March 03rd, 2021

Any idea what this is?  It's a basket of kitchen towels.  I use a lot of kitchen towels (rather than a lot of paper towels y'see).  I would estimate that I use roughly a zillion kitchen towels every week.  A slight exaggeration, yes, but I do use a lot of them.  I keep them neatly folded in this cute little basket on a shelf in the pantry.  Lately, this basket has been on the empty side. It was very sad.  But now it's full to the tippy top!  Hurrah!

And do you know what that means?  Yes! It means that my dryer is fixed. Happy Dance!   That means, no more hanging clothes all over the house to dry. No more flipping the clothes multiple times while drying so that the air reaches all sides.  No more running out of places to hang wet clothes and using shower rods and interior doors just to get the job done.  No more extra ironing because air dried clothes always dry more wrinkley than clothes dryers do.  No more exfoliating towles!  (although I will say that using the uber scratchy towels has done wonders for my skin!)

As soon as the repair guy left, I started playing catch up laundry with sheets and towels.  Today I may do some blankets and quilts!    Huzzah Huzzah!

The repair man was very nice and he got the job done so I am happy and have zero complaints about that.  But I will say that there is a marked difference in the repair dude experience of days gone by and now.  Not just a noticeable difference, it's more of a chasm, a crevasse, the Mariana Trench of differences.

First of all, in the olden days, if I called a repair person in it was me directly calling the repair  person. I did not have to go through a third party. Even when we had warranties and extended warranties (because we always do), I was able to call the repair company of my choosing and the warranty was still honoured.

Next, the appointment was within days, not weeks.   I was happy to have the appointment I got, which was, this time, only a week and a half from the day I called.  Last time it was about ten days before they called back and then it was another 10 days until the appointment. Obviously I survived, it's not a life or death situation, but it was dang inconvenient.

I remember a long time ago the repair person showing up in a repair van.  The name of the company emblazoned across the side of it and the wonders of the repair universe neatly compartmented inside.  This guy drove his own personal vehicle which, while serviceable - I mean it got him here right? - means he had very limited space for repair related stuff inside.

Ye Olden Days repair guys usually wore a uniform shirt with his name stitched on it somewhere and, again, the company name, with either heavy duty kahki trousers or jeans and work boots.  My repair guy wore regular people clothes with a pin with his name on it attached to his shirt pocket.  I know that how he dresses does not have an iota of reference to how well it does his job, it's just another of the many differences that I noticed.

Both the repair people from my memory and the one yesterday were very pleasant and got right to work. But the new guy stepped out to tell me that  the problem was the heating element had failed (I knew that and told them on the phone when I made the appointment so it was not a surprise) and then we went out to his car.  He returned triumphantly with the replacement part and told me  - and here was the most surprising part - that I was very lucky!  The replacement part was for someone else who had the same issue but rescheduled their appointment.  Repair Fellow said that if that hadn't happened, he would have had to order the part and it would have been another two weeks until it could be fixed.  And then he cheerfully went back to work.

Excuse me what?  It used to be that the olden days repair guy would have A) listened to what I told them on the phone and made the appointment B) figured out the possible reasons for the problem and had the parts On Hand in his massive repair van when he showed up to the call.   There would not have been a second two weeks out appointment necessary because nobody would need to order anything! It would already be there!  Geez!  That's why they always ask for the Make and Model number.  Which is why I always have that information In My Hand when I make the call.  

AND I hate to say this because I sound like a dusty, crusty, antique of a crone when I do, but I honestly do remember that the repair guy from days of old, would also check to see if anything else needed to be done while he was there anyway.  Sort of like how, a million years ago, the guys who pumped your gas (and they did) also cleaned your windshield, checked your tire pressure and made sure your brake lights were working at the same visit. It's just so very different than the way it used to be.
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Again, I really have nothing to complain about. My dryer is fixed, the repair man was very nice and did a great job.  But!  I just cannot help but notice the difference in how it used to be.  Not everything from the olden days was good. In fact there was a lot that was bad.  But there were some damned nice things too.