The Dish(washer)

He volunteered despite the coffee maker incident of three weeks ago. Allow me to expound...The timer on our coffee maker stopped working. It still made fine coffee, but it had to be turned on manually every day...no more waking up to the aroma of fresh-brewed Chock full o' Nuts. We survived like that for a few days, but then it occurred to us that maybe the coffee maker was unsafe now that the timer was malfunctioning. What if it turned on spontaneously when there was no water in it? Based in fact or not, our concerns convinced us that we should buy a new coffee maker. Scott ventured out on a weekday. He called me from the store...baffled and overwhelmed by the sheer number and types of coffee makers! We are practical people who do not need the newest gadget, or every feature imaginable. It should make good coffee. A timer is nice. I don't need it to grind beans - we already have a coffee bean grinder. I don't need it to make espresso - we already have an espresso maker. I don't need it to brew directly into a thermal carafe - we already have a thermal carafe. We became a coffee maker research tag team on the phone...Scott would give me a brand and model number, and I would look up reviews online. After at least an hour comparing features and price points, we finally decided on one. True to ourselves, we ended up purchasing a good quality machine that does what it is supposed to, without superfluous bling. It makes great coffee, and we are no longer afraid that our coffee maker is going to start our house on fire. Who could ask for more?

Although Scott's mission was completely successful, I could tell that it had been an ordeal for him. Shopping is not among his favorite things to do, no matter what he's looking to purchase. This begs the question: Do there really have to be so many features and choices? I understand that as Americans we are supposed to appreciate - even celebrate - our freedom to choose. Choice is usually a good thing...except when there is so much from which to choose that the process becomes both tedious and dismaying.

Back to the issue at hand...the dishwasher. Scott thought the sooner we actually buy the new one, the sooner we could have it installed and our kitchen could return to normal. Since I won't be finished with my workday until 6 P.M., it made sense for him not to wait for me to go along on the dishwasher expedition. He is up to the challenge, armed with Consumer Reports reviews and a remarkably short list of "must haves" from me. The way I see it, the fewer bells and whistles on the appliance, the fewer things that can go wrong in the long run. All I ask is that it does its job of washing and sanitizing dishes well. With the daycare in the house, running the dishwasher 300+ times per year is absolutely necessary, so it needs to be durable. I don't need to be kept aware of what part of its cycle it is in at any given time...it is either washing, or it is done. It does not need to be whisper quiet. I am such a creature of habit that I load my dishwasher exactly the same way with mostly the same dishes and items every time, so the number of configurations for the racks is immaterial to me. A delay feature is nice. That's it.

In the meantime, I am faced with a kitchen overflowing with dishes that need washing...in the sink - with my hands - AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I think it's a classic case of you never know how important something is until you lose it...