Monster Within Redux

After a couple weeks without doing any laundry, I was in desperate need of some clean business casual cloths. I went downstairs to the minimart and bought a bottle of non-assuming pink laundry soap and went back upstairs to my 11th story abode. I put my dirty laundry in the machine along with the pink soap, closed the door, pushed a couple buttons and stepped back. Within a few seconds, I was staring in amazement as my first load of laundry began to spin in a soapy froth.

A little lcd screen on the front of the washer showed 125 minutes so I decided to step out for a quick bit. I found a small ramen restaurant, slurped up my simple meal and went on my merry way back home.

Arriving back home, I stuck my magnetic key in its slot, opened my door and was greeted by a rush of water from my flooded apartment. It wasn't the type of rush of water that hits you chest high and pushes you against the wall behind you, but it was the type of flooded where a good inch or two covered the entire floor. Now, this may not sound like a lot of water, but trust me, its a lot of water!

I called my landlord and began cleaning up. A few hours later a repair guy came by and took a look at the monster. He took out a grey seal that went around the door and put in a new one. He showed my the cracks in the old seal, then pointed to the new seal and gave me the thumbs up.

I was happy the repair was made so quickly, but come on! It took the guy 3 seconds to finish. I timed him. 3 seconds.

• Life Lesson #2: 3 seconds of maintenance can save you 2 hours of mopping.