My washing machine is old enough to vote. 

It’s a silly thing to say. A remark that connects an appliance to a human activity that is both mental and physical is more than a bit random. 

Life expectancy for humans is about 8 times what it is for washing machines. But I didn’t know the age of our washing machine or its expected lifetime when we loaded in the back of my son’s utility van and took it to the local appliance service center.

Last Saturday when I discovered water on the utility room floor I started troubleshooting. I surmised (incorrectly) that since the water hoses going into the washer showed no signs of dripping, it was likely the drain hose. So I manufactured a plumber’s snake from a clothes hanger. (When your formative years were spent on a farm and then you spend the rest of your life living in town, you adapt and metal clothes hangers become the new baling wire.) Since I was able to pull out a rather small ball of lint, I surmised (incorrectly) that I was on the right track.

Next came the trip to the hardware store for the $12 clog buster. Then I strung a garden hose through the garage side door and into the utility room. With the clog buster attached to the end of the hose, I inserted it into the drain. I turned on the water and the device seemed to do its job and I surmised (incorrectly) that after mopping the utility room floor we would be back in the business of making dirty clothes clean. The test cycle to confirm everything was fine only created a new puddle on the floor and more mopping—and some moping.

Trying to get physical access or even good visual access to the source of the drip became more than what I felt it would be wise for me to pursue. I like to fix things, but I saw my odds for success as being extremely low. This was one of those times when it would be better to not try and therefore not fail.

The washing machine is back home now and it has a new pump. If the new pump lasts as long as the original, our washing machine will keep working more than three times what is normally expected. But for that to happen I would have to surmise (incorrectly) that nothing else would go wrong in this appliance that has several moving parts and an electronic panel.