Saturday, September 23, 2006

Master and Apprentice: the Washing Machine Saga (Part I)

How many men does it take to buy and install a washing machine? This question might be better phrased, how many HOURS does it take to buy and install a washing machine.

This morning Sasha greeted me promptly at 9am for our trip to Mir (World) to buy my new washing machine. We had already met on Thursday to scope out the prices and features of machines (and sizes! You'd never believe how cute and small my washing machine is).

So here's the run down of our 14 hour day.

The Washing Machine

9am - 9:30 I eat breakfast to fuel up for the day. walk and bus ride to Mir

9:30am - 10 scope out the machine and talk to Yura about it.

o Turns out that there's a special sale and every hour the discount changes

10am - 11 wait for an hour to see if we can get a better discount. Search for miscellaneous parts that we need to attach the machine to the sink in the bathroom, yes the washing machine is in my bathroom (the store doesn't have any of the parts we need).

11am - 11:30 we achieve a 15% discount and save over $80 on my washing machine with discounts!!!

11:30am Driver meets us to take the machine home!

12:00pm - 1 we fiddle around with the insides of the machine and make sure everything looks like it's working.

1pm - 2:30 we hike to the tool market and buy the necessary items to hook up the machine AND ground 3 outlets in the house… yes - that's right - it's totally sweet working on do-it-yourself projects with Russians, because they're all electricians, and really really handy!

2:30pm - 3:15 lunch. I heat up some blini (pancakes) and we fuel up again.

Electricity

3:15pm - 3:30 we realize that we don't have all the things that we need….

3:30pm - 4:45 we go to Sasha's to pick up some supplies, head off to a different market to buy a few other things and Sasha shows me the best places to buy cheese, milk, bread, veggies, and a few other key items!

4:45pm - 11 we work almost nonstop to get everything done. We literally have only inches of extra electrical wire and conduit. And… we aren't finished.

Stay tuned for Part II: was it worth shedding blood or clean clothes are worth the wait

Yeah, we had a small accident and there was actually blood. Unfortunately not mine. I'm feeling really humbled about how much I've been helped today and I know there is nothing I can really do in return. It's so awesome to have friends who are genuine and just love to serve. Sasha's help really reminded me today about how J-sus loves and serves and requires nothing in return.






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