DISHWASHER ROULETTE

Let me start by saying that I was blessed with 7 wonderful children. Three are living in my home currently and because of that I have two of my wonderful grandchildren living with me part time. On days that I don’t work I love waking up to the sounds of my children and grandchildren going about their days, making breakfast, doing household chores, working from home (As two of them do). They are a source of joy every day that they are in the house. An added bonus is that they take care of the household tasks that I would have to do if I was living alone such as vacuuming, dusting etc.

That being said, it is hard to put four adults and two small children in a house without paying some price.

Shortly after my divorce I had to replace all of my kitchen appliances, dishwasher included. The dishwasher is similar to the one I was replacing it does everything the old one did, no complaints- except….

It seems this one was designed to go under a countertop that did not hang over the edge. Our counters extend approximately an inch past the cabinets below, and also past the dishwasher door. This probably would not be a problem for 90% of the dishwashers made and sold in the U.S. remember I bought this dishwasher in my rookie year of being the sole household purchasing agent.

Prior to my purchase I measured the cabinet space where the dishwasher would reside. I read all of the functions of the unit I was replacing and guaranteed with the salesperson that the new appliance would meet or exceed all of them. I asked the experts, my ex-wife included, what colors were fashionable and would help with resale if I chose to move in the near future. I covered all of my bases, or so I thought!

I mentioned the countertop right?

It seems the dishwasher I chose has all of the functions on the top of the door. When the appliance is loaded the door is open. I set the appropriate settings, hit start and close the door. The washer runs through its’ cycles. There is a quiet hum, not loud, not disruptive, a pleasant sound of achievement. The appliance accomplishes its’ task and the quiet hum ceases. Beautiful! A blue light comes on, on the top of door, signaling that the dishes within are clean and should be removed.

This light turns off when the door is opened and closed after a cycle and the machine is now ready to accept more dishes that require washing. This light also warns all who are charged with the loading and unloading operation that the dishes within are clean and dirty dishes should not put in until the clean dishes are removed.

I mentioned the countertop right?

The one inch overhang of the countertop completely blocks my wonderful blue light that tells me my dishes are CLEAN! I can’t see the light until I open the door!

Every time I open my dishwasher I am playing dishwasher roulette, much like the dangerous game of Russian Roulette played with one bullet in the cylinder of a revolver.

If I open the door and see the blue light saying CLEAN I now must empty the clean dishes out before I put my dirty dish in. Usually not a problem at all. I’m glad to do my part. BUT, it does seem that more times than not I lose at dishwasher roulette at a time when I am running out the door with seconds, not minutes, to spare without being late for whatever.

I guess, in this age of a pandemic, riots in many streets, unemployment and all of the other problems so many families face my blue “clean” light shouldn’t upset me- but somehow it does. Not so much as to keep me up at night. It upsets me more in a way that I thought you might find entertaining.

Let me know if you have similar problems.

Please share if you like this article and comment with any thoughts, good or bad, you have about it.

Thank you Phil