Craigslist Fail

It's my 100th post! And to celebrate, I think I'll do a hodge-podge picture post (alliteration!), along with a horrible experience with a Craigslist purchase. 

First off, I had a pretty dang fun St. Patrick's day, as is evidenced by this picture:

Glow in the dark shutter shades. Aw yeah. I can never make fun of girls for doing the "duck face" ever again after seeing this picture.

To further prove that I'm a nerd, I built a new computer! And I love it and want to marry it. It has a solid state hard drive and super-fast everything. It boots up in like ten seconds and video games experience almost zero load times. AND it kind of looks like a Storm Trooper!

Gorgeous, right?

I also got a super nice new camera for my Woody's Vintage project (that is moving along, although I've hit some speed bumps). For some reason, though, I've mostly just taken pictures of my friends' dog, Dexter.

You have to start somewhere, though, and Dexter likes the exposure.

That brings me to my horrible Craigslist experience! I have had trouble selling things in the past; I've had people show up only to offer me about half the money we agreed on, people who want to meet in shady areas, and people who promise to meet me somewhere and then just not show up. This is the first time, however, that I've had trouble with the received product. 

I'm (very slowly) settling in to my new duplex in Kansas after my move from Arkansas and I decided I'd play it cheap and buy my washer and dryer from Craigslist. After all, I just bought a new computer and camera. I found a set from a really nice neighborhood for really cheap, so I figured it was just some rich people trying to get someone to haul off their old machines, which actually happens fairly often on Craigslist. The lady on the phone said that everything worked great and that she was underselling it and that it was a very good deal. Jackpot!

Well, I hooked up the washer and dryer. When I washed a load I noticed that the washer was depositing sludgy, black, slug-like flakes all over my clothes. I figured I just stirred up some debris during the move and tried again. More grime! This time, I smelled it, and boy - I was not okay with it. I decided I'd try running the machine empty with some vinegar several times based one some things I read online, but it was no good; the slime was too thick. 

I really didn't want to have to haul this thing out and haul a new one in, and I knew that even if I had the seller's phone number she wouldn't refund it and pick it up, so I figured I'd take the machine apart and clean it myself. It couldn't be that bad, right? I went to the store and got some rubber gloves, lots of paper towels, and some bleach spray, among other chemicals. Then I took the washer apart. It looked pretty gross, even after like 6 vinegar baths, but not SUPER bad.

I didn't know what that cream-colored stuff around that ring was, but I scrubbed it all away. It was caked on pretty good. Then I noticed that you could easily remove that ring, so I did... and that's when I started to realize I was in over my head.

Black, awful, rotten filth lined the machine. All of that should have been white. But I was too stubborn to simply say "screw it" and buy a new machine. No, I had to finish what I started. I washed, scrubbed, and sprayed for hours, running my paper towels low and my trash bags high. This ring was removable...

...so I decided to give it a bath.

Bad idea. Before draining the water I thought I'd strain it with a colander, kind of like how you'd get leaves out of a pool (which obviously ruined my colander), but the drain still clogged. I probably should have seen that coming, but at the time I was no longer upset at my bad purchase, but pretty carefree and jovial. That's when I looked around and realized I was using about 5 different chemicals in an unventilated room and that I had been huffing fumes all night, so I guess bad decisions were bound to happen.

Next up was the main tank, which was definitely the worst part. It was stinky and the grime was about 1/4 inch thick (or 6.4mm, for my non-US readers).

But eventually... the job was done. I'd said my final curse words and dirtied my last paper towel. I put down my rubber gloves and beheld a job well done.

It's certainly not perfect, but it is approximately infinitely cleaner than it originally was. I'm not sure why I was such a cheapskate and cleaned it instead of replacing it, but the optimist in me says that now I know exactly how clean my washer is, and I have gained the knowledge to disassemble and reassemble a washing machine.

But the pessimist in me says that the seller of this machine will be receiving eggs on her house.