{"id":31421,"date":"2026-01-22T09:47:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:47:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/?p=31421"},"modified":"2026-01-22T09:47:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:47:48","slug":"the-dryer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/the-dryer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dryer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dryer<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

One might think that I was going to attempt to emulate a Stephen King horror story about a clothes dryer run amok. Perhaps escaping from its normal confines, the dryer set out to eat Manhattan or perhaps terrorize drivers on Route 66. But, I’m sorry to say, nothing so thrilling as that will appear in my little screed today. However, if you’re getting older you might want to keep reading, as there may be some things in this little essay that hit home.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, why is this essay called “The Dryer”? Well, because it is about a clothes dryer – an American clothes dryer. I have read articles about how our friends in Britain don’t like clothes dryers and tend to dry their clothes on racks in their living rooms. That’s what Google says, anyway:<\/span><\/p>\n

“While many British households do own a tumble dryer, they are often viewed as a “last resort” rather than a daily necessity. If you\u2019ve ever noticed “clothes horses” (drying racks) in every UK living room or seen laundry hanging out even in chilly weather, it\u2019s due to a mix of architecture, economics, and a bit of cultural stubbornness. “<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Now, keep your cool and don’t blow up at me. That’s what Google said. I have no idea what’s really going on over there, as I have never had the pleasure of visiting Great Britain.<\/span><\/p>\n

This essay is called The Dryer becasue it’s about a clothes dryer and about getting old.<\/span><\/p>\n

OK, so when you’re young and if you have the money, you’re going to be looking for the latest internet-connected, AI-powered clothes dryer with as many LED lights and gadgets as the manufacturer could squeeze on it. You’re going to be looking for a good warranty too. This won’t be the last dryer you’ll ever buy, but you still want it to last longer than a modern, AI-powered, internet-connected, crushed-ice-making, grocery-shopping-delivery-portal modern refrigerator… which now last about 5 years compared to my old 1965 GE refrigerated which died just two years ago after serving beer in my garage for almost 5 decades – yes — we are both that old… well it was. It’s dead now, but I’m not, but I am quite sure my warranty has expired.<\/span><\/p>\n

My old 1966 GE refrigerator died a few years ago; my dryer died a few days ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shopping for a new dryer at my age is not nearly as much fun as for my first dryer – when long warranties mattered. I am not going to kid myself. I don’t need a 20-year-warranty on my new dryer. Anyway, because I no longer like hobbling around in huge stores like Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Menards, I did my dryer shopping online. I wanted the biggest, cheapest dryer without any computerized gizmos, AI superpowers, or LCD screens or flashing LED lights. I wanted no fancy knobs or dials. I just want to dry my clothes in a reasonable amount of time. I found a Whirlpool dryer on sale for $488. That’s about as cheap as you’re going to find. However. adding $65 for an “installation kit” and a $50 “haul away” fee, the final price was around $600.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because I’m broke and cheap, and I have an older son who loves me (my younger son does too and I love them both so much), I was able to get the dryer installed free and a friend of my son’s hauled the old dryer away for free. So I got the Whirlpool dryer for $488+ tax.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s kind of sad buying your “last” car, TV, refrigerator, washer, dryer… It’s like when you’re pushing 80, and you want to adopt a cat.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was young, I would buy the best brands and pay monthly because I had less money then than I have now, and I barely have any now. Plus, it was always fun getting something new as long as you could afford the monthly payments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, I don’t want anything new. I want my old broken-down fake-leather recliner. I want my baggy old sweat pants that dry so nicely in my new dryer. I don’t want a new stove, a new refrigerator, or a new car, because if I had to buy any of those, it would be my last of any of those. And God help me if my furnace goes awry during this cruel, bitter, endless winter we’re in the middle of here.<\/span><\/p>\n

I never wanted to buy my last of anything, but I’m quite sure I’ve purchased my last dryer.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dryer One might think that I was going to attempt to emulate a Stephen King horror story about a clothes dryer run amok. Perhaps escaping from its normal confines, the dryer set out to eat Manhattan or perhaps terrorize drivers on Route 66. But, I’m sorry to say, nothing so thrilling as that will appear in my\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[228],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31421"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31422,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31421\/revisions\/31422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}