Do-It-Yourself Story

After continually ignoring my wife's suggestion to call an appliance repairman and finally deciding that I needed to replace the drain pump motor assembly due to worn out bushings on the impeller, I placed the order. Receiving the part and getting mentally ready for the challenge of removing and replacing pump assembly was quite nerve racking. Due to the poor planning of placement by previous owner, I had to become a 5'9" 205 pound contortionist to get behind the washer to start the project. While getting settled behind the washer I found lots of treasures that had been lost for years such as clothing items, coins, toys...basically everything but Jimmy Hoffa. Got tools in hand and ready to start. Back of washer came off with ease. That was the end of anything easy. Keep in mind my previously mentioned physical stats. I now have to reach through the bottom of the washer to begin the removal process. This is difficult when my arms are too thick to get to the part therefore pinching off circulation of blood and inspiring new curse words that children should never hear. After finally getting the old pump in my hands and ready to come out I begin attempting to back out when I realize that my arm is in a serious bind. Thoughts of dying in that position and the embarrassment when family members would find me stuck in this position danced through my head. I mustered up enough courage to give it one big yank....then.....blood. Yep, I'm now bleeding but with the old pump out of the washer so it was a slight victory in this war. Once I stopped the bleeding with an old sock found under the neighboring dryer, I began the installation of the new pump. Getting the pump in place and attached to proper hoses and electrical harness was a piece of cake. Now for the test. Turned washer on to run a quick cycle and got a different error. This error states the control board was fried....I'm not a happy camper or appliance repair husband / dad. Back is killing me, arm bleeding, ego is somewhat crushed...how could this happen. Luckily I ran across a few people on a bulletin board that had the same problem. All they did was unplug the washer for 60 seconds to reset the board and VOILA, it fixed itself. Now why couldn't the $#@%@ drain pump motor assembly fix itself? Anyway, washer is back in it's previous position where it can eat up all sorts of treasures until I have to pull it from the wall and discover it's loot. Until next time.....