The Dishes

I hate doing dishes. Desperately hate doing dishes. In fact, when I lived on my own I would rinse dishes and then leave them in the sink for weeks. Eventually I would run out of things to eat off of or drink out of, and it would be time to do the dishes. The problem was that I had no counters. NONE. So I had nowhere to pile the dishes as I washed them. Then one day I had a brilliant idea. The washing machine was right next to the sink. I decided to fill it with hot water and a bit of bleach and put the dishes in there to soak. It was a fabulous idea, and it worked great. I would pull one dish at a time out of the washing machine and wash it in the sink. I was loving it. Eventually I ended up leaving the dishes in the washing machine to soak for a few days at a time. I didn't usually fill with water to the top because that would be a waste of resources. When the dishes were done I'd empty the washer of water until next time.

And then.

One day I decided to wash my laundry. I'm pretty sure you can see where this is going. Per the instructions on the machine I filled the washer with water and soap before putting the clothes in. I got busy doing something else, and then from the living room I heard CLINK SMASH. First thought was "Huh?" Second thought was "FUCK!" as I ran into the kitchen and shut off the washer. I then spent the next two hours pulling broken china and glass out of the machine trying not to cut myself in the process. I managed to get every piece, drained the washer, and never used it again.

Later on I moved in with Rich. We had standoffs regarding the dishes. We didn't have a working dishwasher at the time, and once again everything needed to be washed in the sink. At least this time there was counter space. That didn't matter, as we'd go a week without doing any dishes and then pull forks out of the sink and wash them alone so we had something to eat with.

I had a brain storm. And this is what it was: 

Yes. That is actually a kiddie pool full of Dawn and plastic storage containers. I left them in there to soak for hours, and then would carry them about three at a time into the kitchen to wash them in the sink. It was at this point that we realized the dishes would never get done in a timely manner unless we got a dishwasher. Luckily, some of my friends from my diabetic cat message board chipped in for a wedding present and we finally went to Sears and bought one. 

So now the dishes are done at least every other day. I also make a fair attempt at washing the pots and pans from the night before every morning, but sometimes they stay in the sink until I need them to make dinner. One of my biggest thrills is seeing empty sinks, which is kind of sad when you think about it, but hey, at least I'm not a total redneck anymore.