When I was working for both the Oregon and the Colorado team there were times when I wondered if the late nights and all the extra work would add up to anything or if it was all a waste of time. I was worried that the temporary position with the Colorado team wouldn't pan out and I was putting the family through unneeded stress.
In December and January I started to get pretty good feedback from the hiring manager in Colorado. I was basically told that if the position were available I was the first on the list to get it, which was heartening, however, I stayed skeptical. I didn't know the manager and wasn't sure if she was just saying what was easy to say when talking about a potential position to a potential candidate. Another issue that was creeping into our minds was the fact that if I got the position sooner than later I would have to move while Annie stayed with the kids to finish school. Watching both our parents go through something similar we knew we didn't want to do that. We realized that getting the job soon would elliviate our immediate stress , but could just introduce a lot more. We thought it would be ideal if I could get the job soon, but be able to work remotely until school was over. I wasn't going to mention this to a hiring manager, but in a conversation she asked when we were wanting to move. I told her when school was over, but we were of course willing to do what was needed to get the job. She assured me that when I got the job I could work remotely until we were ready. "We are Intel after all", she said. What a huge blessing that was going to be in our lives.
After I had been working with the Colorado team for several months and with no sight or sound of the hiring freeze ending soon Annie and I started facing more decisions that depended on where we were going to be for the next year. Cedar's preschool re-registration was approaching fast and we didn't want to lose her spot in the school if we were going to be in Oregon for another year. It was $75 to register her and we didn't want to have to pay that if we were going to be in Colorado for the next school year. We thought of just paying and thinking about the $75 as the cost of peace of mind in case our plan didn't go through. But Tanner's school re-registration was also approaching and it was much more than that and it would not have been a "peace of mind". We had also felt the Spirit on multiple occasions confirming our plan was going to work so we thought that registering Cedar in an Oregon school would be a display of lack of faith.
The week before the re-registration was due that would confirm Cedar's spot in her preschool Annie and I were at the temple and decided to really focus on the answer to the question, "Should we pay the $75 and register Cedar in an Oregon school". We prayed independently and both felt a peaceful feeling about not needing to register Cedar. Without knowing what the future looked like it was difficult for me to just accept that so I continued explaining to Heavenly Father how I thought it would be good to have a backup plan. The
thoughts that entered my mind were, "Sure … I can pay. It's not the end of the world to apply and
pay … but it's not needed." With that I continued my prayer expressing my
desire to have the faith to follow that prompting, to not apply and risk losing
the Cedar's spot in her school. I also asked that that trial of faith not last too long and
that we would know one way or another if I would be offered a permanent
position. I again had a thought enter my mind that within a week I would be offered a position. I really didn't know at the time if that thought was me trying to inject some of my own will and desire, or if it was the Spirit.
We let the day pass when the registration was due, and despite my fears of anxiety, I actually felt okay about it. Then, just under a week since visiting the temple I got an IM from the hiring manager of the Colorado team that just said she had good news. I wasn't able to talk to her until the next day, but she did have good news. She was very excited to tell me that she was allotted one additional head count, and she wanted to offer it to me. We still had to go through the process of applying and accepting, but it became pretty official at that point that I was able to move my family to Colorado, after 5 years of trying. And she again assured me that I could work remotely until the family was ready to move.
I, again, have to doubts that Heavenly Father has made this possible for us, and I am extremely grateful. It shows me just how much He loves me and knows my and my families needs on a personal level. How He is able to do that for each and everyone of us I don't know. But I do know that he does.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Finding a Colorado Job
I have really enjoyed my career at Intel and had a great desire to continue it even after moving to Colorado. When we tried previously to find work in Colorado I did look both internally and externally to Intel, but was coming up empty in both areas. I have learned that without networking contacts it is extremely difficult to even get an interview, so I knew my best bet, and in fact my desire, was to get a new position with Intel.
When we made the decision to try again, I wasn't very hopeful because the Intel's presence hasn't been very big in Colorado. When I looked previously the Colorado Springs site was being closed, the Fort Collins site didn't have positions for the kind of work I do. There was also a small site (if it could even be called a site), in Longmont Colorado where half a dozen people worked on firmware which is like what I do in that it is writing code, but it is a very different kind of code and I had no experience. I did apply when we first started looking but was quickly turned away.
