The day before heading to Hawaii last month, the air conditioning went out. Today, the day before we leave for our 5,000 mile road trip, the washing machine took a crap, with my clothes still floating in the dirty water. I called an appliance guy and a few hours later, he was there. I told him it was probably the timer/control panel that need replacing. He said, "OK, I'll replace it, but it won't fix the problem."
OK, I now felt about as stupid as one could be. I shut up while he explained that it was the safety switch on the bottom side of the lid. It stops spinning, filling and draining in case a child was to crawl inside. Five minutes later (and $130 less in my pocket) I was back to washing my clothes.
We are now packing up the car, with our ice chests, lap tops, smart phones, iPads, and all the other necessities in life, and we will be out of here no later than 6AM. Next stop will be in Rawlins, Wyoming, which is ~ 1000 miles northeast!