The 17th Century Dishwasher

Dishwasher, be not proud, though some have called thee
Useful and helpful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou "washest", though water dost flow,
Are washed not, poore saucers, still besmirched with debris.

I can't take it anymore! We are renting a house, and though it's been a wonderful place for us, the ancient appliances are less than satisfactory. We finally discussed it with our landlord, who is letting us replace one appliance at a time. We are taking a portion of our rent money to buy the replacements, so he has upgrades on his property, but is still making some money, and we have better appliances to use, but don't have to shell out a ton of extra money.

Though DH wanted the oven/stove to be replaced first, I insisted that the dishwasher was more important. (We have a toaster oven and microwave as alternatives to the oven, but only the sink as a substitute for the dishwasher!) I'm usually the one emptying out the dishwasher, thus I've been rewashing the dishes that didn't quite get clean. Finally, DH agreed that the dishwasher could be first. We ordered it on President's Day (appliance sales!) but it's not supposed to be delivered for another week or so. I wasn't feeling well yesterday, and DH was banging around in the kitchen like he was angry. I went in to see what was wrong, and he was standing at the sink washing the dishes as he took them from the dishwasher, barely holding in his temper. "I'm having to wash all of the dishes again! The dishwasher isn't even cleaning them!" Yep. Glad it's not just me!

So now we're using paper plates (leftover from Christmas 2003) whenever we're eating anything that is remotely messy. We're trying to remember to rinse our dishes with hot water... but not run the water long because that's money down the drain! It's hard to not eat out when you don't want to deal with the clean-up! We're trying to wait patiently until our new, working dishwasher is delivered.

A mother is slave to washer, dryer, vacuum, freezer,
And does with husband, pets, and children dwell,
And sickness, or fears keep her from sleepe as well,
All more vital far, than thee; why dost thou tease her?
One short week more, thy last cycle run,
And soiled dishes shall be no more;
Dishwasher, thou shalt be gone.