Tuesday, December 2, 2008

The things you find...

The house we moved into didn't come with a washer and dryer set, so first thing after we moved in we bought a used pair. The thing about buying used is that it's always a bit of a risk as to whether the things will actually work or not. They got put into the laundry room and hooked up and I threw in the first load. I stayed around and watched the washer....seemed to work just fine. Phew! Then I transferred the clothes to the dryer. I waited a bit then opened it and the clothes seemed warm so I turned it on for longer and walked away. I checked about an hour later. What did I find? Hot wet clothes. I thought well, I'll give it more time. Another hour and still the same. Bummer. We tossed around ideas as to what the problem could be. I even called a repair guy to ask questions. He said to check the vent, maybe it's clogged. Alrighty, I can do that.

I removed the foil hose thing and looked into the wall side of the vent. It looked like a big lump of lint. Yeah! I found the problem. So I went and got out the vacuum and stuck the hose down and the lint thing stuck to the end. I pulled it out and ....


it wasn't a lint ball....



it was a dead bird!

Ewww!!!

So, I put that in the trash and stuck the hose down the vent again. (Yep, I'm crazy I know)

I proceeded to find THREE more dead birds.

At this point I was officially freaked and grossed out so I called the landlord. They called a repair guy and he came out. He used a big long wand thing and cleaned out the whole vent. He found one MORE dead bird! Now at least I know it's clean and clear.

But can you believe there were 5??? Any guesses how that happened?

I am happy now as the clothes are drying properly :)

13 comments:

ericksonzone said...

That is amazing! I would not have liked to be the one to find those birds. At least it wasn't a rat.

Melissa Stover said...

that's just freaky!

Miriam said...

Ewwww!!! Does the END of the dryer vent have a dryer vent cap on it? Maybe it doesn't and they were going up in there to stay warm or get out of the weather. I don't know! I just hope one day you don't open the dryer door and birds fly out... ok, I know that couldn't REALLY happen... :P

EEEEMommy said...

Eeegads!!! Didn't it stink? Shudder!

Renata said...

Glad that everything's working now, but 5 dead birds ... yuck!

Gayle @ thewestiecrew said...

Wow, that is GA-ROSS!!

At least it wasn't the dryer, though, eh?

Robyn said...

It seems to me that you have been in the "year" of the bird! First it was birds flying in the house and now it's mummified birds in the dyer vent! Thank goodness 2008 is almost over! Does it make you wonder what 2009 will bring? Glad to know that everything is working properly now. Yeah for fresh and dry clothes!

Anonymous said...

Yikes and gross. I am glad it is all working for you now.
Blessings,
Dawn
www.homeschoolblogger.com/my4sweetums

Anonymous said...

YUCK!! I am thinking that the mama bird was picking a nice warm home for her babies and well....it wasn't;p I have no idea, but I hope that it doesn't happen again. How is moving in coming along?
:>Michelle

Kimmie said...

Yikes, not the best place to nest for certain. Glad you will get warm dry clothes now.

How are you doing in your new town?

wish you were in Ct, cuz then you could come over with all your kids and we could visit.

Sending a big hug!
Kimmie
mama to 6
one homemade and 5 adopted

KarenW said...

Oh my! Well, at least you didn't have an expensive repair bill.

Kate said...

That's a sad laundry story.

Latte said...

Okay...I would have called the landlord after I found the first one!!! And everyone in the neighborhood would have heard me scream when I DID find the first one! Yikes!

Latte