Flash in the pan...wait, in the dryer

So, the dryer guy shows up today. On Monday, I had been trying to catch up on mountains of laundry and was running the dryer at full tilt for most of the afternoon. When I went to check the last load of clothes, there was a nasty electrical burning smell emanating from the dryer. It had that "fires of hell, it's gonna be expensive and might possibly burn down your house" sort of stench to it. Which freaked me out...that would be the last thing I need to cap off the crapper of the last 6 months I've had...burning down the house is a song, not my life!

Anyway, I unplug it and then spend the rest of the evening turning into my grandmother because I obsessively go down to the basement and feel it up to see if it's smoldering away and fraught with hidden danger. I feel it sitting there, pulsating in its anger at me, at the world. It is of course cool to the touch and not emanating anything, but boy does it smell bad! The Man keeps saying it's okay, don't worry about it, but I keep obsessing and compulsing about the smell and what might be wrong with the dryer. Damn, I really think I'm starting to become the "glass half-empty and about to break in a million little pieces in your hand" person instead of the "cheerful happy go lucky the glass is half full and I'm ready for more" gal of yesteryear.

So, the dryer guy. He shows up and listens to my tale of woe about the dryer. He eyeballs it for a minute, turns it one, and then takes off the bottom cover which is full of blackened lint. "Ma'am," he says, "you had yourself a little flashfire here." Flashfire? In the dryer?! What the hell does he mean by "flashfire?" I'm having all sorts of Backdraft and Ladder 49 thought running through my brain and still thinking it's sounding expensive and not feeling at all comfortable about the blackened bits of lint in the bottom of the dryer. (BTW, who the hell knew that part of the dryer even came off? Much less would get full of lint? And, before you ask, I do clean my lint trap, thank you very effing much!)

He assures me I can still use it, even though it looks a little black around the edges, in that "don't you worry your pretty little head about it" kind of way, which for some reason doesn't even annoy me. Usually it just walks all over that last nerve, but for some reason, it's okay this time. Probably because it's not going to burn the house down, or I'm probably just relieved that he didn't look at the dust bunnies on the stairs and ask if that was our 4th poodle.

So, I'm feeling pretty good that maybe the dryer thing will be okay and not burn down the house, when my mother calls and informs me that she is really thinking about coming over this weekend to visit. I think I'll go and fill my glass now with something strong and dark...and keep filling it.