So, to that end we went out to Sears and surveyed the field. We ended up buying a slick, shiny, totally cool, totally black contraption, which was... if not the Mercedes Benz... certainly the Cadillac of dish-cleansing apparatus. It had enough buttons & lights to resemble the control panel of a nuclear missile silo and would be classified, by my standards anyway, as a "smart machine."
Of course, it ended up demonstrating just how smart it was, by committing seppuku, shortly after the warranty expired.
So, as we had called in a repair guy to minister to our stove... also Sears, btw... which had apparently started to have a sympathetic nervous breakdown... we also had him scope out the ailing dishwasher. The tech, who could have made a shitpile of money replacing the innards of said machine, informed us that it would be far cheaper to simply buy another dishwasher. He advised us to buy a low-end Moffat, a very simple and reliable machine that, he assured us, would last forever. So we did.
Now almost a year later, the Moffat, being a distinctly "less smart" variant of the species... decided to give up the ghost while still under warranty.
The repair guy this time, has informed us that the bearings in the pump are kaput. He also removed some gunk from the pump itself, admitting that the filter in these machines is not as effective as one might wish.
So anyway... there'll be a week or two wait for the new pump... but at least Mrs. Neo won't be leaving on an extended vacation.
Now, if I can only find someone to fix the washing machine.
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RELATED: Not the "Mike Holmes" show
"I am also, surprisingly, for once... for all my contorted wrenching on sharpish metal objects... not covered in blood."*