Taken from Matt’s handwritten journal……
DAY 1
I awake with enthusiasm. Today will be the day. Yesterday’s robocall assured me that the Sears tech would arrive between 8 and 12, after calling me first.
All is in readiness. The washer and dryer are gleaming and the laundry room sparkles with anticipation. I know that my appliances will soon be purring sweetly once more with just a little TLC from Sears.
The call comes at noon to say the tech has been delayed and will surely arrive between 3:30 and 4. I recite my mantra and resolve to go with the flow.
At 5:30 I call customer service in distant Arizona and learn that my Sears technician has gone home for the day. They’ll put me down for tomorrow between 8 and 12. I ask for a supervisor and am told that one will call me right back.
Hours later I sit by the phone in a candlelight vigil. Still no call back.
DAY 2
I awaken, somewhat disoriented from a dream of fresh, fluffy clothes spinning and endlessly spinning. I take solace knowing that I am dealing with Sears after all and this is America!
I wait feeling the call will come at any moment now. My food reserves are running low, but I dare not leave the house for Safeway. I don’t want to miss the tech, who will be here at any time I am confident.
Noon comes with a call to say the tech has been delayed. I gnaw nervously on my finger, hunger beginning to set in.
By evening, I experience the first signs of desperation. The lights flicker.
DAY 3
Daylight hits me like a ton of bricks. I awaken in a sea of dirty laundry. Oh no, I’ve peed myself and have nothing clean to wear. Surely someone will be here to repair my units soon. I must be strong and somehow get through this thing. I can persevere.
Supplies are dangerously low now. I am weak. I lapse in and out of consciousness.
I hear an engine and drag myself to the window hoping it is Sears. Just a passing car. I see my neighbor walking her dog and try to call out for help, my voice now too weak to hear.
SEARS IS KILLING ME! I ask God for guidance in this urgent time of need. Give me a sign O Lord. Again the lights flicker and this time go out. In my delirium, I have neglected to mail the PG&E check.
Another day has passed and my life has become a living hell. When will Sears get here!?
DAY 4
I awaken to find my forearm is now half eaten, though it has provided me little nourishment. All my rations are gone as is my hope.
All is lost. Kurtz had it right…..”Horror has a face and you must make a friend of horror.”
I resign myself to the awful truth that Sears has blown me off!
EPILOGUE
They found Matt in a fetal position by the washer, pen in hand and journal by his side. The appliances remain in disrepair
