Mr. Beer

 Hillary got me a Mr. Beer home brewing kit for my birthday. My first batch is a blonde ale which should be ready about 4 weeks from now.

Washing Machine Again

 More washing machine problems. It would fill with water and drain normally, but it would not spin at all. I did some research and found out that it could be a faulty lid switch. This is the switch that tells the washing machine that the door is closed and it is safe to spin. Our lid switch was broken, so the washing machine always thought the door was open. At first I bypassed the lid switch by cutting and joining some wires together - but that would only work for 3 loads. Apparently it has a built in protection against bypassing the lid switch, which is there for safety reasons. Every 3 loads I had to disconnect those wires again and then reconnect them, which would give us another 3 loads. Finally I ordered the part pictured from Amazon for $17.51. I installed it and our washing machine now works perfectly again. Poor Hillary had to do laundry at the rent house a few times while I was trying to get this thing fixed.