The dryer is broken. I have discovered this because I did laundry Monday night and put it to dry, and then this morning went to pull out a pair of jeans and found they were still soggy. They've been drying now for probably over an hour and everything is still damp.

It's getting hot - that's for sure. And there's hot air coming out when I went out to check the outside vent. And it's actually spinning the clothes because I stood there and listened to them clump around inside. So I'm not exactly sure what the problem could be - just that it has apparently decided it doesn't feel like its optimum best.

I have a few choices. I can call and get it fixed. I could let it sit and stew about it. I could decide that when we move we get a new dryer because gas dryers are more energy efficient and cheaper to run (well, supposedly they are, assuming natural gas prices ever drop back to 'normal' again), and heck, we set up the laundry room for just such a thing, so why not use it?

Any of these choices, however, leave us in the unenviable position of having to do laundromat runs, possibly through the next several months til we move. It's not exactly something one anticipates having to do when one finally graduates to a house where one can have one's own washer and dryer.

Sigh. I hate things like this. Another fix-it project. Gee.

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Things I learned today.
• When you put a pan of rice on to boil, and you are supposed to turn it down to simmer, but you accidentally turn the other burner to simmer and leave the heat under the rice on high, and then you run over to feed your friend's cats for only a few minutes, when you return, the house is full of wispy clouds of smoke, there's the chemically smell of metal in the air, and you discover that not only has the water boiled out of the pan and the rice adhered themselves permanently to the bottom, but the pan itself will actually begin to melt and weld itself to the burner.

• When your house is full of wispy clouds of smoke and the smoke alarm is *not* blaring its little heart out when you walk in, this means it's probably a good idea to change the battery.