You know that feeling you get when you realize you've done something really dumb, and you can't undo it? Like when you dent your car or flood the bathroom again? I got that feeling yesterday morning when, after searching for my new MP3 player, I found it underneath some jeans and towels.
In the washing machine.
I was pretty upset. As I walked with the kids, sans soggy MP3 player, I was praying about my disappointment. And it hit me that there was something very positive about the situation--The Engineer's reaction to it.
The Engineer is very good at his job, partially because he is very practical. The practical side of his nature nicely balances the artistic, at times flighty, side of mine. But his personality also makes it really tough for him when people around him make totally avoidable, silly mistakes. Many times I've told him, "You don't need to make me feel any worse about {insert avoidable error}; I already feel bad enough!"
Yesterday was different. I called The Engineer as soon as I found the player, telling him what I'd done. "Well," he rationalized, "it's an easy thing to do; it's so small." He showed that he related to me by saying, "You'll just need to get into the habit of checking your pockets; I go in and out of that habit myself." And he reassured me, "It might dry out; remember that phone I dropped into water at a treatment plant? It was fine after it dried out!" He even agreed to buy another if this one doesn't recover.
As I replayed our conversation in my mind, I gained a new appreciation for my husband. He reacted in a way that comforted me, making my feelings more important than a silly electronic device. I called him at work to tell him, in detail, what a great job he'd done.
Yesterday The Engineer was also The Encourager. What a great combination!
27 comments:
That would be so easy to do. The smaller the device, the more likely it is to get washed! Now, this full size 30GB iPod I lug around? No chance. It's too big! I hope it dries out & recovers.
I washed the remote to the tv in our bedroom, I just rolled it up in the sheets without even looking. It worked fine after it dried out. I now make sure I shake out the sheets before I wash them!
What a good husband you have! These things happen. I accidently washed my husbands favorite dry clean only sweater and put holes in it. Oops. He was almost as understanding as the Engineer was. Almost.
I think we might be married to the same man!!!
I do so many silly, stupid things... but the worst is my repeated "accidents" with the car in my own garage. I took the sideview mirror off once. Another time I scraped the side of the car because I was too close to the door. But the absolute worst was when I backed out of the garage -- without hitting anything -- and bumped into his car!!! I actually contemplated not going back in the house and just driving off and never returning. When I finally worked up my courage and went back in and told him, he just looked at me, shook his head and walked away.
Sometimes I don't know how he puts up with me. And the worst thing is...he almost NEVER does anything stupid like that so I never get to say "see...EVERYONE does silly stuff like that once in a while."
Hope the MP3 player dries out OK!
Yay for hubby!!
My mom has used this trick on waterlogged cell phones with some success...
Put it in a bowl of uncooked rice. Apparently, the rice absorbs the liquid. Worth a shot, right?
What a nice hubby! And if it makes you feel any better, you aren't alone. My husband washed his new Crackberry. It was 4 days old. Ooops. But by far my favorite story is the morning that the car alarm kept going off. I'd go out and turn it off and two minutes later it was blaring in the garage again. This went on for about 10 minutes before I finally found my hubby's car keys bouncing around in the dryer.
What a good man!
Reminds me of just last week when I (after getting flashed for the second time in 7 days by a photo radar camera on the freeway)decided I should probably inform Tom of my illegal activity. You know, to prepare him for the tickets that might be coming in the mail?! I expected a line of questioning that would make me feel more idiotic than I already did, but instead, he ever so sweetly said, "Well, let me know how you're going to pay for that, okay?". I told him it was about time for my yearly review and I would be asking him for a raise! ;)
99.9% of the time, I love that rational mind my husband has too, but every once in a while..... it drives me crazy. LOL
Hope your Mp3 player dried out and is working fine now.
I hope the mp3 player still works! I dropped my iPod in the sink once while I was doing dishes, and by the next day it was fine. You have a good man there, in The Engineer.
Way to go Engineer!
Can I just say that I totally lost it when I read what Desert wrote about washing the remote??!!!! Love it!We've all done things like this!
My dd Nana dropped her brand new cell phone in the TOILET from out of her hoodie pocket--she took her SIM card and put it into one of my old phones and used it until a month later when she tried to turn on the other phone and VOILA! It works fine!
Oh! And the car keys in the Dryer! Priceless!
umm should I have mentioned that there was nothing but water in the toilet? yeah otherwise EWWWWW
i just loved the story! :-) it was feel-good, it was happy ---which explains your tag-line.
hey, thanks for putting a smile on my face.
oh, btw, its true, these gadgets DO sometimes recover
IF they're allowed to dry - - - thoroughly. g'luck.
