power in France: part deux
Thank goodness we decided to work on putting together shelves and putting away the final boxes while doing a little laundry this morning. Because we nearly burned down the house and very well might have if we’d done that laundry then left the house.
I was walking by the washer/dryer and thought I smelled something burning. But I seem to always think I’m smelling something burning and Bill says my nose is mistaken.
Apparently, my nose was right.
A little later, I walked by the washer and dryer and noticed the washer had stopped washing mid-cycle. My nose had been trying to tell me what was going on… the outlet we’d plugged both appliances into with the help of a thingie to turn a single-plug outlet into a double-plug outlet was melting. All this time I’ve been smelling the plastic and wires smouldering.
Now, one who comes from a country filled with gfci outlets and breakers that actually break when there is a problem and regulations for plugging in one’s dryer to begin with wouldn’t expect your outlet to just melt. The breaker never tripped. It’s as if when they built this house just two years ago, the owners simply could not imagine ever ever wanting to plug in more than just a dinky French washing machine there. Apparently, he figured that even when it is zero degrees celcius outside, that’s where you dry your clothes. (How do clothes dry outside when it is freezing?)
Engineer Bill pulled out the melted outlet. I don’t understand exactly what he said other than this: it wasn’t the right outlet for that spot.
He found another, unmelted, outlet in the garage and installed that. Now we can use the washer and dryer… just not at the same time.