You know how the dishwasher wasn’t working? Well, a guy came out to fix it two days ago. His version of fixing it is he fiddled with the latch a little bit so now when I try and close it it pops open, but if I hip check it using all my body weight then it should stay closed. I can only guess how long that “repair” is going to last, but that’s how you do things here.
Well after the dishwasher fix, suddenly the breaker that controls the dishwasher/washer/dryer started tripping. If we weren’t running the dishwasher and the dryer at the same time it was OK, but I decided to have Josh put a work order in anyway. I went to a brief at the embassy last week and they said if we ever have any electrical issues to let them know because the embassy will send out their own people to check them. So this morning the electrician arrived, walked into the kitchen and immediately said, “That is the wrong plug on the washing machine.” He felt it and it was HOT, burn your fingers scorching hot, and when he unplugged it from the wall we saw this:
You don’t get the whole effect without the smoke and smell of burning plastic, but you get the picture.
They cut the plug off the washing machine (of course it was running and the machine is full of water and clothes so hopefully they’ll be back before we have moldy soup in the washer) and are going to see if they can locate a heavy duty plug to replace it. They also figured out that the voltage of the appliances is too much for the circut breaker so they have to get approval from the landlord to switch it out for a higher rated one. Or something like that. Between the dude’s accent, my less than stellar hearing, and my limited knowledge of electrical work, that’s what I got out of the conversation. I’m just glad I didn’t have a kitchen fire to blog about.