Time for a Change

We have had our washer and dryer for about 20 years now. Can't remember exactly when we got them, but it has to be pretty close to that. Last weekend, I noticed that it took over an hour to dry a load. And the next load was never really dry. I tried it again a few times over the next 24 hours, but it was clear. Time to say good bye to an old friend. Maybe 2 of them. We had reached the tipping point of repair to replace. We decided to replace the washer too since there were rust stains in the basket that could not be fixed. Simple, right? That is what I thought. Just go to Sears, buy another basic washer and dryer, get them delivered and installed and I'd be back in business.
Well, not so simple, at least for us. Purchase and delivery went smoothly, but then things ground to a halt. It turns out the dryer could not be installed because the venting we had was plastic which is no longer legal. And to replace the venting where it had previously existed would require lots of tearing up of floors or shower tiles. We needed to have a whole new outside vent installed. Try finding someone to do that! Not easy. Last night I googled and googled with every key word/phrase I could think of and finally stumbled on a business named Just Dryer Vents. And the guy agreed to come out today. Several hours later and several trips to hardware stores and Home Depot, Jack and Ron (the Just Dryer Vent guy) got the new outside vent installed. But then the adapter for the gas line to dryer didn't fit. Arrrrrggggh!!! Bottom line is now Sears is coming back out to finish the installation. On Tuesday. I hope. "What a nightmare this has been", I said to Jack. We looked at each other and laughed. Really, so NOT a nightmare, just annoying. Gonna wash up a couple loads in the morning and head over to the laundromat. If this is our biggest problem for the month, I'd say we are very blessed.