Humbling the Humidity or How to Get a Grip on the Drip

My fridge died. My Stove died. A few hours ago, the washer died. And this strange green mold started to grow on my brand new runner. In short: this is the worst combination of heat and humidity that the state of New Hampshire has seen in some time. I feel sorry that the good folks over at On My Mind are visiting the NH Seacoast right now, because oh man... the past ten days have just plain sucked. Everything is damp. Everything is clammy and stale. To sum it all up with one word: "Yuck"

But I'm fighting back.

First, I called every dealer in the local area looking for a dehumidifier. None. They are all sold out. So I hit the Internet. No luck. Again, all sold out. I did find one, but the price was well higher than I could afford, being designed for commercial use. So what do I do?

First, I searched through old computer boxes for loose packets of "Silica Gel"... a silicon drying agent used to preserve electronic goods during shipping and storage. I eventually found some in unopened bottles of dog medicine (did I mention the wife works for a vet?), gathered them up and stuffed them into the components of my failing appliances.

Desperate, yes. But at roughly $400-$600 each for new appliances... any chance is worth the effort. So, a quick call (just in case) to my homeowners insurance company later, I was whirling around my house trying to de-humidify everything with fans and Silica Gel.

Oh, did I mention that I bought a shop ventillator first? Fans just weren't strong enough. It has already brought my washer back to a semi-comatose state. It now works 25% of the time, and I'm hoping for a brighter tomorrow. The stove still doesn't work, but the computer now displays the clock (wrong time) and can "self clean" (but you can't stop it). Maybe as further drying continues things will shape up more. Only time will tell. In the mean time, I have applied some commercial cleaner to the runner, and the mold is gone (although the smell still lingers).

To say that life is Hell is misleading. Everyone knows that Hell is full of fire and brimstone... and not full of wet damp consumer products and slowly rotting wall plaster. This is worse than Hell.

P.S. — the new fan is amazing: it will actually blow a wet towel across the damp cement basement floor. Can you spell "A-i-r-f-l-o-w"?