Five years later I was surprised to find several software engineering positions available at the Longmont site. Apparently it had grown, however, I still wasn't very hopeful because the type of programming was still outside of my skill set. I definitely had a lot of software engineering experience, but it was in the wrong area. I decided to apply anyway, but by the time I had a resume crafted to emphasis the experience I did have along with my abilities to learn and ramp quickly, all of the positions had been removed from the internal job posting. Feeling like not all of the positions could have been filled that quickly and all at the same time I inquired about them and if there were any still available. The hiring managers informed me that there was a hiring freeze and they weren't sure how long it would last. The only disappointment I had was the amount of time I had spent on my resume which, at this point, seemed to be in vain. I knew it was a pretty long shot anyway.
Then an idea was given to me and I began to see Heavenly Father's hand opening doors and providing opportunities. The idea given to me was to take advantage of the hiring freeze. These groups in Colorado obviously had a need for additional help that there weren't going to be able to satisfy, at least right away. I needed an opportunity to learn a new skill set and prove my ability to do that within a short period of time. I communicated my desire to my manager and he fully supported me offering part of my time to the Colorado hiring managers as a temporary assignment. I would be able to use 25% of my time for 3 months to work with a team in Colorado. My manager and the hiring managers met and made the arrangements. It would be a win-win situation. The team in Colorado got at least a little extra help and I got an opportunity to prove myself and make some more networking contacts. The only party that lost was the team I was leaving, but my manager was very supportive of my direction, in part possibly because he was moving into another position as well. Again, another situation that seemed to align with the direction we were headed.
So I began to work with this new team. Everyone was excited to work with me and I began to learn a lot, though I was discouraged how much I felt like I needed to learn. It really seemed like I was working two jobs, using a lot of evenings to try and catch up with the work responsibilities I had. It was a difficult time because Annie was in school as well and had her classes at night. But I was very grateful for the opportunity and I put as much effort as I could afford into it.
When we made the decision to try again, I wasn't very hopeful because the Intel's presence hasn't been very big in Colorado. When I looked previously the Colorado Springs site was being closed, the Fort Collins site didn't have positions for the kind of work I do. There was also a small site (if it could even be called a site), in Longmont Colorado where half a dozen people worked on firmware which is like what I do in that it is writing code, but it is a very different kind of code and I had no experience. I did apply when we first started looking but was quickly turned away.
Five years later I was surprised to find several software engineering positions available at the Longmont site. Apparently it had grown, however, I still wasn't very hopeful because the type of programming was still outside of my skill set. I definitely had a lot of software engineering experience, but it was in the wrong area. I decided to apply anyway, but by the time I had a resume crafted to emphasis the experience I did have along with my abilities to learn and ramp quickly, all of the positions had been removed from the internal job posting. Feeling like not all of the positions could have been filled that quickly and all at the same time I inquired about them and if there were any still available. The hiring managers informed me that there was a hiring freeze and they weren't sure how long it would last. The only disappointment I had was the amount of time I had spent on my resume which, at this point, seemed to be in vain. I knew it was a pretty long shot anyway.
Then an idea was given to me and I began to see Heavenly Father's hand opening doors and providing opportunities. The idea given to me was to take advantage of the hiring freeze. These groups in Colorado obviously had a need for additional help that there weren't going to be able to satisfy, at least right away. I needed an opportunity to learn a new skill set and prove my ability to do that within a short period of time. I communicated my desire to my manager and he fully supported me offering part of my time to the Colorado hiring managers as a temporary assignment. I would be able to use 25% of my time for 3 months to work with a team in Colorado. My manager and the hiring managers met and made the arrangements. It would be a win-win situation. The team in Colorado got at least a little extra help and I got an opportunity to prove myself and make some more networking contacts. The only party that lost was the team I was leaving, but my manager was very supportive of my direction, in part possibly because he was moving into another position as well. Again, another situation that seemed to align with the direction we were headed.
So I began to work with this new team. Everyone was excited to work with me and I began to learn a lot, though I was discouraged how much I felt like I needed to learn. It really seemed like I was working two jobs, using a lot of evenings to try and catch up with the work responsibilities I had. It was a difficult time because Annie was in school as well and had her classes at night. But I was very grateful for the opportunity and I put as much effort as I could afford into it.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
The Colorado Decision
After trying a few times without success because of the economy and a lack of job opportunities, Annie and I started to wonder if we weren't meant to stay in Oregon. We moved to Hillsboro to be closer to work and even though we were renting to avoid establishing roots, we started to look at houses again and thinking of buying. We decided on Annie going back to school which was going to be a 3 - 5 year commitment in Oregon. We got the kids in good schools and we started making friends in Hillsboro that we would miss. And of course we wanted to stay closer to Sara and Spencer.
