The delivery men from Lowe’s arrived about 8:30 a.m. in our 8 a.m. to noon delivery window. The teenager had woken slightly before and to the neighbors it sounded like a garbage truck was idling outside.

Very quickly and adroitly they plopped them in the kitchen and stacked them in my now 1/2 bath.

The washer was ready to go before they left, but the dryer— I hadn’t ordered the plug. There are so many extras that come with the washer and dryer combo I didn’t know which ones were necessary and I missed that one.

It turns out— the dryer was manufactured on my birthday. May 20, 2021.

I asked my dad to stop by when he has a minute and evaluate the vent and help me with the plug, but a neighbor remembered my appliances were coming and stopped by earlier in the day.

I did my first load of wash and hung it on the heated drying rack as I have on rainy days for about the last three years.

And then I took a look at the users manuals to understand the multitude of settings these beasts have.

With everything hooked up, I did four more loads of laundry— not that I had that much laundry piled up but we had delicates, darks, lights, bedding and cold wash. So far I think cold washes will be relegated to the washer in the basement.

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It’s still a work in progress as the washer and dryer shifted even closer to the toilet.

But experimenting with the various settings has been really fun. Yes, fun.