This afternoon I was supposed to fix the washing machine. Lately it has started to rattle pretty loudly, and during spin cycle it vibrates so violently the the whole house is shaking. My theory is that the machine is not properly balanced, so I volunteered to take down all the shelves and piles of junk on top of it so that I can tip the machine back enough to adjust the heights of the four little round metal twist-thingies at each corner on the bottom. But I was hesitant and have decided to postpone this risky venture until the weekend. You see, the last time I tried to repair our washing machine was around ten years ago. Rather than an aggravating vibration, the problem was awful stink. We figured that a sock had gotten wedged somehow inbetween the metal barrel and the inside of the washing machine. As the weeks went by, the sock started to rot away and the stench was getting worse and worse. So what did I do? Well, I put two chair close together with a slight space between them, lifted the heavy washing machine and turned it over so that it was resting upside-down on these chairs. The idea was that the sock would just fall out and the problem would be solved. No luck though. Feeling that there was no harm done, I just turned the washing machine back around to the right-side up. No harm done did I say? Well, the next time I filled the washing machine with clothes and turned it on, there was this explosion and then a sudden burst of smoke which came out the top. The powerful motor which had earlier been safely positioned on the inner support chassis had been dislodged due to my grand upside-down theory. That meant that the motor could no longer spin freely and collided with the sides. Boom and explosion and smoke. So you can imagine my hesitation to fix our latest washing machine. Thea even warned me "remember what happened to the other washing machine?!" I will just wait another day before mustering up enough courage for the next attempt at stardom.