"okay, good."ten minutes later, he calls back and asks if he can move it to between 9 and 11. this morning, he arrives around 9:30 .. i am immediately suspicious because Everybody Knows™ no installer is ever on time. he says i'm his first appointment of 8, before he can go home for the day. he has a Russian accent (the vast majority of contractors have "far south Texas" accents). he says he usually doesn't work Saturdays, but it's busy with the gift-giving season. indeed, Nothing Quite Says "Romance" but a New Dishwasher.
he says he's a licensed plumber and works quick: most installations take 30 minutes, but .. mine will take longer because he must first install a separate water cutoff valve to the dishwasher, as mandated by Dallas City code. that'll cost extra, and take another 30 minutes. yeah, i could've told him to Stop Right There, allow me to get 3 independent bids, and maybe save a few dollars. but he's already removed my Old Friend (now sleeping quietly on the grass outside) so i authorized that work. my home is 40+ years old and I'm not immune to the fact that such upgrades are a way of life.
he also asks if i want the old dishwasher hauled away. i started to say
"no, i want to use it as a flower planter for the front yard"but caught my tongue before those words met the air.
"yes, please."okay, he says .. that'll be another $16. sheesh .. nickel and dime me to death, will ya? okay, whatever. that was the end of the extra charges, and in an hour or so, my Shiny New Friend was installed! now: it's time to move the accumulating dishes from the sink. we will see if New Friend is up to the task.
i didn't bother reading the manual (it's a dishwasher, for cryin' out loud .. not a plutonium centrifuge) so i added some rinse agent, added some detergent, closed the door, spotted the [Smart Wash] button and (smartly!) pressed the [Start] button. it gently hummed to life and began washing. hmm .. it's too quiet. something's wrong. where's the house-jarring vibration, like my Old Friend made?
alas, i suspect i will soon grow fond of my New Friend. i accidentally (!) read the (20 pages) English section of the tri-lingual manual, and discovered what the TurboZone™ is all about and how to use it, and a mistake (!) I'd been making for the past 20 years in using a dishwasher .. i.e. how to stack the glasses in the upper rack. hmmm .. i'm not sure i'm ready to learn new things today.
feeling the need to give my (as yet unnamed) New Friend some breathing room, i went outside and mowed the front yard grass, before another session of rain makes it way through the Metroplex. that task complete, i came inside and saw that New Friend was sporting a solid green light. uh oh .. something's wrong. i bent over, to see that the light said simply "CLEAN". hmm .. this may take more getting used to than i ever imagined.
with this much excitement, it's hard to believe there was one last agenda item for the day: watch The Amazing Race 6 (since I was at that faux teardowns workshop, I missed the regular Tuesday time slot). During tonight's 2-hour premiere, I opted for Ethnic Gourmet's Picadillo for dinner. After all, it's self contained, and doesn't require a plate; I don't want to stress out My New Friend. I truly hope she likes her new home.
Everybody Knows is a trademark of Fox "News"; Rush Limbaugh Productions; [Ann Coulter's] Foul Mouth Enterprises; and the Christian Fascist Republican Party.
2 comments:
According to the dishwarsher [sic] manual, the glasses are supposed to be placed between the rows of tines (and not straddling them).
Also, (in case you were wondering), knives are to be loaded BLADE DOWN, while forks and spoons should be pointed UP (for better cleaning) .. so, you get poked by the fork tines, but not the knife blades!
before I forget .. when loading the silverware, it's best to mix the knifes and forks and spoons in each container, so they don't "nest" .. this allows them to be more easily cleaned.
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