Thanks for the replies. It does help me to know that one, I'm not the only one that find this level of "service" unacceptable, and two, that there are indeed people that would rather do the cleaning themselves. I still have much to sort out as to whether I want to continue to try having a cleaning person or would rather do it myself. But in the meantime, we are going on vacation and I already planned to put them on hold for the time we are away and just a bit thereafter. Probably 3 weeks off altogether. That will give me time to access the feeling of NOT having a cleaning service. Assuming I still want to go that route, I plan to call Wilma and explain the situation. Despite everything, she is a very nice woman, and one that I actually trust (to my knowledge, theft is one problem I have not experienced with our current cleaners). To be fair, I have not really said much to convey how unhappy I am (in part because I've barely seen her in recent weeks). I'd like to give her the chance to improve things. I will make a list of the things I want addressed and make very sure that she understands what I'm looking for. After that, if I'm still unhappy at least I'll know I did everything in my power to articulate my expectations, and I'll feel free to move on. I got a few new referrals from some friends last night that I will hold onto. I'll admit, I really do have to fight the feeling of not liking people in my house. In our house, my biggest problem is my own inconsistency. There are times when I enjoy cleaning and it almost feels cathartic. However, there are also times, due to our difficulties with our son, that it becomes nearly impossible to keep up and the house heads south VERY quickly. So until I can maintain some level of consistency on my own, I guess I'll have to continue on with a cleaning service. Perhaps if I spend a little time tweaking things, I'll end up being very happy. Thanks again. :)

Annie, I know tons of people who store pans in their oven. I also just do not get it. The biggest disaster (lately) that I have created is to try to make a batch of bread that makes two loaves in my breadmaker. (Annie's maple oatmeal bread). Well, I never gave it any thought, but when the cycle beeped and I went to get it out to shape and bake, there was yeasty dough all over the counter, the floor, in the bottom of the breadmaker...yikes! We had to take the breadmaker and use a spray hose from the kitchen faucet to clean it out. Didn't know if spraying that water in it would hurt it or not, but I managed to make bread in it yesterday and it worked just fine. But what a mess to clean up!

My island is 9' X 5' all counter height I love it. Sorry, I do not know how to post photos. But others' photos give you the picture. I have seating on one 9' side, and the sink on the other. I have plenty of walk space all around and it is open to the family room. The TV is visible from the sink. It is the hub of my home. The disposal switch is inside the sink cabinet. Yes, the kids tend to throw everything on the island and it is the landing spot for groceries, so I have to be diligent about making sure it stays tidy. It is a gorgeous showstopper so I wouldn't change a thing.

We went from a 20 year old Frigidaire quiet cleen to a new Bosch 300 series a few months back. I think around 2019 Bosch changed their rack design, and made some nice improvements to their product lines. I see no issues with thick heavy diner plates and bowls. Even ovesized banquet plates. It use to take 2 days to fill the older American style dishwasher that had only 2 baskets and a disposal for auto clean, with heated drying. Was as quiet as a 50db unit, but the new Bosch is 44db and holds 33% more and takes 3 to 4 days to fill, while cleaning 200% better. I don't need to use the flexible twin flatware baskets, as I can load small items and all my flatware in the 3rd rack nicely. I thought upgrading the flatware baskets would come in handy, but the upgrade to the flexible 3rd rack was the best overall. Though the myway 3rd rack would be better if, it were adjustable. Both have stong points but the adjustable 3rd rack is more versatile in the long run. I just dont have a comparison with old style tines, other than with our old one, that's now replaced, which we had to bend tines every so often to hold various placements. I have loaded plastic bottles by propping them up against each other with bowls along side to sturdy them. Being clear and tall, the cleaning is as good as by hand, and with fully loaded down the 3rd rack comes out 99% clean, with only the top rack water jets. Which is amazing, when the old washer had 85% cleanness with no 3rd rack. I could have bought a more expensive brand with more features, but I have yet to see reason for it, everything fits and gets cleaned proper 1st try! Right now my only setting is automatic sanitized clean with bumped up drying, and slightly lowered liquid drying additive from default. Using the new Finish tablet with hard water additive, as it is cheaper than (Fairy Platinum - Casscade Platinum) cleans just as well if not better, with having the built in hard water softener additive. For less than $470 scratch and ding sale, I made out like a bandit, having a slight crack on the finish along the top of the door, and with full warrenty as new. Without waiting on the order. Note, some have reported Miele 3rd rack tines breaking. The Bosch has better tines on its plastic 3rd rack. The myway has all metal tines with a side mounted plastic flatware tray. All the plastics in the Bosch are of high quality durable plastics. Though the standard style long thin and double flatware baskets are thinly molded, being used primarily on lower end models. I can imagine the grates to keep flatware upright, may crack or break from wear, being the weakest design of their offerings. Remember, the makes who have bells and whistles to make the best cleaning, often have issues with dependability over time. As the extra features are areas that will multiply the chances of failure.