Anyhow, since it is still under warranty, I returned to Changomas (Walmart) with all my paperwork in hand to see what they would do to fix our washer. They looked through their records and referred us to a local repair shop in town that they contract repairs for appliances out through. I was bummed. I thought they would deal with it directly. Now I had to track down a new place, talk to new people, try to work things out all over again. Oh well. I went to the address...closed for siesta. Sigh.
It is way across town from us so I had to go back that night to try again. Thankfully I had a simple and clear conversation with the owner, drew a map of how to find our house, and left him all our contact info. The very next day one of his employees came out to look at the machine. As expected, it was a very simple problem - a tiny piece of plastic that was part of the door handle assembly (front loading machine - we had to buy this style to fit in the alcove made for the washer - has a counter over the top of it so a top loader could not function. lol.) broke and since the door can not properly shut - the machine could not run.
Incredible. This beautiful and fine functioning machine was brought to it's knees by a teeny, tiny piece of plastic. I am sure it could not have cost more than a few pennies. But, without it, the door latch can not catch, so the computer in the machine will not let the washer function...at all. Argh! What a frustration!
The repairman said that they did not carry that exact part and would need to order it. He hoped to have it by the end of the week. Then he could bring it out and repair it in a jiffy.
A week went by. ...Then another. ...I went to visit the shop and the owner immediately recognized me, called me by name (a perk of being just about the only gringo in the area) and let me know they were still waiting for the part to arrive. Unfortunately, they had no idea when it would arrive.
In the meantime we had to take all our laundry to a service to have it done. (Coin op's don't hardly exist here.) So now we had the added work of having to bag up all the laundry for 5 people, ride the bus across town to the closest laundry service, pay someone else to do our laundry, then pay to go pick it up and bring it home. Argh 2!
The one nice thing - we know the laundry shop people from when we were living in a hotel and hunting for a home to rent when we first came to Jujuy. It was nice to reconnect and continue building relationship with them. They are not just workers - they are friends. We spent a lot of time talking with them, praying for them, witnessing to them as best as we could. I loved that part of it.
Well, finally, after 1 month - the part arrived from Buenos Aires! (The only place that almost everything in the country comes from.) The repairman came out, replaced the part, tested the machine and our beautiful little washer is now up and running again! - Now we just need to continue to find a way to drop in and keep reaching out to our friends at the laundry service.
It is SO NICE to be able to do our own laundry at home again! We are working hard on getting linens and everything else that we were holding off on to save money, washed and put back.
Amazing though how a tiny little plastic part can humble such a big, beautiful, intricate machine.
I wonder how many things are like that in our own lives. How one little thing can bring the rest of our life to a grinding halt.
Jesus said, "It is the little foxes that spoil the vine."
Guard yourself and keep your life running. Don't let a little thing sideline you for such an extended period of time.
Good night and God bless -
Paz y amor de Dios -
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