Underwater Adventures

We had a nice little Saturday planned last weekend. Mike was off work and we were expecting snow, so we made equally exciting plans: we were going to make soup.

Wild, I know.

We ventured out early that morning to gather all the supplies. I was making some chowder and Mike was amped about making Pho, which he treats himself to often but has never dared to make. Well today was the day. Today....was Pho day.

2 hours later we return home. Apparently Asian food ingredients are hard to find in Richmond; go figure.

Mike gets cooking. I hop in the kitchen and slice and dice. Mike is filling up pots with Pho goodness. I get my soup done and Mike still has 6 hours to go on his. Dishes are piling up.

The day wears on and our respective soups are completed. We treat ourselves to hearty bowls and high-five one another on our culinary skills--I may have gotten an extra high five for not burning anything down in the process--and eventually decide to load the dishwasher up with the mountain of dishes.

Let me introduce you to the newest enemy of our house:


I was tired after the dishwasher finished the cycle, but I knew it had to be emptied. As I unloaded the bottom rack, I noticed something was...off. I hesitantly called out in my sweetest sing-song voice "Oh Mii-iikee?"

Well, after all these years, Mii-iikke has caught onto the voice trick. It ain't fooling him anymore.

He ambled into the kitchen and we both peered into the eyes of the enemy:


The water hadn't been draining. Mike, hero of the house that he is, got out the tools and bailed the water from the bottom. He cleared all the obvious blockage and we decided to run one more cycle just to test it out.

Well friends, lesson of the day. If your dishwasher has an 'Eco Cycle,' chances are 'Eco' does not refer to 'economy friendly' as in 'there is less water in this cycle.' That's the mistake we made.

For us, 'Eco' refers to 'Economy,' as in 'use this cycle for a ton of dishes.' Not exactly the cycle we were looking for when all we wanted to do was test the drainage issue.

An hour passed and we were back, staring into the Lake.

Or Lake Home Warranty as Mike now refers to it.

That's right, we got the Home Warranty.

Didn't see that coming, did you?!

Tomorrow, someone is coming to fix our dishwasher, and the previous owners are paying for it.

Advantage: House of Z's.