My dryer stopped producing hot air. I consulted partselect.com and they indicated what the most likely culprits were. All of them were behind the back panel of the dryer. Given this info, I decided that the best course was just to remove said panel and see if anything was obviously amiss. When I got it off nothing looked like it had melted or whatever. Part Select provides Youtube videos that show how to replace parts. After watching a few videos and comparing the dryers in the video to my own I discovered a difference. There was a red wire with a white stripe that linked a thermostat to the heating element in the video which was absent in my machine. I assume that it turned the element off once it reached a certain temperature. I looked, the wire was gone. Not disconnected, not fallen out, just gone.
This has forced me to reconsider my stance on the existence of gremlins. Previously, I was quite skeptical of the existence of tiny malicious elves harming machinery but the only other explanation is that a rodent took it without a trace without leaving any evidence of its presence. No dropping, and the missing wire was taken not chewed off at both ends. I've come up with a few other explanations. Simulation theory is correct and I've witnessed a glitch in the Matrix. It could have fallen out and gotten vacuumed up without ever being seen despite my actively looking for it. Thermal stress makes machine parts break; not wholly disappear.
So, I'm left with the mystery. How? Why? What am I to do? That last one was actually decided for me. The missing part has already been ordered. The mystery is a lot less important than having a working dryer. I'm just left with the question: How does one catch a gremlin assuming they do exist?
IRON NODER XIV: THE RETURN OF THE IRON NODER