My appliances are out to get me!

I occasionally have disputes with the various appliances in my home, but this week they ganged up on me.

It started Saturday. I went to the basement to get something off the drying rack and figured while I was there I would empty the dryer, too. A good idea in theory. I opened the door and found a pair of the baby's overalls dangling, caught by the clasp in the space between the tub that spins and the dryer wall. Not an uncommon occurrence, unfortunately. As I muttered under my breath trying to get them dislodged, I caught a whiff of the distinct odor of natural gas. Unable to dislodge the overalls, I went to get hubby, who came and was able to get the overalls out while we discussed the odor. Now, I know what you're thinking, "A gas leak, get out! Now!" But you see, the odor was ONLY by the dryer. And I didn't even notice it until I OPENED the dryer. SO we turned of the gas line that goes to the dryer. And got the kids dressed, called the gas company, and hubby waited while I drove off with the kids. It didn't take them long. I had time to drive to the Post Office and mail my bills and drive home again. The gas company came to the same conclusion as we had. The gas connector for the dryer had failed. So they made sure it was off, and told us to call a plumber. Great. I was already mad at the dryer, and NOW I get to pay a plumber to come out and fix the gas line. Joy.

Then yesterday I went to make my own version of pizza for lunch. I usually top a pita fold with pizza toppings and then broil it for a couple of minutes. I turn on the broiler before I get the pizza made, simply because my old oven sometimes takes a minute or two to register that you want it to do something, and that way by the time the pizza is ready to go in, the oven is a bit warmer. I turned on the broiler, went to the refrig. to get the ingredients, and smelled smoke. Opened the oven door, and smoke comes BILLOWING out. Turned off broiler immediately, but still had smoky house for a bit, enough to make me open the patio door (thank goodness the cold snap has passed and it was above freezing outside!) There was a distinct plastic burning smell with the smoke. I haven't a clue what is wrong with it! I used the oven the day before and we have used the stovetop since, so I think it is particular to the broiler. Ugh, another call to make.

Finally, this morning the washing machine and I had a quarrel. Now this one, I admit, may be my fault. I haven't been keeping up on the laundry very well, so this particular load was a bit bigger than it perhaps should have been. I have a front loader, and when the water started to fill, well let's just say it was going to take a long time to fill because the basement is pretty big. You'd think I hadn't closed the door the way the water was flowing onto the floor. But it was closed, just apparently not well. So I shut it off, and opened the door, mixed things up a bit, and closed the door again. I turned it on, and water did not gush forth, so I mopped the floor and went back upstairs. It wasn't over. The machine leaked again at some point during the cycle, requiring me to mop one more time before I took the wet clothes out and hung them to dry.

Maybe I should quit while I'm ahead.