Coveted product endorsement...  

Ya can't buy these, ya know.

I hereby award the coveted, albeit completely unknown "Double E" [Exceeds Expectations] rating to:

The Bosch Evolution 500 Dishwasher

We go through dishwashers about every 10-12 years, thanks to hard water and unwillingness to tolerate or try to fix sporadic leaks. This time we had one goal: get one we can have a conversation over in the kitchen.

This sucker is quiet. I mean, as in, "Is it on?"  Even the drain gurgling into the disposer is a series of brief low-pressure spurts, rather than 15 seconds of whining and gargling.

I know it's expensive. But if you are finally willing to invest in something you use daily as much as something you use once a year (combine software upgrade, for example), this is one great choice.

That said, the installer at Best Buy was totally useless. Sometime, I guess the plumbing codes have changed and front supply of water is verboten. He told Jan he could not reroute the hot water supply because it required drilling a hole in the floor. It took me about a half-hour to do the job. (I was was gone that week and Jan didn't want to wait. But she did.)

Plumbing note...

We replaced our household toilets with 1.6 gallons/flush models (they will all be 1.3 gpf soon) this spring due to worries about our well. Some observations:

• I was concerned our old DWV system would not handle the lower volume efficiently. Turned out to be just fine.
• The flush mechanism is whole 'nother model from the flapper-and-float workings of yore.
• Many of the new models are "chair height". The jury is still out, IMHO.
• The new fixtures came with "slam-proof" seats and lids. If you have a 7-year old grandson, it's the biggest benefit of all.

Thought you'd want to know.

How'd they do that?....

We just replaced our windows and sliding patio doors with new ones from Renewal by Andersen.  The windows are great, but the replacement was the kind where a whole new frame slides into the old frame, which makes it look like a picture with too much frame (until we get used to it, I guess).  But on the other hand, it only took two days with virtual no disturbing the inner or outer trim.

Plus Jan no longer has an excuse to make me get up and close the window when it rains at night.

The job was incredibly expensive to my thinking (16 double-hungs, two patio doors = $22,000), but what are ya gonna do?  Over 30 years maybe it's not so bad, and they seem to meet expectations.  At least, we don't think we'll have a 6x6 slab of ice (inside) in our living room this winter.

But here's the curious thing.  We opted for the top-of-the-line energy saving High Performance Low-E4 Glass, which makes us eligible for a (maximum) $1500 tax credit.


The difference in cost was $1504.

Hmmm.

The engineering is convincing as well...

After a lifetime of familiar and well-deserved complaints from the person who cleans our bathroom (hint: not me), I persistently return to the obvious optimal solution: a urinal. I am not alone.

My contractor, obviously, thought this was the best idea anyone had ever come up with, and immediately went shopping with me for a classy, retro porcelain model, the kind you can saunter up to in a tux and slap a highball on. But then my neighbor, Holly Purcell, a very successful real estate broker, informed me that I absolutely could not install a urinal of any kind if I ever hoped to resell my house. Noting my confusion, she slowly explained that urinals, to my shock, gross women out. [More]

Joel Stein is foremost a humor writer, but his analysis of this situation borders on insightful, probably because it matches my thinking so closely.

America, at this crucial period in history needs more problems-solving creativity like this, and a lot more support from the mavens of interior design for utilitarian solutions.

Something good from Katrina...

Lowes is selling "Katrina cottages" for what looks like pretty reasonable prices. Sure, by the time you add in the "not included" stuff it will be more expensive, but they are not bad looking little houses.


Good place for the in-laws when they visit, f'rinstance. And a darn sight more economical than the infamous Katrina trailers.