He's going to be just like him...

At some point, at a time unknown to me, Pat's father decided that our dishwasher was unfit. Not that it did not work properly, but simply that it was unattractive. It should be admitted that our dishwasher was a bit beaten up on the outside and certainly not pristine, but it functioned just fine. And it should also be added that there isn't one pristine thing about our kitchen to begin with -- the counter tops don't match, the cabinets aren't so pretty, the linoleum is ugly, and none of our appliances match. Outside of the warm tuscan yellow color that I painted on the walls last spring, we have done nothing to indicate that we are overly concerned about the appearance of our kitchen right now. Yet Pat's father, who has all but barred his wife with a a rifle from remodeling his ugly 1960's bedroom, was quite concerned with the appearance of our dishwasher.

So he bought us a new one. (Mind you, the man used to work for GE and gets appliances for pennies at their scratch and dent store.) He brought it to our house several weeks ago, only to discover that due to some differences in the mechanics of our current "atrocity" of a dishwasher versus the new dishwasher he would have a hard time installing it. But this was not going to stop him from giving it a fighting chance, but as he was unloading the new dishwasher from his van, he dropped it, made a mark on the front, and deemed this new dishwasher now unfit to be installed in our kitchen.

So in our garage it sits.

Round #2: Pat's parents called last night, insisting that they come visit this week. It should be noted that his mother was here just last Monday, and we are going to visit them this weekend. After a bit of questioning, the true motivation for their trip was revealed. Yes, you guessed it -- he had another dishwasher. This time he bought it at the scratch and dent section of Lowe's. He went to a real store to buy us a dishwasher that we truly had no certifiable need for.

They arrived with it early this morning. But it was not installed without Pat's dad muttering things like "This dishwasher I'm taking out is a better dishwasher than the one I'm installing" and "I'm not even sure this new one is going to fit." Of course causing me to throw my hands up to the heavens and mutter to myself..."I'm married to this man's SON!" After what were only a few set-backs, the new dishwasher is installed and purrs like a kitten. The problem being that there are two more dishwashwers in my garage that do just the same.

Anybody need a dishwasher?

NOTE: I am grateful for Pat's father's kindness and generosity. The new dishwasher certainly looks a lot better than the other one, and is very nice. Maybe it will motivate us to make other improvements. I am not being unappreciative, but the humor in the situation can not be avoided.