Hoodlums

Not much new on the house searching front so I thought I would tell you a story. 

One day, my dryer stopped drying.  It was very curious b/c it's only 6yrs old and ironically it's the only appliance that we are expected to take with us to the next house storage unit.  I asked the most knowledgeable person I know what could cause a dryer to stop drying.  Google said that probably the heating element had gone out.  He (yes, Google is a man) also said that the first thing you should check is that nothing is blocking the little vent the pushes the hot air outside.

I am not a HandyMolly.  In fact, though I have seen steam coming out of the sides of houses before, I never really thought about the fact that there was a hose leading from my dryer to the outside world.  I went searching for this opening and found a little hood covering a tube.

I reached inside the tube and felt... Styrofoam.  Someone a handyman A hoodlum had stuck a McCafe styrofoam cup inside the tube that expels the heat from the dryer to the outside world.  It was stuck in there so good that I had to break it up to get it out.  It even still had the plastic safety cap on it. 

I was seriously pissed.  When the Sears Handyman came and took the dryer apart he confirmed that the heating element had, in fact, gone out and pointed out singed lint near the burnt out part.  He said I am lucky b/c the house could have caught on fire.  The house that I am IN CONTRACT to SELL in 30 days.

What the hell hoodlums?  Mr. Molly and other observers think it must have been a neighborhood kid who didn't know the extent of what he was doing.  I don't know.  I had landscapers and painters here getting the house ready to list.  My neighbor next door has had workers around for months.. I don't know what the hell they are doing in there.  We also pissed off 3 realtors when we chose RL over them.  So it could have been a person with a vendetta.  Or it could have been a neighborhood hoodlum.  Either way I am pissed and I am checking that tube like every day.

So let this be a Public Service Announcement:  CHECK YOUR TUBE THAT GOES FROM THE DRYER TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE to make sure there is not a McDonalds McCafe Latte cup about to cause your house to go up in flames.  It could happen to you.  Especially if there are a bunch of 10yr olds running around in your 'hood playing "tag."