When appliances attack

What a day.

The big project for today was to move the washer and dryer at GAI's house up from the basement and out to the alley.  The village does large pickups on Friday, no charge.  K's boyfriend, KC, said he would help G get the job done.  Bless you KC, but I bet you'll never make a similar offer again.  NEVER. 

First challenge -- water in the basement from the rain last night.  I didn't think it had rained that much, but I guess it did.  : /  G took care of most of the water before K and KC arrived, but the floor was still damp and slick.

We decided to eat lunch first so the guys would be fueled for their task.  After lunch, K helped move some things off of the steps and G and KC took the basement door and the back door off their hinges so they would be able to maneuver the washer and dryer through the doorways.  They loaded the washer onto the hand cart, bunjeed it in place, and started up the steps.  KC went up the steps first, pulling on the handle of the two-wheeler with G at the bottom of the steps, guiding the load and helping to push.  It seemed to be working well, but KC is 6' 4".  It was difficult for him to bend down several steps to grab the handle of the cart and then have enough leverage to hoist it upward.  G suggested they switch places.

Everything was going great . . . until it wasn't.

I'm still not sure what happened, but all of a sudden there was a horrible sound of clanging metal as the washer started to slide, then bounce, then careen down the stairs -- straight toward KC!  I think I yelled, "Oh my God!" and then "Are you alright?"  K was outside on the stoop, waiting to hold the screen door open for G and KC.  She rushed into the kitchen to see what had happened.       

Thanks be to God, KC was okay.  He must have the reflexes of a mongoose or a cat or a star-nosed mole (which even though it's blind, apparently has the fastest reflexes of any animal on earth) because he was able to leap out of the way before the very heavy washer could crash into him and pin him against the basement wall.  I wish I could say that he escaped unscathed, but unfortunately he suffered two bad scrapes/scratches on his left forearm and an abrasion on his shoulder.  I'm sure he will be sore and bruised when he wakes up in the morning.  : /

I can't describe how scared I was when I didn't know if KC was seriously hurt, and I also can't describe how deeply sorry I am that this accident happened.  To his credit, KC shook it off and said he was fine.  He genuinely seemed to be telling the truth and insisted on getting back to work -- after we checked him over and everyone had a chance to let their heart rate settle into a somewhat normal range.

On the second try, with additional bungee cords for increased security, the washer went up the stairs without a hitch and moving the dryer (lots lighter than the washer) was equally uneventful.

Ai yi yi.  I wouldn't blame KC if he never wanted anything more to do with us.  After the moving was finished and the two doors were back in place, we had dessert -- cheesecake, KC's favorite.  But seriously, there's not enough cheesecake in the world to make up for almost killing someone with a washer masquerading as a charging bull.