Living in Suburbia

I love our neighborhood. We have a park that is perfect for running, rollerblading, walking, playing sports, or climbing on the jungle gym. We are an easy mile walk to Main Street. The houses are not huge, but not too close together, either.

Our neighborhood is also very attractive to all sorts of door-to-door people. We get:

• Salesmen: lawn care, pest control, home improvement, books, magazines, and (of course) Girl Scout cookies and Boy Scout hoagie sales. The last two don't bother us as long as we know the kids.
• Religious groups traveling in pairs: Jehovah Witnesses to Baptists, often on Sunday mornings when the heathens are home. What they don't know, is we often go to an evening worship service.
• Political Groups: the kind that won't leave any literature behind unless you first give them a donation and sign their forms. Hmm...
• Entrepreneurs: people who can identify a specific need and have a short term solution -- ideally one that does not cost us anything.

Last week we had one of the latter people knock on our door. A high school-aged kid, roaming around the neighborhood with his dad and a pick up truck saw our old treadmill next to the trash. He asked if he could have it for scrap metal. Since we had been planning on taking said treadmill to the scrap metal heap that weekend, we were glad to give him that PLUS the pile we had been collecting in the garage.

They were thrilled to have metal to add to their collection. We were thrilled to have it out of our house. The last time I explored collecting money for our scrap metal I was told I needed 100 pounds of it. Instead, I often give it to the last person in line. This saved me the drive to Trenton.

A win-win for everyone -- including Mother Earth.

Local Appliance Part Shop

On July 4th our washing machine started leaking. I could tell this was not going to be a pretty sight.

The washing machine is at least 15 years old. I know we bought it after we got married 20 years ago, but before we moved to our current home 13 years ago.

The options: fix it or buy a new one

Fortunately I married a man who can fix things. He took it apart and diagnosed the situation: broken water pump.

In the past this would have meant a quick trip to Jacoby's in Trenton. Unfortunately they went out of business a few years ago.

A quick Google search on Appliance Parts Philadelphia brought up a bunch of places that were closed on Saturday (it took a couple of days to diagnose the situation), and no idea if they had the part, nor how much it would cost.

An eBay search brought up a place in Lancaster, PA that said we would have it by Wednesday.

Really missing Jacoby's at this point.

Wednesday's mail came and no part was in it. I emailed the seller. The item was on back order, but he would mail it "soon." Um...sure we can wait an indefinite amount of time for a part you sold to us as if it was in stock. 

Another Google search. This time I plugged in Appliance Parts NJ. A store in East Brunswick came up. Long story short, we could not communicate.

Another Google search. This time I plugged in Appliance Parts PA. After sifting through the results and deeming many of them too far away (Erie, Tannersville, ...) I found one in Levittown, PA. Yes, just across the river from us.

A quick phone call confirmed they were open and had the part. A 20-minute drive later I was picking up the part and on my way home. That night, Don repaired the washing machine and we were back in business.

As part of my gratitude to the store for still being open, and for having Saturday hours, I promised to tell all my friends and family about them. 

All Brand Appliance Parts
224 Levittown Parkway
Levittown, PA 19054
215/547-5900

They are easy to get to, have decent hours, and accept credit cards. On top of that, the price was cheaper than other places we called.

Next time we have an appliance issue, and as a home owner, there is always a "next time." We'll see them first.