Shout out to all the appliance service employees of New Jersey

I always like to think there's a lot we're lucky for in New Jersey. Well, maybe not when it comes to the cost of living, but we honestly do have it pretty good here.

And sometimes that fortune manifests itself in unexpected ways. Sometimes, it takes misfortune to highlight how fortunate we are.

That was the case with my family. Luckily, the appliances we've had problems with were already in our home when we moved in, so we didn't have to pay for them. Unfortunately, they're at a point where repairs are becoming more common.

Recently, we were having a problem with our dryer. Some time back, it started having a screeching sound at the beginning of its cycle. Wasn't anything major, just a bit of a nuisance when the dryer started.

But in recent weeks, that screech started to get really loud and lasted much longer. It eventually got to the point where it screeched the entire cycle. And yes, it got obnoxiously loud.

What annoyed me about this was the fact that the dryer was serviced about 10 months earlier. It had a few problems at the time. The part that heats up the dryer wasn't working correctly, the rollers that spun the drum were getting old and worn, and the lint was built up.

We had all of that repaired and the repair person couldn't have been any kinder (thanks, Casey, for all your help). He was very knowledgeable and knew the ins and outs of what was going on. In fact, he was the same guy who serviced our washing machine about a month or so earlier (I know, we had bum luck in the laundry department).

But even on that visit, he was very knowledgeable, smart, and knew his way around the machine. My wife and I were both very happy when he came back to service our dryer later that year.

With that said, I wanted to really highlight our most recent experience. And yes, it was after my initial frustration with our dryer causing problems yet again.

This time, we got a different repair person. Just like before, he was very professional, courteous, and knew what he was talking about.

To get to our dryer, we had to go into the basement, which is shared with our kid's play area. As soon as we got down there he noticed the giant dinosaur toys my sons have and mentioned how much his daughter would love them, too.

We ended up chatting throughout the repair and we learned both his daughter and my one son are obsessed with dinosaurs and bones. So much so that they both want to study bones or become Paleontologists when they grow up.

His daughter is four years older than my son, so he had a few more experiences to share. I had a chance to see some of his pictures showing off his daughters' passion for dinosaurs, and I shared with him the many drawings my son has done highlighting his passion.

And when I say drawings, I mean incredibly detailed pieces of art like the one below. Believe it or not, he drew this when he was four. And we know it's a passion because he'll only draw people as stick figures.

It was really a neat father-to-father moment being able to share something our kids have in common, and something that probably would've never happened had we not gotten into a conversation. Needless to say, we're both very proud parents of two dinosaur-loving kids.

As for the dryer? It turned out to be a faulty roller that was previously repaired but was under warranty so no cost for replacement parts. The overall repair visit was relatively short, but it's certainly one I will remember.

So a shoutout to you, Bobby. Thanks for taking care of us both professionally, and as a proud father. It just goes to show you never know when a bad situation will turn into a great experience.

I also want to give a shoutout to everyone else who services our home appliances when they go on the fritz. Without you, I'm certain we'd go crazy without dry clothes or a working fridge, or whatever that broken appliance might be at the time.