Even though we never made the decision to stay in Oregon we did lose the goal of moving to Colorado. We both felt kind of lost and unsure of what the future would bring and we were living somewhat complacently. We became very busy with Annie's school and everything else life was bringing to us. Our focus became just surviving the day to day, and whenever we looked up to see the direction we were headed in we really couldn't see very far.
Then one day in a regular one on one meeting with my boss at work, he told me that he was moving into a new position at Intel and he thought that I should apply for the management position he was leaving. I have never done management and wasn't sure if I would want to, but it would be a promotion and potentially a very good opportunity for my career. I knew this particular management position would be extremely stressful and even more so for me as a new manager. It was exciting to think about, but I did not feel good about it, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to bring the additional stress to my family. I decided not to apply for the position, but this opportunity forced me to think long term about my career and where I wanted it to go. At Intel there are well defined tracks for both management and technical positions, but the industry and corporate USA as a whole seem to value managers a bit more. I could probably become a good manager with enough time and experience, but I really like the technical aspect of my job and I'm not sure I would want to lose that. As I was thinking about management versus technical, Annie and I finally decided that what was more important than a position, was our family and being closer to family. So instead of targeting a specific career position, or type of position, we started to again, target Colorado.
At first we made the goal to do whatever it took to get to Colorado after Annie was done with school in a few years. We hoped by then the economy would improve, and that it would be easier to find work. Thinking about this goal, our future became somewhat clearer than the uncertain cloud we had been living with, and we were excited to have a defined goal again and have something to work towards.
In a discussion with her mom, Annie was expressing some concern about the school program she would be doing and the stress it would bring to the family, and she was asking her mom if she would be able to come help us during a term or two. In the discussion Kaylene suggested that Annie do the program in Colorado and that we try to move before the program started. Annie only had a few prerequisite classes left before applying to the program in Oregon, so that didn't give us much time, but in discussing it, we really liked the idea and it felt good. We weren't very hopeful that it would work out, but we started the process again for trying.
It was this decision to start the process again that actually got us here to Colorado. Thinking back to my bosses suggestion to me to make a pretty severe career change was just the nudge we needed to reevaluate our long term goals and get out of the complacency we had been living with. I have no doubt that Heavenly Father had a hand in helping us to make this decision and that he set up the events that caused us to make the decision that eventually brought us here to where we are today.
Even though we never made the decision to stay in Oregon we did lose the goal of moving to Colorado. We both felt kind of lost and unsure of what the future would bring and we were living somewhat complacently. We became very busy with Annie's school and everything else life was bringing to us. Our focus became just surviving the day to day, and whenever we looked up to see the direction we were headed in we really couldn't see very far.
Then one day in a regular one on one meeting with my boss at work, he told me that he was moving into a new position at Intel and he thought that I should apply for the management position he was leaving. I have never done management and wasn't sure if I would want to, but it would be a promotion and potentially a very good opportunity for my career. I knew this particular management position would be extremely stressful and even more so for me as a new manager. It was exciting to think about, but I did not feel good about it, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to bring the additional stress to my family. I decided not to apply for the position, but this opportunity forced me to think long term about my career and where I wanted it to go. At Intel there are well defined tracks for both management and technical positions, but the industry and corporate USA as a whole seem to value managers a bit more. I could probably become a good manager with enough time and experience, but I really like the technical aspect of my job and I'm not sure I would want to lose that. As I was thinking about management versus technical, Annie and I finally decided that what was more important than a position, was our family and being closer to family. So instead of targeting a specific career position, or type of position, we started to again, target Colorado.
At first we made the goal to do whatever it took to get to Colorado after Annie was done with school in a few years. We hoped by then the economy would improve, and that it would be easier to find work. Thinking about this goal, our future became somewhat clearer than the uncertain cloud we had been living with, and we were excited to have a defined goal again and have something to work towards.
In a discussion with her mom, Annie was expressing some concern about the school program she would be doing and the stress it would bring to the family, and she was asking her mom if she would be able to come help us during a term or two. In the discussion Kaylene suggested that Annie do the program in Colorado and that we try to move before the program started. Annie only had a few prerequisite classes left before applying to the program in Oregon, so that didn't give us much time, but in discussing it, we really liked the idea and it felt good. We weren't very hopeful that it would work out, but we started the process again for trying.
