Celebrate What's Rght

Today is May 20, and Emily, our youngest, turns 18. That alone is reason to celebrate, and I'm preparing to bake her some Ghiradelli brownies. (She said that one of her favorite birthday treats is brownies and vanilla ice cream, so I also bought her two little pints of fancy vanilla ice cream.

I also celebrate having my computer back. As i hoped, it was something small and stupid. I told everyone I'd checked the power cord (but I really hadn't). Still, until Tuesday morning, the monitor was getting power. And then it wasn't.

So, for two days I sat and moped in front of the computer, sometimes touching the keyboard in a forgetful moment, sometimes touching it in the superstitious hope that it somehow miraculoously was cured.

Joe came and brought a pile of tools and baby Nick on Tuesday afternoon. The problem, he quickly discovered, was that the cord had pulled out of the transformer on the monitor power line. Duh.

What he and I discovered, as far as Mozilla was concerned, was that it was, indeed, running slow. Why? Who know. But the easy answer was to use Google Chrome as my browser, so second problem solved.

As for the dishwasher? Called Dick's Appliance Repair, and his son said he'd come Monday between 3 and 4 pm. Then I took Ruth (she went reluctantly) to the Redi_Care in Mason (we went to Mason because it was a Sparrow affiliate, because we'd been there before with good results, and I don't know what other reason.)

They were closed for a long lunch until 1:15 pm, and when we were still in the waiting room at 2:05, I left to pick up Emily. I was late picking her up, and it occurred to me that the repairman would be at our house while I was retrieving Ruth. Emily took care of it.

So Ruth had a large cyst dug out of her chest, and we came home to find the repairman gone (Emily kept calling him a plumber in texts). The note Em took said that the control panel was defective, and would cost $150 for the part. The whole repair would cost about $400. Emily added that the repairman didn't think the repair was worth it, considering the age of the machine.

I called and got Dick, and asked him to have his son call sometime, mostly so I could ask him his recommendations on dishwasher brands and features.

But, as i hand-washed the dishes in the sink, I accidentally bumped the dishwasher door, and it beeped. I pushed start, and it started. Emily said that when he opened up the front panel, some loose parts fell out. I suspect that he put them back where they belonged.

I haven't heard anything from the repairman, going on two days, now. What I think: he fixed our machine at no charge. No guarantee how long it'll last, and the understanding is that, eventually, it'll need to be replaced. But I like to think, after 3 successful washes, that it's good until we can afford a new one.