"Snake-bit"'

That is a saying here in Texas.  I'm not sure any other area uses it, but it is quite descriptive.  And it makes sense since we do have so many poisonous snakes around here.

Anyway, that's how I am feeling just about now.  And here goes with another moan/groan post.

We had a very nice dishwasher that was about 15 years old, but worked well.  But it had a design flaw.  The handle.  It was plastic connected to metal.  There was quite a force exerted on that handle when you pulled it to open the door of the dishwasher.

One of our hunters has become our appliance repair.  That is his business, but we didn't use him before because he is located on the other side of Houston.  He assured us that it didn't matter.  He didn't mind the travel.

So we called him to repair the dishwasher at least twice.  The last time, he said he didn't think he could fix it again.  Of course the parts were discontinued!  He spent quite a bit of time fashioning a "fix."

So the Lord and Master around this house gave the edict that it was time for a new model.  I cringed a bit because I really hate getting rid of something that does what it was meant to do.  Of course, you risked fingers to open the thing to get it to do its job!

I researched and researched.  We looked at some at Costco.  Then I went to the internet.  G called our hunter/friend/repair person.  I narrowed the search to one I liked.  We decided we didn't want to use a big box store because my daughter, who will make pennies scream before she lets them go, has had problems with delivery AND installation.  I don't want to put up with that.  Those stores used to provide great service - all at once.  Now it is a delivery service and THEN an installation service. She has found on several occasions that when installation gets there, they find damage from delivery.  Then the whole things begins over again.  Nope.  Not for me,

SO we went to the appliance store we have been visiting for over 25 years.  I knew I would pay more, and I knew I would pay for delivery/installation.  But I like to support a "local" business.

When we got there, we looked at the model I had chosen.  Then he showed me a two drawer model.  Hey - there is only the two of us most of the time.  We could get by with a smaller unit that has the flexibility to get larger - the second drawer.

I have given up fighting the appliance color wars a long time ago.  I have gone through the Harvest Gold, the Avocado - not it's stainless which I think will be around a long time, but it's more expensive.  So we wanted white - which had to be ordered.

The new (what I thought top of the line) machine was delivered on Tuesday.  And installed by the same guy (who has installed my cook top, oven, vent hood).  I loaded it Tuesday night and ran it.  Beautiful.  The dishes were so clean.  I was delighted, and the pain of spending more than I thought was lessened a bit.

Wednesday night we decided we would use BOTH drawers to make sure they worked.  Well they didn't.   The error message then was a leak had been detected.  

I called the store.  He gave me the repair number for the maker.  I already felt  neglected by the store.  I called the number.  I also knew that this is an international company, but I really didn't expect a 30 (!!!) minute wait for someone to send someone out.  But they did finally answer, and scheduled me for the next day (Friday).

The service man actually came out early.  I must say he is a great ambassador for the company.  He talked about his experience with these machines, and really praised them.  Of course, he had NEVER seen our problem before - both heating elements are bad,  He was here well over an hour.

The parts (of course) have to be ordered.  So Monday will be the EARLIEST for them.  

Right now we are eating as much left overs as we can on disposables to keep dishes at a minimum.  This  morning was an unusual treat (that I love) - we went out for breakfast!

Feeling "snake-bit?"  Simple answer - yes.