It was this decision to start the process again that actually got us here to Colorado. Thinking back to my bosses suggestion to me to make a pretty severe career change was just the nudge we needed to reevaluate our long term goals and get out of the complacency we had been living with. I have no doubt that Heavenly Father had a hand in helping us to make this decision and that he set up the events that caused us to make the decision that eventually brought us here to where we are today.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
We made it to Colorado
When
Annie and I were first married both our parents and families lived very close to us in Oregon City Oregon.
It was a huge blessing for us and we loved it. We were excited that our kids
would be close to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. And of course the
free babysitting wasn't bad either. Slowly, however, family started to move
away. Annie's parents ended up in Colorado and mine in Kansas. Between Colorado and Kansas we knew we had a better chance of finding a job in Colorado, and we couldn't give up both the ocean and mountains, so our goal became to move to Colorado. Well that was over five years ago, and it has taken us that long to achieve that goal. But we did it! We are living in Colorado now and couldn't be more excited.
We know that we couldn't have done it alone. Heavenly Father has supported us in this goal, and we had many faith building experiences along the way. We experienced answered prayers, doors opening, and guidance and inspiration that has led us here. We are just as grateful for the blessing we have received to be able to move to Colorado as we are of the journey and experiences along the way. In future posts I will make an account of some of those experiences ... so stay tuned ...
We know that we couldn't have done it alone. Heavenly Father has supported us in this goal, and we had many faith building experiences along the way. We experienced answered prayers, doors opening, and guidance and inspiration that has led us here. We are just as grateful for the blessing we have received to be able to move to Colorado as we are of the journey and experiences along the way. In future posts I will make an account of some of those experiences ... so stay tuned ...
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
A Date With Tanner
After bowling we enjoyed a couple Frosties from Wendy's. It was already a cold wet day, but Frosties just sounded soooo good.
It was a fun day.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Focus on Important Things
Jose L Alonso of the Seventy spoke this last General Conference on "Doing the Right Thing at the Right Time, without Delay". He talked about doing service to others. He spoke of finding the "lost children" and helping them find their way back. To illustrate, he told a story when he and his young family were shopping for cloths in a very busy city. His youngest son disappeared and was lost from sight. They eventually found him, but he spoke of the urgency they felt to find him and how quickly they acted once they realized he was missing. He emphasizes that they didn't even need a planning meeting. They simply acted with great urgency.
Elder Alonso's story reminds me of a time when Cedar was lost at a very young age. We were at the beach after my Reach the Beach bike ride. There were thousands of people at the finishing point as more and more people finished the ride and as others waited for family members and friends to finish. After a moment of celebration for having finished the ride we noticed that Cedar was not around. With the same urgency I'm sure that Elder Alonso felt we began to act and search. It took several minutes, but our urgency did not waver. When I found her I was both very relieved and somewhat frustrated with her that she would just wonder off, but my relief greatly outweighed my frustration.
After finding her and picking her up to make sure she wasn't going any where my next urgent feeling was finding Annie (for we had split up to search) because I knew the panic and unpleasant feelings she was feeling (I had just had them), and I wanted to relieve her of those. This is the only thing I would add to Elder Alonso's parallel. After finding someone, there is great joy and relief that one wants to share with others and we should feel some of the same urgency to share it. Similar to the prophet Lehi in his dream, we need to share this fruit with others.
One of the things that stood out to me in Elder Alonso's talk was when he said that "no planning meeting was needed". Anyone that knows me knows that I am more of a planner than an actor. I plan way too much even for simple decisions. A quick example is when I went to the store to get some ground beef for dinner. It took me a half hour of standing in front of the ground beef section at two different stores to finally chose one. In my mind I was debating price vs quality. Do I get bulk because it's cheaper even though we didn't need that much, and bulk at a different store is actually cheaper? With my mind flooded with questions only satisfied by the analysis of data I finally just closed my eyes, held my breath to keep me from hyperventilating, and chose one. ... Was it the best choice? Does it even really matter? Probably more importantly was I lost a half hour of valuable time. Some would say I have a pretty severe case of "analysis paralysis".
