BREAK BROKE BROKEN PEOPLE AND A DISHWASHER

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

This week isn't going well.

1. I learned that Middle Child is ill. Even if you don't have children, you probably understand that when your child is sick, you would gladly take on the illness yourself and send your child off to dance in the moonlight.

Willy Dunne Wooters is worried about you.

2. A couple of days ago, I sat down on the glider on my deck and got this horrible, sharp pain in my lower back. I howled so loud I don't understand why the entire neighborhood didn't call the police to say, A WOMAN IS BEING MURDERED!

I did a little yard work, but nothing heavy duty enough for the pain I experienced. My back still hurts, but it's better.

The truth is that I'm not supposed to do all sorts of stuff because I broke my back in 2009, but if I obeyed the orthopedist's rules, then we'd never have milk or dog food in the house again because somebody has to carry that stuff in and that somebody is me.

I must give Willy Dunne Wooters some credit: The day that I hurt my back, after he left work he brought me medicine and milk and food that I can just heat up. He also sat on the deck for a while with Franklin, who was freaked out because Mommy made scary noises.

3. THIS IS THE ONE THAT PUT ME OVER THE EDGE: THE DISHWASHER IS BROKEN AGAIN.

Remember last year when the Frigidaire's pump broke, so Carol and I went to Lowe's and I bought a Bosch because they're supposed to be so great?

This cat is not mine--as far as I know.
I don't think I have a cat.

Several weeks ago, I opened the Bosch after it was supposed to have washed the dishes. The bottom of it was full of water. Lowe's sent a guy out. The pump had a tiny broken piece. He ordered a new tiny piece. It arrived. He came back and put in the new tiny piece. It was covered by the extended warranty I'd had the good sense to buy.

I ran the dishwasher after it was fixed. It worked okay. Not great. I ran it again earlier this week. It worked about the best it ever has. Dishes clean and reasonably dry.

• I ran the bastard last night. 
• I got up this morning.
• I opened the dishwasher.
• It hadn't drained.
• The bottom was full of water.
• It couldn't have gotten very far into its cycle because the Finish tablet was still in its holder.
• I called the Lowe's repair service. 
• A guy named Christian--ironic if you ask me--said the repair people were very busy and couldn't come out till May 11th.
• He asked, Can I help you with anything else?
• I said, YES! YOU CAN GET ME SOME PAIN MEDICATION AND PLANT MY BLUE SPRUCE SEEDLING BECAUSE MY BACK IS HURT AND I CAN'T DO IT AND YOU CAN PAINT MY BATHROOM AND YOU CAN WASH THE DISHES THAT DIDN'T GET WASHED IN THE DISHWASHER AND CLEAN UP THE POOL OF WATER IN THE BOTTOM OF THE DISHWASHER.
• He said, Is there anything I can actually help you with?
• No, said I, though I should have said, Stop ending your sentences with prepositions or I will turn into Betty Draper shooting Christians instead of pigeons (see yesterday's blog post).
• I cried. I called The Hurricane and cried. I called Favorite Young Man and cried. We came up with a plan.
• I called the local repair people myself because they are very nice. I told them that Lowe's said they couldn't come till the 11th, and I had hurt my back. I cried while I talked.
• The nice lady said they would come on the 4th. She will call me back with a time. 
• I stopped crying, but I am not in a happy mood.

Infinities of love in spite of it all,

Janie Junebug