..
.ero
What a good hubby. I've enjoyed all the comments about things we do that are idiotic- it makes me feel much more normal. I too have backed out of the garage without opening the door-- oops. And my engineer hubby actually fixed the door! hooray.
Perfect response Engineer hub! Good choice :) I knew exactly what you were saying CB. How awesome that you trusted him and he responded so great :)
What a good hubby.
I have washed both my brand new camera and my husband ipod in the lat year or so. Let just say my husband wasn't as understand. But that's what he gets for leaving his ipod in his jacket pocket :)
I went swimming with my cell phone tucked in my cleavage at the lake "for safe keeping" I was submerged for about 20 minutes, about the length of a wash cycle.. Talk about feeling like an idiot.
I went and bought a used phone and just on a whim tried out the wet one about two weeks later and it worked! I use it to this day.
I am hoping the inner workings are similar and you are going to have a working toy eventually.
Yay to the Engineer! :)
Someone I know dropped their cell phone in the toilet right before they flushed. She had to fish it out (it may have just been pee, but still...ew) and since she was grossed out by what it had fallen into, she completely submerged it in soapy water and scrubbed it clean. After it had some time to dry out, it worked just fine.
So, if a cell phone can survive that kind of punishment, I'm sure your mp3 player can as well.
I'm sorry! That is totally the kind of "frustrating" luck that I have. Typically it is my husband who is understanding, just me that is hard on myself!
Oh that sucks. I did that once with my husbands phone. All weekend we searched for that stupid thing...and then I emptied the washing machine. Often when I make a mistake I actually think in my head for a split second that I should just'Ctrl Z' undo it. Ahhh if only :)
Bella.
Angie--I found myself wishing I had one of those old, big iPods!
Desert Grace--That's funny! I tend to get things caught in my fitted sheets after washing--the other day I unfolded a fitted sheet and found a missing sock. Score!
Tia--Yes, he's a very good husband. :)
Jenners--Glad I'm not the only one!! Love your story.
Liz--Okay, it's been sitting in uncooked rice all day now. I'll check it tomorrow. Thanks for the tip!
Adlibby--Ha ha ha--great car keys story!!
Kristi--So funny! I agree; you deserve a big raise!!
Debbie--Yes, the rational mind is generally a good thing!
Becky--We'll see. I tried to turn it on when I found it--I shouldn't have. Hope I didn't short it out.
Chris--Yeah, what a man!
Momza--As I've been searching the Internet about how to dry out wet electronics--seems dropping cell phones in toilets is pretty common!
bARE-eYED sUN--I'm glad it made you smile! Almost worth the $50 I may have lost if it doesn't start working again. ;)
snakeriverwalton--I don't think I've backed out of the garage without opening the door, but I have pulled in not-quite-far-enough and gotten a nice SCRATCH on my trunk from the garage door.
Our Scoop--Yeah, he really came through!
Kerri--I was glad I didn't get the 4 1/2 times more expensive iPod Touch I'd considered!
Monica--Now, that's funny! Yeah, maybe not the best place to stash a phone while you swim!
Isabella--Ew!! Enjoying your new blog, BTW!
Lyndsay--Oh, just e-mail me when you do something like that; I'll try to make you feel better! :)
Bella--I love the CTRL Z idea!! Get to work on that, would you? :)
Wait until Chickie and Zoodle are a little older. You'll definitely need to get into the habit of checking pockets by then! Even now at 20 (him not me) I end up extracting things like Passport, drivers licence, money - the paper kind - and the phone number slipped to him by a girl at a party, from the washing basket before it gets mashed. The latter was the only one for which he seemed grateful!
I am so touched by your story, partially because I had just written about "When is Love Perfect" on my blog. To me, The Engineer demonstrated a little slice of "perfect" married love in how he made you feel better and encouraged you.
You are a perfect match in Heaven!
It is a good thing to have a good communication. You both inspire me to do good always. Seriously.
I like the fact that he said he'll get a new one. hehehe!
Please post an update about your MP3 player. Gotta check!
GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR BEAUTIFUL FAMILY! P.U.S.H.
Ok I dunno if that was right but here's what I had in mind but typed the one on top...
You are a perfect match made in Heaven!
You and your husband sound like my husband and I! It is nice to have someone balance the artistic flightiness (my husband has a degree in finance...very practical!) however I think we balance their practicalness...sometimes they need us to help them look at things in a new perspective!
Post a Comment