Sunday, November 4, 2012

I'd Like to Introduce You...

...to the newest member of our white goods family.  Our new old dishwasher.  We have a few new old white goods.  TechnoHusband's Dad has this amazing ability to acquire electrical appliances that no longer work.  He collects them, and hoards saves them until TechnoHusband mentions that we might just need a dishwasher, then TechnoGrandad says, 'I've got a couple in the shed.  You just need to get a new hose/tweak a screw/replace the washers' etc etc.  It's awesome! Saves us so much money, and brings an adventure story along with every new old appliance.  So far TechnoHusband's Dad has re-homed a washing machine, a clothes dryer, an oven, and now a dishwasher with us.  We are so grateful. It has saved us thousands of dollars over the years. And 'new old' items are so much more interesting than 'new new' don't you think?  They all have their own special characteristics and qualities.  For example, the washing machine.  It loved to keep me on my toes (and the old towel pile stocked) with rare but random incontinence.  The clothes dryer works fantastically; but it sounds like a two-stroke lawn mower until you give it a good whack, which has to be in a certain place to work.  We call it the 'sweet spot'. Great anger-management tool though!  The oven.  Ah, the oven makes me smile.  It is very cheeky.  The hot plates do not match the twisty knobs.  But we are one up on the oven.  We made a map, and Nikko-penned it on to the twisty knobs.  It still catches me out occasionally when I realise the steak has been cooking for 30 minutes yet is still raw, but I just smile and say, 'cheeky oven you!'.  

This brings us to the dishwasher.  We are yet to discover its endearing personality traits, but so far (between the two TechnoGrandad gave us for a test and tune) the laundry was only  flooded twice, and the household power only lost six times. (Just our house, not the entire street....this time). 

I must say, I am rather in awe of TechnoHusband's ability to locate the problems in these appliances, and work out how to fix them;  in addition to being able to single handedly re-design the kitchen cabinets, structures and plumbing - all in a day's work.  This guy can use a jigsaw, hammer and head-lamp like nobody's business. 

Both TechnoHusband and TechnoGrandad are great recyclers in a world of disposability.  There are many times when I grit my teeth and think, 'Why do we still have this?', but on a day like today, he has revived a discarded dishwasher, replaced my rotting chipboard kitchen shelf with second-hand ply, and repaired the hole in the Lino with the scraps he had saved in the garden shed.  When he had to cut off some of the kitchen bench-top, he asked if he should hold on to the scraps in case he needed them for something later. This time I said yes, and I meant it.
The newest member...yay!!  My first ever dishwasher! You have no idea how excited I am about this.


Little ears must be protected from noisy power tools.
Like Father, Like Son

What have you and yours 'recycled' lately?  I'd love to hear all about it!

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