It's the little things, part 273

Just checked my dryer, and the load of towels and sheets in there were dry.

Thank God! I shrieked.

You see, just last night I had the back off the dryer, trying to figure out what was making it not dry my clothes. While I was looking at the back, I checked the vent pipe to the outside. Saw a white circle. What is that? I thought, and reached through the pipe to poke it. It was the flap--but was sealed shut to the house. I pushed harder, and it popped open, reluctantly. Apparently, this was the key, as nothing I did in taking off the back of the dyer was successful at retrieving the hypothetical glob of lint I though was blocking everything.

Before unblocking the vent, it took 3 runs at 70 minutes to dry my clothes. Now, with a load of towels? 1 run. I was envisioning $200 house calls from appliance repairmen.

Phew.