Between Elder Alosno's story and the experience that I had with Cedar I realize some decisions in life are easy and more of a reflex even than a decision. What's funny is many times those are the most important decisions. Why then do I spend so much time analyzing things when the outcome has little or no consequence. Anything worth spending the time to make the right decision is either an obvious decision and is probably more of a reflex, or one that Heavenly Father will help us make.
I know decision making isn't what Elder Alonso's talk was about, but this is what stood out to me, and I'm sure it was the spirit influencing my train of thought. "Save time by not wasting it on decisions that don't matter. Focus on important things."
Elder Alonso's story reminds me of a time when Cedar was lost at a very young age. We were at the beach after my Reach the Beach bike ride. There were thousands of people at the finishing point as more and more people finished the ride and as others waited for family members and friends to finish. After a moment of celebration for having finished the ride we noticed that Cedar was not around. With the same urgency I'm sure that Elder Alonso felt we began to act and search. It took several minutes, but our urgency did not waver. When I found her I was both very relieved and somewhat frustrated with her that she would just wonder off, but my relief greatly outweighed my frustration.
After finding her and picking her up to make sure she wasn't going any where my next urgent feeling was finding Annie (for we had split up to search) because I knew the panic and unpleasant feelings she was feeling (I had just had them), and I wanted to relieve her of those. This is the only thing I would add to Elder Alonso's parallel. After finding someone, there is great joy and relief that one wants to share with others and we should feel some of the same urgency to share it. Similar to the prophet Lehi in his dream, we need to share this fruit with others.
One of the things that stood out to me in Elder Alonso's talk was when he said that "no planning meeting was needed". Anyone that knows me knows that I am more of a planner than an actor. I plan way too much even for simple decisions. A quick example is when I went to the store to get some ground beef for dinner. It took me a half hour of standing in front of the ground beef section at two different stores to finally chose one. In my mind I was debating price vs quality. Do I get bulk because it's cheaper even though we didn't need that much, and bulk at a different store is actually cheaper? With my mind flooded with questions only satisfied by the analysis of data I finally just closed my eyes, held my breath to keep me from hyperventilating, and chose one. ... Was it the best choice? Does it even really matter? Probably more importantly was I lost a half hour of valuable time. Some would say I have a pretty severe case of "analysis paralysis".
Between Elder Alosno's story and the experience that I had with Cedar I realize some decisions in life are easy and more of a reflex even than a decision. What's funny is many times those are the most important decisions. Why then do I spend so much time analyzing things when the outcome has little or no consequence. Anything worth spending the time to make the right decision is either an obvious decision and is probably more of a reflex, or one that Heavenly Father will help us make.
I know decision making isn't what Elder Alonso's talk was about, but this is what stood out to me, and I'm sure it was the spirit influencing my train of thought. "Save time by not wasting it on decisions that don't matter. Focus on important things."
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Washing Machine Lives Again
We have recently moved into a new house and I have to say, it was probably our most difficult move ever. I can't say it was difficult for any one specific reason, but for a combination of reasons. We have a lot more stuff now than we have before. We have more kids now. Etc. But with how hard it was, I remember I was finally starting to feel accomplished as I was setting up the washer and dryer that we hadn't used in several years. The hookup was pretty easy, but I did have to change out the plug for the dryer which I had only done once before with the help of my father (who is very good at stuff like that). Well it was a pretty straight forward switch out and I can say I did it without electrocuting myself … yea!
After hooking up the two machines I setup a table/counter that came with the house and sits just above the machines to provide a nice laundry work area. It looked nice and I was excited to use our machines again. They were the first big thing we purchased after I got my first job with Intel so there is some sentimental value to using them. I was excited to put the first load in the washer (yes, I was excited to do laundry) and got it started. The timer said it would be done in about 50 minutes. I watched it for a little bit as the drum filled with water and turned the clothes. Then I went on to unpacking upstairs. About 2 hours later I came back down and saw that the washer still had 10 minutes left. I also noticed an electrical burning smell … which is never a good thing. I turned the washer off, let it sit for a few minutes, then tried just a rinse cycle. It started just fine, but then appeared like the drum got stuck trying to spin making a weird clicking/stuttering sound. Thinking it might be a pulley or a belt issue I took the panels off and saw no pulleys or belts. In fact I didn't really have any idea what I was looking at all. Great! The washer was broke!
