A Update to the Update: The Finale

Part 1 here
Part 2 here

Why are these in my kitchen and not my laundry room?  stay tuned....

In order to actually give Sears the money I had been trying to throw at them since last Saturday I finally give up on the Sears credit department and drive up to the collection and meet the sales lady. 

She apologies profusely for the INSANITY that has taken place over the last week and rings in my sales again calling over a supervisor to swipe his card to approve all the various and sundry discounts and tax free options, etc.
I was going to write a check, but she suggests a credit card is easier.  Fine, I hand her my card and she swipes the card.  Authorization required.  Remember my bank account got hit in the old TJX debacle, well guess what?  They closed my credit card as well and I had no idea.  I sigh and figure these people must think I am the biggest loser ever.  We call my credit card company and explain that I am indeed standing right here in front of the sales lady.  No, I hadn't received a new card in the mail and no, I had no idea my account was closed.  After a brief dog and pony show they approve the transaction.
Sales lady then calls and cancels the erroneous dryer delivery for Sunday and confirms that they HAVE NOT canceled the Saturday delivery of the entire kit and caboodle.  We shake hands and I head off to work.

Later I get home and check the mail and what do you think my eyes spy?  That's right kiddies, the new credit card.  So I call them and dance my way through several people to be sure that they don't CANCEL THE DAMN washer payment on the old card.

Saturday morning husband and I begin the preparations for the arrival of the beasts.  Floors are washed, old machines disconnected, paths are cleared from the front door to the basement stairs.
During the afternoon in shifts we go out and run errands based around the ETA from the delivery call.
At the 11th hour I hear the squeak of brakes out front and a man hops out of the truck.  I head out to the garden with the pooper so all doors can be opened and husband takes the guy down and shows him the basement.
They come back up the stairs, the guy walks down the driveway gets in his truck and pulls down the street, turns around and heads the other way speeding past our driveway and waves to husband as he passes.

WTF?!?!?!?!?!

We wait a few minutes, a few minutes more and after about 10 minutes the phone rings.

It is Sears dispatch asking if we have had our delivery yet.  Husband explains the odd circumstance that just occurred, and the fact that the guy left his entire manifest for the days orders downstairs and the guy in dispatch says they are having a strange day, they had been trying to get a hold of these two guys all day.
As if this ENTIRE TRANSACTION couldn't get any more surreal.
Dispatch promises we will hear back from them and in about 20 minutes the Sears truck arrives back, the guys offload the machines and start assembling them in the driveway with no explanation on where they went.  Needless to say we never heard from dispatch again.

I'm hanging in the garden with the pooper when I hear husband's voice from the window.

"They won't go down the stairs, they don't fit."

It was about that very moment when I finally lost my cool.

I marched in as they guys were carrying my old washer up the stairs. 
"Where do you think you;re going with that?"
"We were told to remove it." he said
"Not now pal, move it back down the stairs."

They bring the old washer back down and hand me some paperwork to sign.  I ask of they are taking the other machines back since they won't fit and he says NO, you have to call and schedule that.  I tell husband to sign the papers I want nothing to do with it.

WHAT ALTERNATE PLANET HAVE I LANDED ON?

So there I was with an enormous washer and dryer in my kitchen, an old washer and dryer in my basement and my sanity pretty much in shreds.

This is the corner that was the problem...

After pondering it, husband, the engineer, grabbed his tools and ripped out part of the old door frame (we haven't had a door there in years) and a false corner inside the stairwell that was causing our pain.  Of course I assumed there was no way we could make this happen, we would never be able to get Sears to come back and bring them downstairs.  But I should learn to never doubt the man that made this entire project happen with just the two of us. We dismantled the bases from the machines, shimmied them across the floor of the kitchen and the carpet of the living room and VOILA(!) they turned the corner no problem.

The steps down...

Husband at the bottom of the steps (4) walked the machines down as I supported from above, we laid them down on the carpet in the basement, reattached their bases, shimmied them into the utility room, made all the connects, shoved the old machines in a corner and here we are at 8:00, finally showered, advil taken, and having a cocktail.  Now the old Maytag washer and Kenmore dryer just need to be hauled out to the garage and I will freecycle them sometime soon to move them out.

Next up is putting some finish carpentry on the newly opened raw space, and maybe finally ripping out that nasty carpet in the basement, oh and in the living room while we are at it, and putting in hardwood floors and repainting and....but that is all for another day.

Load 1 done.