My dishwasher broke.

For a week or two, I washed dishes by hand, while the new, more energy efficient, one arrived.

I kinda liked washing dishes by hand. I liked the hot water and bubbles.

I liked the time it took to wash the dishes.  I liked the organization it took to wash from least soiled to more to keep the water clean as long as possible.  I liked the rubrics-cube puzzle of stacking the dishes so they drained without puddling.

I found dishwashing sorta meditative and relaxing.

Washing dishes by hand. brought back memories of my childhood, washing dishes with Mom, and later as she trained more of her daughters, washing and drying with my sisters. Rinsing and draining made me think fondly of my Aunt Pat, who broke from the tradition of a wiping dry and getting clean dishes back in the cupboard and out of sight.  Aunt Pat, much to the chagrin of Grandma Z, her mother-in-law, insisted that it was more sanitary to let the dishes dry.

My new dishwasher arrived. It took minutes to install.  The youngster that installed started  a cleaning cycle to wash out all the factory oils.  He warned me it could take some time and then he left.

These new dishwashers are energy efficient.  It could take up to two hours to run the first load.

It did take a long time. About two hours. Holy Mackerel, I better read the instruction.

Umm-hmmm.  Here’s what I learned:

Efficient dishwashers run longer to save water and energy, just as driving a car slower saves on gas.

And this:

For exceptional cleaning,, cycles are longer due to the soak and pauses.

I decided to take a life lesson from my new dishwasher.  [tweetthis]Perhaps I’m in the efficiency stage of like.[/tweetthis]

I‘m saving energy. I may take a little longer.

But… exceptional performance comes from bit more contemplation and a few more pauses.

Don’t you think?