For the first time ever, we’ve now lived in a house long enough that we have to start replacing major appliances. Yep, two full decades and counting. Last summer it was the hot water heater and this fall the dishwasher. I researched, shopped, googled, asked friends and any “experts” I could find who would answer my questions, and finally picked the one I wanted.

Then the store delivered an entirely different model.

But that’s not even the worst of my story (though that story is waaaaayyyyy longer and may be a post in the future). No, my cautionary tale today is about how we are so grateful to finally have another working appliance that we’ve had to baby to keep it running, or just outright do without when it finally doesn’t want to do its job anymore, that we didn’t think about what we might still need from it before the appliance was hauled out of the door.

When this shiny new stainless steel dishwasher was delivered, and after the installer came in to work his magic and get the appliance humming quietly under my cabinet, he had me sign that the installation had been completed then slipped the dolly under the edge of my old machine and wheeled it out the side door of my house, down the steps, and right into his truck to carry it off to the place all old dishwashers go to retire. That’s when I made the mistake that I’m kicking myself about. I let him go without removing the basket for silverware.

See, here’s the thing–I’m used to leaving all major appliances and their accouterments behind whenever we sell the house and move. My mind was still locked in the “it must be whole for the next user” mode. While I knew no one was likely to use our machine later, I didn’t really think about it. I didn’t think about the fact that we almost always have more silverware than we have basket space to hold it for a wash cycle (unless we overload it and risk nothing getting clean). What’s worse, the new segmented basket in my new machine is actually even a bit smaller than my old one.

Sigh…It’s not like I got extra credit because I sent all the parts off with the old dishwasher. Heck, I was feeling lucky that they hauled the thing off for free. The old basket wouldn’t have matched, I agree, and it would have had to be shoehorned into one of the other sides when I needed to use it–but I could have always washed ALL of my silverware, even on holidays when everyone seems to use three times their weight in spoons and forks! 

My hope in writing this is that others will learn from my mistake. When an appliance dies and they’re just going to take it away to dump it anyway, remove ANYTHING you think you might be able to use later.  You really don’t get brownie points for doing otherwise, and you could save yourself from years worth of repeating I-should-haves. That’s all. Merry Christmas, happy New Year, and I’ll keep my mouth shut now. Besides, I have extra spoons to wash to keep me busy.