my life

I just bought a new dishwasher at Sears. There was an old KitchenAid that was in the house when I bought it, that worked admirably for over a year. Some little part on it stripped last spring, though, and it ceased to serve its purpose.

Noel--my big brother--was out here last spring with his wife, and like other folks in my family, enjoys being useful when he visits. He found out the dishwasher wasn't working and before I knew it, he had it apart and was tinkering with it. He found the culprit piece. I don't recall which one it was now. But he put it back together (without screws), explaining how it was to be installed when I got a replacement piece, then told me to call someplace in town when they opened Monday to order the piece. I thanked him for his efforts, but the place didn't have a clue about the piece in question. I didn't have time to chase it down, so the dishwasher remained inop.

By the time I returned from my little vacation in SW Asia, my roommate appealed to me to just buy a new dishwasher. I conceded that, concerning our collective mechanical ability (combined with inclination), this was probably the best course of action. So we hit Sears last Friday and selected a mid-priced Kenmore.

I paid the (exorbitant) delivery/setup fee, then they asked me if I wanted to spend another $20 to have the old dishwasher hauled off. I thought about it and said probably not.

The new one was delivered and installed today. Before I could stop him, one of the delivery guys had the old one loaded into the back of his truck. I told him I hadn't paid for that service, so he pulled it back out and dragged it (at my request) out to the curb. I told him it would be gone before nightfall--free of charge.

I was sure of myself. Last summer, we decided to get rid of some old junk that had been lying around the place, including a cannibalized riding lawnmower and push mower that had come with the place. Within ten minutes, someone had asked for the riding lawnmower. We agreed to hold it for him; while he drove to his house to fetch a trailer, five more people pulled up in the driveway and asked if it was spoken for, one of which took the push mower. And this was after I told them that the mowers had both been stripped of parts.

This happened four days ago with the fireplace grate*, as well. While I was gone, Michelle had replaced the old one (which was the right size for our oversized fireplace, but eaten through) with a new one (smaller but intact). She'd left the old one sitting in the carport, not sure what to do with it, I suppose. I dragged it out to the curb. By the time I took the trash can out that night, the fireplace grate was gone.

* I call it a grate, anyway. It's the heavy metal thing you put your logs on that allows the free circulation of air to feed the fire.

When the delivery man put the dishwasher on the curb, I taped a sign with bold red letters on the front: "FREE TO GOOD HOME." Not thirty minutes later, Maxx was barking furiously at a man who'd pulled into the driveway and already placed it in the back of his pickup truck.

I walked out to explain that it was in good condition, but one of the moving parts in the bottom was stripped, was all. He said his daughter had just gotten her first house, and she needed a dishwasher and couldn't afford one. He thanked me for the dishwasher and the information, and drove off happily.

That was more than worth the $20 I didn't spend.

d