1-800-Call-A-Mom

This could be my get rich quick scheme.  Or if not get rich quick, a great retirement plan.  I really think this could be a money maker!

For those of us that no longer have our Moms, and weren't smart enough or lucky enough to learn everything we needed while we had them here, we need this kind of service.

Mom was always on call, 24/7.  After she passed away, my sister Barb took over her on call duties.  While Barb wasn't my Mom, she KNEW everything that Mom did about Mom kinda stuff.  Now with Barb gone as well, Cathie and I muddle through.  She knows a lot more than I do, and we help each other out where we can.

1-800-Call-A-Mom.  Think about it.  It's a great idea, isn't it?

How long do you cook a beef roast?  1-800-Call-A-Mom.

How do you get that spot out of the couch?  1-800-Call-A-Mom.

How do you sew a pillow case on to the window seat pad after you take it off to wash it?  Have Cathie come visit and ask HER to do it!!  Ok,  but I digress.  (And, thank you again, Cathie!)  But you get the idea.

I have a nice full nap kinda area rug in the bathroom to step on once you're out of the shower.   I want to say like a shag kind of nap.

I was cleaning the bathroom last weekend and I thought hey, that rug could use a washing.  I've washed it before, I knew it could be done.  So, I threw it in the washing machine by itself to get washed.

I have a front loader washing machine and when it spins the clothes, it SPINS the clothes.  Most times they're practically dry when they come out of the washer, they spin so hard!  However, after the wash cycle, this rug was soaking wet.  Soaking, dripping wet.  What to do?  I set the machine to do the spin cycle over again.

Same result.  The rug was no dryer than it was before the second spin cycle.  Mom?  I wish.  I put it through the spin cycle again.  And again.  Ok, probably a few more times for good measure.  No change.

I had Ron grab one end of the rug and I grabbed the other end and we twisted the hell out of it by hand trying to get enough water out of it to be able to put it in the dryer.  We wrung a bunch of water out of it, but it was STILL too wet to put in the dryer.

So, we hung it over the slop sink, hoping it would dry on its own with the help of the dehumidifier in the basement.  The dehumidifier filled up with water, but it didn't seem like any of it came out of that damn rug.  Mom would know exactly what to do, I was sure of it.

Tonight after work, I went to the basement to check out the rug.  As I said, I had to empty the dehumidifier but the rug was still soaked.  Ron and I were talking that just maybe if we hung it on the line in the basement, it might dry easier.  The dang thing was heavy, but I got it up and over the line.  And that's when I noticed the smell.

I guess after four days being sopping wet in the basement, the mold, mildew and whatever else decided to come for a visit.  I am so frustrated at this point that I want to throw the damn rug out and buy another one.  If I was made of money, I'd do just that.  However, I needed to be more practical.

Ron and I threw around a few ideas and then it hit me.  The problem had been that when this rug got wet, it got really heavy.  When the machine would go into the spin cycle, the rug would clump up against one side, making the machine unbalanced. That's why it would never go into the full spin cycle leaving the rug wet.

I knew that now I'd have to rewash the rug to get that smell out and that's when I figured it out.  Wash the kitchen rugs with it, which should even out the load!  Taa daa!  It worked like a charm and I now have all clean and DRY rugs!  Go me.

Ok, it took me four days to figure it out on my own and I was this close to chucking it out tomorrow on garbage night.  One fast call to 1-800-Call-A-Mom probably would have solved this back on Saturday.

I figured it out eventually, but it would have been nice to figure out the problem with one phone call.  I know this is a great money making idea.  No matter how old we get, sometimes a little mothering would go a long way.