Black Cloud?

These are our jet skis. We bought them used and got a really great deal...so it's really ok that the one on the left has never worked and is not worth fixing even if we could. See, Polaris doesn't make jet skis anymore so getting parts is a problem. But the one on the right runs and we have a really cool, two-ski trailer.

But to tell the whole story, I have to back up. Over the winter there was a HUGE GIGANTIC MONSTROUS black cloud over our heads. The upstairs furnace quit working. $$$. My washer and dryer (three years old) both started acting funny. The dryer was making horrible metal scraping noises as it ran ~ and the washer had knobs that didn't work and it wasn't agitating anything but me. Then the refrigerator started freezing everything. I figured if a fridge is going to go bad, freezing is the way to go, but we had to keep turning it off so stuff could thaw out. So out came the guy from Fred's appliance. $$. The washer and dryer were SHOT ($$$$) but he could fix the fridge. ($). So over the course of three weeks all gets fixed and/or replaced. We even had to return the brand new washer because it broke the first day home... Can you say, "Black Cloud"? I was afraid of what was going to happen next.

So when the blender that I got as a wedding present didn't work, I didn't think too much about it. Black Cloud or no, blenders don't really last 20 years. I threw it away and figured I'd do without the smoothie. Then the TV in the kitchen wouldn't work. At this point I'm really about ready to give up. I can't afford to replace the TV even if Matt Lauer and I have a standing coffee date every morning. Then the toaster wouldn't toast. "Wait a minute," my smart husband says...and he resets the GFI on the outlet in the kitchen. Out to the trash I went to retrieve my blender.


All this being said, let me go back to the jet skis. Mike went out this spring to put the battery in the one that runs. It goes in easily, gas is full, and the machine starts right up. Then it dies and won't start again and is reading a low something message on the display. Done. We know it's not worth fixing. They sit in the driveway for a few weeks. Mike talks to the guy who fixes jet skis and asks him to take a look to see if they are worth buying for scrap. Jet Ski Man calls Mike and tells him it runs fine. He just needed to turn on the gas.