I spent quite a bit of time looking at the washer hoping something inspiring would come to me and I would be able to fix it … nothing. I spent some time online and found some not-so-helpful tips. Annie and I discussed our options, none of which we really cared for. We decided to start with the serviceman route. Just finding someone that serviced LG appliances was more difficult than expected, but finally Annie was able to find a couple which charged between $70-$90 to just come look at the thing. Okay, well that's still cheaper than purchasing a new one and a time was set for one of them to come the next day. After some more exploration the washer started giving an error code which was reported to the serviceman. He said it was a pump and would be about $200 to replace. That plus the cost to come out to the house and we're nearing $300. And that's assuming the service man has it right the first time … so we cancelled the visit and started looking for replacement washers.
And then I found it. I don't remember the search terms I used this time, but it lead me to a specific page on the www.fixya.com website. The problem described was exactly the problem our washer was experiencing. There were about 10 different follow-up posts all providing the same solution. Indeed they were all confirming that the initial solution worked and provided additional tips to making the fix easier for the reader. The post even included a link to the replacement part on the www.mcmelectronics.com/ website. The part was $18 and to 2-day air ship it was $25. I thought it was worth the risk so I ordered the part for less than $50. Following the instructions on the www.fixya.com website (which also provided links to the actual service manual and exploded view document which were very helpful) I replaced what is called the hall sensor in about 30 minutes.
After hooking everything back up to the washer, I pressed the appropriate buttons to start a short cycle … Then the heavens opened, angels were singing, and I was doing a little happy dance because the washing machine starting working just as well as it did 3 years ago.
In the end it was a very small part; relatively cheap and simple to replace. It's crazy to me how such a small thing can have such a huge return on investment. And it was almost ignored before I had the knowledge of it even existing. Thank you internet for saving our washing machine.
After hooking up the two machines I setup a table/counter that came with the house and sits just above the machines to provide a nice laundry work area. It looked nice and I was excited to use our machines again. They were the first big thing we purchased after I got my first job with Intel so there is some sentimental value to using them. I was excited to put the first load in the washer (yes, I was excited to do laundry) and got it started. The timer said it would be done in about 50 minutes. I watched it for a little bit as the drum filled with water and turned the clothes. Then I went on to unpacking upstairs. About 2 hours later I came back down and saw that the washer still had 10 minutes left. I also noticed an electrical burning smell … which is never a good thing. I turned the washer off, let it sit for a few minutes, then tried just a rinse cycle. It started just fine, but then appeared like the drum got stuck trying to spin making a weird clicking/stuttering sound. Thinking it might be a pulley or a belt issue I took the panels off and saw no pulleys or belts. In fact I didn't really have any idea what I was looking at all. Great! The washer was broke!
I spent quite a bit of time looking at the washer hoping something inspiring would come to me and I would be able to fix it … nothing. I spent some time online and found some not-so-helpful tips. Annie and I discussed our options, none of which we really cared for. We decided to start with the serviceman route. Just finding someone that serviced LG appliances was more difficult than expected, but finally Annie was able to find a couple which charged between $70-$90 to just come look at the thing. Okay, well that's still cheaper than purchasing a new one and a time was set for one of them to come the next day. After some more exploration the washer started giving an error code which was reported to the serviceman. He said it was a pump and would be about $200 to replace. That plus the cost to come out to the house and we're nearing $300. And that's assuming the service man has it right the first time … so we cancelled the visit and started looking for replacement washers.
And then I found it. I don't remember the search terms I used this time, but it lead me to a specific page on the www.fixya.com website. The problem described was exactly the problem our washer was experiencing. There were about 10 different follow-up posts all providing the same solution. Indeed they were all confirming that the initial solution worked and provided additional tips to making the fix easier for the reader. The post even included a link to the replacement part on the www.mcmelectronics.com/ website. The part was $18 and to 2-day air ship it was $25. I thought it was worth the risk so I ordered the part for less than $50. Following the instructions on the www.fixya.com website (which also provided links to the actual service manual and exploded view document which were very helpful) I replaced what is called the hall sensor in about 30 minutes.
After hooking everything back up to the washer, I pressed the appropriate buttons to start a short cycle … Then the heavens opened, angels were singing, and I was doing a little happy dance because the washing machine starting working just as well as it did 3 years ago.
In the end it was a very small part; relatively cheap and simple to replace. It's crazy to me how such a small thing can have such a huge return on investment. And it was almost ignored before I had the knowledge of it even existing. Thank you internet for saving our washing machine.
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