Mama G often impresses Mama C with her ability to build and repair things. Mama G usually is dismissive of the praise, saying that most anyone could do the sorts of things she does — all they need is a good YouTube video and a set of cojones, whatever those are.
Even so, Mama G managed to impress even herself recently when she decided to try to repair their dishwasher. The thing had been acting up for months, maybe even a year, constantly stopping well before one cycle or another was over. Those Two would be over there, constantly pushing buttons and swearing, trying to coax it to finish the job. When it was uncooperative, it would emit a series of beeps that, along with my crying for more breakfast, would drive Mama G to the brink some days. Finally, she shut the dishwasher off at the circuit breaker box and announced that from there on out, she would do all the dishes by hand. Mama C, however, has a bit more inner princess in her and was not about to go along with that nonsense, especially given Mama G’s frequent travels. She was ready to call a repair person.
They already thought they had diagnosed the problem, mostly likely a bad control panel. All the symptoms were there. In looking at what it would cost to have a repair person replace the panel, they briefly entertained the idea of purchasing a new dishwasher, probably at a minimum cost of $600 to $700. Enter the YouTube videos, because if it’s one thing that Mama G detests, it’s spending money on things that offer no real pleasure! After watching a few videos, she decided that the repair didn’t look very difficult and she ordered a new control panel, at $149 including tax and shipping. Early one Saturday morning after it arrived, she began her work. In no time, she had disassembled the door and made her way to the control panel.
So far, things were working exactly according to plan as described in the YouTube videos, with one exception: none of the videos mentioned anything about taking precautions if you have a cat in the house. I was delighted to find that the back of the door cover contained an enormous scratch pad, and I went to town!
Oh, I guess I was mistaken, because Mama G started yelling at me to get off of it, then denied me further access. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
In no time Mama G had the new panel inserted, then started reassembling the door. That was apparently the hardest part, involving lots of swearing and a little blood and a couple of Band-Aids, but eventually she got it all back together. Mama C slept through the whole thing, but once up, she came out to the kitchen to find the dishwasher purring away. And it purred for a long time, until finally, there was a sight they hadn’t seen in a while.
The dishwasher had made it through a full cycle and shut off on its own! Now there was peace to be had in the household again. Well, there is still the issue of my crying in the early morning, and trust me, there’s no YouTube video on how to fix that!
Oxbow's World 
Dear Mr. Oxbow, I grew up in a household of self-sufficiency! My mother could repair/repurpose/reuse household items and we did a lot of re-finishing furniture and other household decorations. My Dad was the epitome of Mr. Fixit, whether it was fixing our cars or building his own home and everything in between. There is a certain self-satisfaction with doing the job yourself…with one caveat…if it is successfully completed, otherwise a failed attempt can be even more costly than the decision to DYI. Mr. Oxbow, sorry you lost your scratch pad, but now your Mama G has bragging rights in the colony…as SUCCESSFUL DYIer. Congrats to Mama G. Please tell Mama G I look forward to more exploits of self repair in the future!
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This blog post is amazing!! Way to go Mama G!!
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