. I used to worry about the iron being left on. I solved it by wearing my clothes wrinkled.
Funny you should mention this...I've left the house a million times with SOMETHING running. But just got my inspection report back on my 2-year old condo I'm in the process os sellig back in the US. Turns out, my dryer was never hooked propery to the vent and with all the lint build up it was a fire hazard. Makes me think I shouldn't leave the house with appliances running in case of a freak accident. But then I wonder what would have happened if I had been there and a fire broke out. Probabaly run for the hills. So why not leave and leave em running anyway?
What about that friend of working people, the crockpot? I can see the washing machine flooding the house but catching on fire? God if you checked everything you'd never leave.
Damn, I forgot to unplug the phones and the microwave. I'm in serious trouble.
OMG...I'm your MIL. I have this little phobia about electical appliances and fire. In my book, anything that can be plugged into a socket WILL at some point cause problems. And, in her defense, I had a friend who had a washing machine running when a hose broke and flooded her kitchen and living room. Squish, squish.
Funny, I was just telling someone of my mother's fear of things around the house catching fire...
Also about how hard she pushes the buttons on remote controls, glasses at the end of her nose, arms extended full length. It's quite an ordeal for her and me...
I once used laundry detergent in the dishwsher. Figured soap is soap, cut back on the quantity,loaded up the damn thing and went for a walk. Came home to mounds of white froth covering the kitchen floor. All soaps are not created equal. Glad I got that off my chest. Been haunting me for years.
sari, those old habits die hard. In our house you CAN flush the toilet while someone is showering, and they won't even notice it. But i still hesitate, after 10 years.
maddy, that must take some time. How annoying.
maggie, neither would i. And we'd be even crazier than we already are.
pat, heh. good idea.
scott, wow, you are lucky. But locically, i can connect the stove to a fire, the washer, not so much.
peevish, i hate doing it all, so i rush to do it all at once.
hearts, if we hadn't driven specifically down there to take her to lunch, i would think so.
franki, i'm with you, the iron is a tool of the devil.
diane, good thing you moved far, far away!
sally, exactly. So ,uch for modern convieniences if you can't leave.
candy, better call 911 right now!
joan, uh oh, crazy old lady alert!
daphne, well the remote works better the harder you push, right?
caro, both of my brothers did this when we were kids. As a kid, i thought it was a riot.
I'm guessing that she is remembering a bad experience with an appliance from her past. Now days they usually don't start fires, they just stop working. Water leaks are more of a concern but they never happen when someone is there to turn the darn thing off. It's Murphy's Law at work.
You are right about Peewee- she isn't wee.
Holy gold-plated Jeebus. Did a prior house of theirs burn to the ground due to a freak washing machine accident? Come home to find clean but still damp clothes scattered to hell and back across the foundation, and no house to be seen?
Aren't they self-extinguishing?
She needs a cone.
When the washer repairman was here a couple of months ago, he told us to stay home when the washer was running because it's old and will go any day, flooding our house. And he wouldn't want to try to turn off the water with that old turn-off valve. I still go to work with the washer running. Because I'm an asshole. But everyone knows that already.
I think that the Mister's Mom has an issue with trust. Did you know, though, that it is recommended that you turn off the water to your washer when you go on vacation?
Damn I leave EVERYTHING on in hopes of a fire... beats spring cleaning......
interesting concept. what about the refrigerator!? it runs all the time.
why doesn't that catch on fire?
You are working very hard. Good for you!
Maybe Misters mom just didn't want to go to lunch? I'd hate to think this is her norm. I mean she could have stopped the machine if she were that worried.
If it DID catch on fire, wouldn't it put itself out as well??
dick, i'll never know what caused this weirdness, because MIL would never tell me anything.
irrelephant, i'll be sure to ask her, if i ever see her again.
nancy, that's what i think too, about the self-extinguishing and the cone.
capacious, who has time to baby sit the damn washing machine? Other than my MIL that is.
luckyzmom, i did know that, although i don't do it.
cheesy, that echoes my thoughts exactly.
melanie, that's what i want to know. Should i be unplugging my electic toothbrush before i leave too?
my pool, i am sure she didn't want to go to lunch. Me either. But that's what we were there for, to take her to lunch. Families!
tink, are you trying to apply logic to this situation?
at my last house i couldn't leave when then washing machine was running because it emptied directly into the kitchen sink and sometimes it flooded. but i wasn't worried about fire.
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