Doing it by Hand

I finished repairing the dishwasher on my own today.

It started a couple of weeks ago. The dishwasher had been getting louder and louder, making a grinding noise when it would switch cycles, and what had once been a so-silent-you-had-to-check-if-it-was-on dishwasher, was now a shaking-the-house-like-Godzilla dishwasher.

I had the brilliant idea to look up how to repair it on YouTube. It seemed like a pretty simple fix where you take out the motors, find what's blocking their bits, and put it all back together. I'm not mechanically inclined but I thought it looked easy enough and I gave it a shot.

Hell, what could go wrong?

The flood I cleaned up upon next using the dishwasher answered that question quite well.

I took it apart again. I looked over each little piece. I cried a little. I kicked things. I discovered a loose seal and found a local place where I could order it. I also spent a lot of time finding out that, no, Lowe's, Home Depot, and other big box stores do not carry parts like that and will not order them.

One little rubber gasket that costs $30 later and I had fixed the dishwasher!

Except it was leaking out of a completely different part now.

Fudgecake.

I took apart the motor that was leaking and looked it over. I couldn't find a direct cause but it was clearly this motor that was flooding my kitchen so after some debate we ordered a new motor for about $60.

Today I replaced the motor. Convinced that I had fixed everything and nothing more needed doing I put the dishwasher back together, put everything in its place and, instead of testing it, I put dishes in it and washed them.

I thought God had promised no more apocalyptic flooding but he lied.

I pulled it out of the cupboard area. Again. I flipped it on its back. Again. I looked at every single piece to see what the problem was. Again. I realized I hadn't put the bracket back in place that held the impeller motor where it was supposed to go and the entire thing had fallen out.

Oops.

It works now. It cleans the dishes and doesn't leak. It's quiet. I did a good job.

I never want to look at another dishwasher again.

Dinner Time!

I don't have a cookbook yet for low-carb/ketogenic recipes but I can still work on cooking new foods and getting better at the process. I lost at least some of my skills do to non-use and I seem to have lost my attention for detail after the brain surgery so it's not going to be a super fast process but I used to have the skills needed to make some damn good food and I want to get that back again.

Yesterday I started easy and made some fried eggs. I looked up a recipe to see if there was any small improvement I could make over my old style of cooking fried eggs and found that there were two things I could do to improve them: Browning the butter first and then starting over high heat but turning that into low heat as soon as the eggs hit the pan.

 They were fantastic. It was a very small first step but it was an important one.

Tonight I've decided I'm making dinner for the family and I have what I think will be a hit menu for all involved:

• Chicken schnitzel
• Steamed Brussels sprouts
• Garlic mashed potatoes

I'll be making some basic changes to things, like halving the mashed potatoes recipe and leaving out the sesame seeds, as well as using almond flour on the schnitzel to keep them lower in carbohydrates and keto friendly. The potatoes will be for the two ladies in my life since they're a bit too carby for me but I'll taste-test them as I make them to ensure that they're delicious.

For the most part, though, I need to follow the recipes and properly time everything. Flavor, of course, is important and I want this to turn out well but my real focus will be on timing and attention to detail since those are the two things I feel I most need to work on.

After Action Report:

The chicken schnitzel was an abysmal failure and the potatoes didn't get made due to nobody else eating dinner tonight.

The Brussels sprouts, though? They were absolutely amazing. Steamed for about 10 minutes and then salted they were cooked perfectly and the natural sweetness came out.

They were probably the best Brussels sprouts I've ever made and they were amazingly simple to cook.

I may have bitten off more than I could chew with the schnitzel and shouldn't have tried altering the recipe for almond flour. I have to get that keto-friendly cookbook I was talking about so that I can do the recipes exact, as per the recipe. I'm hoping that will help.

But damn. Those Brussels sprouts made a fantastic healthy meal. I need to buy more.

Adventures in 2016

"Wear something festive," they said.

Welcome to 2016!

This is going to be the Year of Adventure!

It's also going to be the Year of Keto but that's a lot less exciting.

So, ADVENTURE!

I have some goals for this year to help adventure happen. The road to them might night be super adventurous but each goal will be that the long path leads to some kind of adventure.

Have I used the word "adventure" enough here? Too much? Not quite enough?

Adventure.

There.

Travel:

• Visit 2 new US states
• Take 2 family vacations
• Explore Chicago for a weekend
• Visit 3 different LARPs

Knowledge:

• Read and review 100 books
• Reviews will be on GoodReads
• Play guitar at an open mic night
• Find a keto-friendly cookbook and cook every single dish in it, beginning to end

Fitness:

• Run a 5k
• Do 15 full push ups in a row
• Do 50 crunches in a row