Washer Woman

Laundry is one of my favourite domestic chores. Sadly, the weather hadn't been cooperating lately, so by Tuesday, I had an awful lot to keep me busy. I started with the diapers, since, for the first time ever, I had actually run out of clean ones. I put them in, and merrily went on with my day. And then along came G and informed me that the washer wasn't working.
Sure enough, the washer wasn't working.
I paused to think of what to do and remembered that the last load we had done a few days previously had had a similar problem - it wasn't draining. I called Rod (it's wonderful being married to a handyman) and asked him what to do. He suggested I try to drain it, if possible, and to otherwise call in the repairman. My Dutch sensibilities balked at the latter suggestion, but my uncertainty of my handywoman abilities balked at the former. But, the Dutch sensibilities won out and I found myself taking apart part of the washer to try to drain it.
I did the best I could: I did the Cookie -Sheet - Slide - Roasting - Pan - Dump. Many, many times. It was not my finest hour. (Literally: "hour"). Perhaps it wouldn't have been quite so bad if it wasn't diaper water. Or if I didn't spill so much. Or if G wasn't quite so "helpful." But, in the end, there was an end. It was drained.
Remembering that Rod had made mention of an unbalanced load, I tried to re-balance this load. And then I pushed the start button again. Hopeful....easy does it...away she goes....here comes more water and some sploshing....and a big "nope."
And so I drained it again. Much like the first time. (It was around this point that I realized there is a fine line between "optimism" and "foolishness.")
I called the repairman.
Thankfully, he came later in the day (I am, after all, addicted to laundry). He asked some questions about the washer, fiddled, grunted, and worked, asked about how old the baby was (she had woken up when he came). Apparently that was his segue...I didn't clue in...
And then he held up the culprit: a nursing pad had gotten stuck in the hose.
Problem solved.