Wednesday, February 10, 2016

The unclean dishwasher-Marty™ to the rescue

I started my day as usual, two cups of Joe. Then, I was drawn into something weird. My dishwasher. It was full of clean dishes that I promptly unloaded to their proper shelves. Something was missing.
I asked Marty to look inside for the missing green cap from my empty vitamin bottle. I was afraid it had fallen to the bottom and had disintegrated on the heat element. Marty made himself small so he could fit inside and walk around. I shined my new flashlight to help him see.
"Ugh! What  mess!"
" It's melted onto the heat thing, isn't it. I'm glad you found it before it got worse,"I said.
"Well the green thing is just laying on the bottom. It looks fine, but what a terrible, terrible mess. I have to put on my mud boots."
Thud. Oof!
"What's happening in there?"
"Mud, sludge. Get me outta here."
I helped Marty out of the dishwasher. He was a mess, and he stunk.
" What's the problem? How come you look so bad?"
"Look, Phil, this is a great dishwasher, but it doesn't know how to clean itself. You gotta get in there and do the work yourself. I don't think any of these appliances are self cleaning."
I took out the filter. It had trapped food for months, years. Peas, broccoli,  carrots, barely recognizable as food. Even a couple of screws from nowhere in particular. I removed a stainless steel strainer. Muck,mud. A virtual septic tank.
I let Marty rest. He deserved it after what he had been through. I got out my rubber gloves and some natural spray detergent. I let the filter and strainer soak in the detergent and hot water while I sprayed the inside and scooped out the sludge with paper towels. I didn’t want to waste a good rag or sponge on the mess. With the main compartment really clean, I tackled the filter and strainer. I needed a brush and a blunt end knife for the operation that lasted another half an hour.
I don’t like to give advice about household stuff. There are experts. Probably that well hidden manual tells about the proper maintenance. I know what I have to do.
For those who don’t know him, Marty is my superhero. He can do wonders around the house, has the ability to increase or decrease in size. He can time travel across thousands of years and thousands of miles. A real friend, who helps out in difficult situations, speaks up when necessary, and even falls in love.

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