That time my water heater died on Christmas morning

I was getting ready to host my whole family for Christmas dinner last year when I went to grab something from the basement and stepped in a puddle. My 15 year old water heater had finally given up and dumped about 40 gallons of water all over the floor. No hot water, no showers, and I had 12 people showing up in 4 hours. I spent the first hour just frantically shop vaccing water while my wife called around to find a plumber on a holiday. Ended up paying a guy $650 cash to come out and install a new one that afternoon. He got it done by 2 PM and we managed to have a decent Christmas after all, but I'll never forget that panic. Has anyone else had a major appliance fail at the absolute worst time?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan_young17d ago

Has this ever happened to you where it feels like the universe just waits for the most inconvenient moment to wreck something important? It's like the universe has a perfect sense of timing for disasters. I had my washing machine give up mid-cycle on a Saturday night right before a big work trip. It's almost like appliances can smell when you're stressed and decide that's the perfect time to break. There's a kind of dark comedy to it when you step back, but in the moment it's pure panic. You end up making weird mental deals with yourself, like if you just get through this, you'll never take hot water for granted again.

benc5316d ago

... my buddy Tom had his car's alternator die on him at like 11pm on a Tuesday, right when he was driving home from a double shift. He pulled into a gas station and the whole thing just gave up, wouldn't even jump start. The kicker was he had a doctor's appointment the next morning for his kid, and the repair shop couldn't look at it until Thursday. He ended up having to borrow his neighbor's beat up pickup truck that smelled like old french fries, and he swore that was the universe's way of telling him he should've saved up for a newer car.

taylor_hayes2514d ago

Yeah man. Timing always sucks when stuff breaks. Feel for your buddy.