The washing machine is on the brink and I needed to call in the service. When I got home from work yesterday, I inspected the machine, went through my standard troubleshooting checklist, and surmised that this was beyond me, since I had never handled a built-in machine and was out of my depth in taking it apart (unlike the previous ones where I knew what to open up and how… Sadly, I put back the baseboard and picked the phone.
In Germany, calling in any technician or handyman to provide a service that is beyond my mechanical skills is an expensive moment, so I swallowed my horror and dialled the number. The technician showed up at the door within two hours, which was already a huge plus point in his favour, considering it was 20:00 (their website says they are on duty from 08:30 – 22:00). A friendly, competent and no frills fellow took one look and within two minutes identified the problem, taking it one notch higher by explaining the mechanics of the situation to me, probably sensing that I was was not mechanically incompetent.
While tinkering around the machine for further inspection and punching his tablet to provide an exact estimate of the job required, a cat head suddenly poked out from under the cabinet. We all stared at Champagne in amazement as she stuck out her head full of cobwebs and snorted happily at everyone. She was very reluctant to emerge from her hiding place and looked smug as a bug in a rug. As far as I could tell, she snuck in behind my back while I had removed the board earlier and I never noticed it, otherwise I would never had put the baseboard back! She has pulled a similar trick before, crawling under the sink and behind the dishwasher, and falling asleep there for several hours until I had to trace a mysterious meowing emerging from inside the cabinets. Ever stood in front of a dishwasher and wondered why it was meowing?
The technician was stunned, but once he got over his surprise he started laughing his head off, not only at the expression of the cat, but the fact that she was covered in cobwebs and snorted happily at him. “Ha ha ha! She has cleaned the area thoroughly!” he said with the greatest amusement. She wiggled her little bottom, shook herself clean, and looked up happily at the visitor, asking to inspect his tool case.
So although I have a large bill coming my way, I also have a technician returning in a couple of days with the spare part who is very much looking forward to meeting my nosey noseless cat again.
FrogDiva Thoughts 