Takin' the Blog for a Walk
Join Waukesha resident Brien Lee and his blog, Sir Fido, as they explore the city and report on the interesting things they find.
Email Brien at howlinblog@yahoo.com.
a grand view of recycling
It's often hard to keep the appliances functioning around here with the amount of use some of them get. We have two clothes driers because the one that was too new to toss can still be used for parts. It seems every drier we've owned has eventually squeeked and shrieked. I try to fix it temporarily with lithium grease on the roller axles. It works for a while, but I'd begun checking store bulletin boards and thrift stores for a replacement.
A friend recently asked me to look at her leaking washing machine. Was able to replace the dangerous cord end and free up a frozen pulley, but the leak was coming from the drum seal and I didn't feel like attempting it.
As I was rushing home from work a week ago to get to the start of Nick's game at Arrowhead, I noticed a pair of appliances next to the curb on South Grandview a mile from home. I was making a St. Vincent home visit the next day to offer a store voucher for a drier to a family. Should I grab what's there and hope it works, saving the family a trip to the St. Vincent thrift store? The store may not even have one, I had checked earlier for myself.
I didn't want to be late for the game, but if the drier did or didn't work it wouldn't have been there much longer. Scrap metal is highly valued in Waukesha, and I wouldn't have expected them to be there the next morning.
Reasoning that if someone were tossing one appliance it would probably be broken, but both a washer and drier tells me someone just got a new set. Curious enough to stop and ask before going home to get the van and make myself late, I inquired at the door and the nice gentleman said they both worked and would I like him to watch them? I said "no, live just up the street, but I know someone looking for a drier and if I don't grab it someone else will. It's how things get recycled around here."
Decided to grab the washer too. Can always find a home for a working washer. The family needing the drier couldn't use it because they had only a gas hook up. But this family could use a new drier. It had a four prong plug but the previous owner was nice enough to leave the 3-prong plug inside. I just had to test it because our current drier wasn't putting out enough heat, though getting the machine in the basement was a chore because as a "Super Capacity" it barely fit.
Our new drier heats good, doesn't squeek and even has a light inside.
Wanted to test the washer and offer it to my friend, so I plugged it in outside and ran some water in it. A match to the Whirlpool drier, it seemed to work OK and not leak so I took it over to her house and hooked it up. I've been informed it's been working great ever since.
It's recycling at it's finest. Instead of getting picked up for just the scrap value, these two appliances will continue their intended uses to be recycled at a later date.
I have to thank the family on South Grandview who discarded the appliances, but would also like to remind them that the St. Vincent thrift store on East Main will pick up working appliances with the possibility of offering them free of charge to needy individuals through conference vouchers. All you have to do is give them a call: 547-3281.
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