Domesticated

I want to talk about some simple things around the house. I really get it when a housekeeper says "I don't do windows". Some chores are not bad. Some are bad. I hate vacuuming. I hate cleaning a toilet. I hate dusting. But I don't mind dishes, or laundry. We have a dishwasher. Over the years, I've had lots of dishwashers. The one we have now is a state-of-the-art energy saving, green- friendly one. It saves water. It saves energy by not making the water as hot. It saves on the environment by using less cycles and less soap. All of these "new" improvements are fine. The only drawback to our new dishwasher is that it doesn't get the dishes clean. I talked to the sales rep. about the problem of the dishwasher not actually washing the dishes. I told him that I don't really need to save water too much as I have a deep well and my water is free. I have lot's of time and don't care how long cycles last. I'm willing to spend the extra electricity to get the water really hot to sterilize the dishes. I'd like to get the old kind of dishwasher that isn't efficient but gets the dishes really clean. The rep told me that they don't make dishwashers any more that get the dishes really clean. No kidding. Another thing. All my old dishwashers had the controls on the outside of the unit. So you could see them, even with the door closed. It was that way for forty years. Now the controls are hidden inside the door of the unit and you must have the door open to use the controls. This creates an extra engineering problem because you have to have a conditional type of sensor, a separate chip, for the door logic. Like setting an alarm. Of course! these new dishwashers cost much, much more. And do less. And are more prone to failure. Some folks like to be energy wise and save up the dirty dishes in the dishwasher until they have a "full" load. I hate this. I don't like storing dirty dishes, even if it's in a dishwasher. If I go to the trouble of emptying the dishwasher, and then loading it: it's gonna get run and the job is done. Even if it's half a load. And I don't put pots and pans in the dishwasher. Ever. I just clean them by hand, dry them and put them away. They take up too much space in the dishwasher. And the dishwasher doesn't get them clean anyway. We have about five times as many pots and pans as we need. So we are short cabinet space. I have about five times as many clothes as I need. So I am short closet space. I don't want to get started on my having too many clothes or too much stuff in general. I intend to write a post about too much stuff, and hoarding. It's become an interesting epidemic in the U.S. I don't mind doing laundry actually. I just hate putting laundry away, because I have no place to put it. Some people have housekeepers that come and clean once a week. We had this for a while. But we used to have to work pretty hard to get the place cleaned up enough to be presentable, to a housekeeper. Alas, now I am retired and my wife and I are the housekeepers. And we do a lousy job. I don't understand how rich people, or royals can stand having live- in servants. I'm sorry, but in my home I want privacy more than anything else. I don't want somebody in my house, messing with my stuff and dealing with me every time I want a cup of coffee. Leave me the hell alone. And I'm paying you to be hanging around in my house? Maybe I'm missing something, but I'd rather clean my own living space than have someone see what a slob I am. And I'm a slob and that's the way it is. I don't want to have to kind of always keep things neat like I would as a guest. Hey, it's my house. Is it all right with you if I relax? Now a chauffeur is a different story. I don't want a limo. But a driver now and then would be nice. He wouldn't be in my personal space and I could sleep or watch a movie, or look at scenery, or chat with wife. It would have to be a regular car though. I've ridden in limos many times and I just don't get it. But having a driver in my very own regular sedan would be nice once in a while. Just a fantasy, mind you. I don't even have a full size sedan. A driver wouldn't be any fun in my 1998 Ford pick up.