Day 33

Alright...this is going to be confusing. To calculate what day of my sabbatical I am on I will need to add the day of the month to the 31 days of May. Man! May was sooo easy!

THE DRYER: Friday the dryer quit. To resolve the problem I put up a clothes line. Sal wanted more. I went online and Google said I needed a meter to test different parts of my dryer for continuity. Yeah, didn't make sense to me either. Tru Valu sold me a meter. I couldn't get it to work. Took it back. Seems you have to put a battery in it. Ohhhhhh. Started taking the dryer apart. This is a difficult task in itself. Kept taking out screws and hoping I could put them back in the right place. Finally gave up and called the 800 # on the inside of the dryer door. $129 + parts to repair anything. Or $193 for a year warranty. I hung up on them. Called Sears in Newton. They gave me the number of Darren Weems, otherwise known as Super Repairman. Darren talked to me over the phone and told me what was wrong with my dryer. I met at an exit in N. Newton to pick up the thermal fuse for $15. If I bought weed, I think that is also how it would go down. He also made me close my eyes and walked me through removing the dryer drum. I thought he was crazy. But he said if the fuse went out I needed to not only replace the fuse but also clean the inside of the dryer so it wouldn't overheat again and ruin my motor. Today I replaced the fuse, removed the drum, cleaned the vents & motor, put it all back together and (drum roll, please) it works. I still am in shock. Call Darren if you have appliance trouble (316-772-7617). He works out of his van making calls across central Kansas. Amazing. $15 for fuse + $15 for air nozzle to clean dryer = $30.

THE GARAGE: We started framing the garage on Tuesday. I got out my tool belt from 20 years ago when I was a part-time construction guy so I could be a part-time intern youth pastor. Had to move the belt 3 notches bigger to get it to fit. 20 years and a few more than 20 pounds ago. Tuesday I almost died in my own sweat. Hot and humid. Out of shape. Today went much better. We have the walls up and two sides sheeted. Jordan came over and help lift the garage door header. Thanks buddy! Tomorrow hopefully we'll get the trusses.