I have two years plus experience with the Fisher & Paykel DD603 model. I am on my second one to replace the first one that had too many problems to list. Mainly it continued to leak and after replacing almost everything, it would still leak. I have a water softener and use 1/2 the soap recommended and it would clean fine, but water continued to collect underneath the machine until it would run over on my wood floors. The second DD machine is SO much louder than the first. It did not even have fiberglass sound proofing in the doors. The installer took the pads out of the original unit to put in this replacement unit. I still think it's refurbished. It was sent from the distributor in California to me in Florida about a month ago. I was so fed up with the noise of the bottom drawer that I called F & P and let them have it about this machine. It was also leaking. They sent out the original installer of this 'newer' machine and he sent his side kick guy. I ran a load before he got there so he could see where it was leaking. Before even diagnosing the leak he declared my dish plates were too large for the machine. He said nothing could be taller than the crook of the 'flamingo neck' of the handle on the container that holds the eating utensils. My plates are 11" diameter. I had him call F & P who declared they have a different holder for larger plates. They are supposed to be sending me completely new wire/vinyl inserts to use instead of the 'plate holders' that came with the machine. They think THIS is why my machine is leaking. I say BS. But they're sending them anyway. The machine is still too loud for me. I never thought I'd say this, but I now hate THIS MODEL since I've had so much trouble. I will say this: the machines MUST be installed correctly. The drain hoses are not hooked up the same as a regular dishwasher. AND F & P will NOT warranty work on a machine that is not hooked up properly. There is a kit you can purchase to hook these dishwashers up correctly. I know that there is a new DD605 I believe that should be out this month, if I remember correctly. I hope they fix any problems with this newer model. As for the operation of the machine. There is NOTHING to fixing a motor/rotor at all. It's ingenius the way these machines operate. I could install the motor is so easy. It's nothing like a regular dishwasher. I just want mine to work right. I have regular American dishes and several different sets. All of the dinner plates are the same size. I will let you know what the 'insert' actually is when it arrives that will allow the DD to hold deeper plates. Hope this helps.

Wood - the Sarton book was "The House by the Sea" which was written when she was older and had moved away from the small town where she had lived. As I mentioned before, I found it to be an interesting meditation on life... I have put Maeve Binchy to the side for right now (temporarily) and in its place picked up "The Understudy" by David Nicholls (he who wrote "Starter for Ten" and "One Day" which I know other RPers have read)... "The Understudy" is another winner. A good plot involving an English superstar actor, his understudy (the hero of the book), and his friendship with both the star and his wife. Great fun to read -- one of those rare books which suck you in and he has his characters doing things that you (i.e. me) would do. For example, the protagonist is in his agent's run-down office and is sitting on a chair with the yellow foam sticking out and he has to remind himself not to pick at the foam... Maybe not the best example, but I honestly felt that I had known his characters by the end of the book. Anyway, if you like his other work, you'll like this one. (Also found out that David Nicholls was one of the creators of the tv series Rescue Me which has a great sly sense of humour in it...) Then picked up a NF book about extreme weather events, but the author has such a drive to talk about his agenda and take on global warming, that "everything" is put into "quotation marks" and it gets a bit "irritating" after a while. Additionally, he sucks the "interesting" out of any of the weather situations he talks about. How can you make a tornado boring? I don't know, but he does. Not too sure what to read next... but isn't that half the fun of reading?

Have been pretty much a lurker for years, posted occasionally and found this site via GardenWeb. I'm finishing up my MLIS (Masters in Library Science) and work full time at a hospital as a medical librarian. Before that, I ran the transcription department in that same hospital just short of 10 years. I live in San Pedro California, a sweet little town on the coast of SoCal, not too far from Long Beach and south of L.A. School has reigned in my "fun reading" but now I can begin to relax and have at it! I love mysteries and just finished the Deborah Crombie series. I also like Peter Robinson. In fiction I just love Rumer Godden; I re-read her wonderful books periodically. Amy Tan is another wonderful author. Barbara Kingsolver (SP?) and Ken Follett too are wonderful. There are many others, but I can't think of them all! Many new and wonderful books I get from this website - someone is always reading something that interests me! My husband of 34.5 years is a retired CIO. His passion is aviation and WWII. He builds large scale model RC planes. Seriously, these things are BIG! We have two very spoiled (indoor) cats. Now that my academic endeavors are almost behind me, I plan to tackle my neglected garden, my (long) lists of TBR books I've been making - for years now - and assorted needlework projects, i.e. knitting, cross stitch, crocheting. Not necessarily in that order!

I'm getting this done just under the wire I guess. In last month's thread Woodnymph asked about my bookclub's reaction to Becoming by Michelle Obama. I didn't respond because the meeting was cancelled. We have met since then and I'm sorry to say that there wasn't much discussion about it. Most liked it okay but other than that, not much was said. Perhaps it had been too long since everyone read it. I've been asked to temporarily step in as chair of this club while the person in charge is recovering from an injury. I have a feeling that I may be asked to do this permanently and I have some misgivings about doing that. This bookclub read will be March - Book I by John Lewis which I have already read. I went on to read Book II and Book III. These are Graphic novels that I really enjoyed. The book one I think I already mentioned, is our Vermont Reads book for this year. Others for this month in my regular life This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. A gem. In trying to give new-to-me genres a fair shake I read two other graphic novels. The Hound of the Baskervilles (A. Conan Doyle), my first and I think to be only Sherlock Holmes mystery. I liked the story very much but didn't know going in that Holmes was a flaming a$$. I also read GN of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I didn't find this particularly well suited for this format. It read almost like a Cliffs notes version. I own the complete book but haven't read it yet - I certainly will though. I've only read a half dozen GNs but think that some books are better suited than others for graphic format. It also depends on the illustrator. Conclusion: it depends. I just received a book in the mail called Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Mariana Gosnell. It was recommended I believe by Donnamira quite a while ago but I hadn't been able to find it locally so succumbed to Amazon. Just have dipped in a bit but have learned some already. Thanks Donnamira for that tip. I'll probably post more about this book later. There is more I'd like to add but this is too long already.