Out-of-character chat

[Zhym]

As anyone in my games knows, I'm in no position to complain about slow posting rates, but I'm wondering—is this game dead?

[tumblingdice]

Hi guys. Sorry to have fallen out of contact. Between the broken dishwasher--with yours truly washing 3 meals' worth of dishes for six people by hand until 11 p.m. every night--and my wife watching Amazon original series on the one computer in our house, I haven't been able to post. My apologies for keeping you hanging. Would everybody like to continue?

[Zhym]

I would!

[greyarea]

Yes, please.

[kwll]

I'm in!

[Zhym]

Also: that’s a lot of dishwashing! I’d be sorely tempted to buy a whole bunch of paper plates and utensils if that kept up for long.

[badams30]

Duh! I'm always IN!

[spanningtree]

Yes!!!

[tumblingdice]

I'm too tired at the end of the night to order a dishwasher. But enough of that! Let's get back to the game. Stand by..,

[greyarea]

Electric dishwashers are not as good as they were thirty years ago. Often we get dishes not dry or food not washed off well (if I forgot to rinse, AKA prewash, the dishes). And a number of things (good pots and pans, knives, delicate china) we do by hand anyway.

There's something zen about doing dishes.

(Note that I have a dishwasher. Just because something is zen doesn't mean I want to do it. )

[tumblingdice]

(Note that I have a dishwasher. Just because something is zen doesn't mean I want to do it. )

Agreed. I didn't realize that dishwashers aren't as good as they used to be. What's really a kick in the pants, though, is our front-loading washing machine. Never buying one of those again. Top-loading only from now on.

[greyarea]

Oh? We like ours. What don't you like about yours?

[tumblingdice]

Mold and mildew. Water collects in the rubber gasket surrounding the door.

[Zhym]

Huh. The dishwasher at our place (we rent) is probably about 10 years old, and it kind of sucks and doesn't use its space efficiently. I'd had a new dishwasher on my shopping list for when we buy our next house. Are new dishwashers less effective because they're made to save water, or what?

We had a fairly new front-loading washing machine at our old house and really liked it. You do have to be a bit more vigilant about cleaning them out, though. We left the door to ours ajar when we weren't using it to keep it aired out. I think you're also supposed to run a self-cleaning cycle every month (with their expensive cleaning solution, or just bleach), but we weren't as diligent about that.

[greyarea]

We just leave the door ajar of our front loader after washes. No mildew build up yet (it's been a year since we've had them).

As to dishwashers, I think to be more energy efficient they don't heat the water as much and then don't dry as long, so dishes don't dry properly, as well as less water pressure. At least that's what I've been told.

[Zhym]

On the other hand, older dishwashers wear out, get worse at keeping food from clogging up the lines, and eventually get bad water pressure too.

Basically, dishwashers suck, and only work well at rinsing, degreasing, and drying dishes you've more or less already washed.

[tumblingdice]

If I just left the door open, that would solve a lot of problems. I have a bad habit of letting a load of laundry sit overnight, too. That'll stink up both the washer and the clothes. Since the washer and dryer are in our nasty basement, it's easy to come up with reasons not to rush down there right away and take the clothes out. It's also easy to blow off the laundry in the basement when you look around the living room and see the mountain range of laundry still waiting to go back in kids' (and parents') dressers and closets. Dressers and closets tucked away in the rooms of kids who are sleeping, and who we are afraid to wake up. Naturally, the kids wreak havoc on the piles of laundry the longer they sit there. It's a disaster. But I can only do so much. At some point I have to go to bed, or else I'll be a zombie at work the next day. I could go on, but I won't. Promise.

[Zhym]

Oh, yeah. Leaving laundry in the wash is definitely a recipe for mildew.

It's about time we should have robot servants to do our laundry for us, isn't it?

[tumblingdice]

It's about time we should have robot servants to do our laundry for us, isn't it?

Better yet, how 'bout unseen robot servants.

(audience groans)

[greyarea]

Aristide - Rogue Deluxe

Aristide draws his sword and follows whoever in the group is close by, trying to pinpoint the source of the bad smell.

I see Aristide running in circles like a dog chasing its tail in this endeavour.