I only run my dishwasher about every other day. No cockroaches here. Buying appliances today is not really a fun thing.

I too run my dishwasher every other day. I rinse some in before I put the dishes in but don't use the rinse only cycle. I don't worry about cockroaches either but I do live in a single family home in the country not a building with multiple units.

I don't run my dishwasher very often either. I rinse before I put them in also.

Last week I purchased a new Samsung front load washer & dryer. One of the largest made. I put my old set in the rental I just completed. I also burned up my 30 year old vacuum & got a Dyson DC65 Animal Plus!

Seriously....I'm loving the NEW stuff! It's all working so much better than the old stuff ever did! And it's very pretty! I do have my doubts that the new vacuum will be around in 30 years tho....:0)

I think about cockroaches here on Maui -- partly because of our upstairs neighbor's experience. She put her breakfast dishes in the dishwasher, went out to lunch, started making dinner and opened the dishwasher. Eeek! A whole community of roaches! We debated what to do, but decided that since the dishwasher had a hard disposal feature she would run it on hot. Worked pretty well, but, oh...ick! (Hand rinsing isn't enough to discourage bugs here. Why own a dishwasher if I have to practically wash everything by hand?

We haven't had a roach in our own condo in years. Bug Man makes quarterly visits throughout our complex, going into every unit to spray. Anyone with troubles can get a visit pronto, too. What I do see from time to time are the teeny, almost colorless, water-seeking ants. Putting a drop of Terro on a piece of cardboard sends them back to wherever it is they call home.

We rinse our dishes quickly before we put them in the dishwasher. Sometimes, it is three days before it is full enough to start, so rinsing when loading is a must, if you want them all sparkling clean. We don't have an issue with roaches here, so the bug thing is not something I would have thought about before now.

The first time I saw a cockroach was when I was visiting a college friend on Oahu; I'm from the Pacific Northwest and they just don't show up there, that I know of. Yes, it was in the dishwasher and it was huge. :) Their house was very clean, but I know the roaches are everywhere. The other friend and I went on to Kauai for a couple of days and realized there were roaches in our (middle-of-the-road, quality-wise,) hotel and even in the rental car--eewwwwww! She wasn't as afraid so she offered to drive while I rode with my feet up.

Chisue, I think I had the same fridge as you, to fit in the space allotted in my previously very small kitchen. Unfortunately, it only lasted 5 years which really ticked me off. Hopefully, I had a lemon and yours will do much better. I too had no choice but that GE.

sjerin -- Oh-oh, do I have a Five Year Plan Fridge? It's predecessor (same thing but much heavier, so probably better quality innards) was still working perfectly when they took it away last month. (New Feb. 2001)

Roaches were here before us and will be here after humans are long gone. A former neighbor owned a big extermination company in Chicago. They serviced many big hotels and restaurants, so he was in a lot of kitchens and bathrooms. He had a list of three or four places he would take his family for dinner. See? We just don't *know* this stuff. (Have I 'made your day'? LOL)

Yes you have, Chisue! I'm very much of the opinion that ignorance IS bliss! Or at least keeps me from worrying so much.

I rinse everything in the sink before putting it in the dishwasher.

A year ago I bought son a toaster that made egg sandwiches too. He doesn't eat toast as a rule, but the egg sandwiches sounded good for breakfast, and people raved about them. He loved it, but it broke before long. I knew it would because I could not find a toaster in any price range that reviews said lasted for very long.

Eons ago we had toasters for a lifetime, even cheap basic ones. Today's electric kitchen appliances are made so poorly.

Say...I need a new toaster for the condo. While we are here I use at toaster-oven that I bought for under $20 at K-Mart in Kahului. It works great, and I'd leave it our for guests except for the fact that it has a "Broil" setting. Disaster lurks.

One of the first people to stay in our condo was booked by our agency. He lit a fire on top of our new Corian countertops to use a hibachi he'd bought on island. (There are gas BBQ's at every cluster here.) Yes, the agency collected damages, and they paid to have the counter refinished and the kitchen repainted, but...gee whiz! I don't have that kind of thing with the guests I book myself.

When they replace a fridge many of whose contemporaries lasted for 40 years ...

... with one that lasts for about 8 ...

... 5 times the growth in that part of the economy!

Progress - ain't it grand!

o j

Rather than repair my 10+ year old washer I opted for new. I hated the new one so much I replaced it with one I hated just as much only to discover the replacement worked just exactly the same. Since California is a dry state, I can only have half a tub of water and the rinse cycle only sprays water over the clothes as it spins. It then commences to agitate when there is so little water in the tub that the fins make wear spots where they rub. This isn't just on a single washer. I'm now on my 3rd one in an attempt to find one that uses some water to rinse. And the kicker? I live in Iowa. No water shortage here. So I set my kitchen timer, raise the lid on the washer during rinse cycle until it's at least 2/3 full of water, then lower the lid and let it rinse. PITA for sure. In hind sight I wish I would have repaired the original old washer. It washed. I could choose the cycle I wanted, water level I wanted, wash and rinse temperature, and any combination of those. I had to do some creative plumbing to bypass the all cold wash/rinse on this fancy new one in order to have warm water. I hate it. On my list is auction washer. It has to be old enough to have all the choices on the dials I want. This one will go on craigslist.

I bought a new washing machine and thought I was doing the right thing by buying a High Efficiency one. Well it now takes me 2 hours to do a load of clothes. I can only load the thing half-way and I have to do the second rinse just to get the clothes clean. It's 5 years old so should be dying soon and when it does I'm going back to a regular washing machine.

The efficient DW I don't mind so much. We run ours every night but it does take 2 hours again, to run, but at least I'm still up and can empty it before bed.
Oh, and our electric bills? have not changed..

Last year I went shopping for a new washer and dryer. I discussed this with a Sears sales person and she said they don't last like they used and the expensive ones are not any better than the cheap ones. I bought the cheapest GE washer and dry I could find, they were $499. and $599. Then I bought the extended warranty which will repair them free for 5 years. I can even call them out for a yearly inspection at no cost. If either machine needs service 3 times I get a new one. I love them, very quiet, no walking to the other side of the room LOL and I have options for HE or no HE. My clothes come out clean and I love the wrinkle free options.

I learned the same thing about low end working just as well as high end front load washers. When we built in 2001 I decided I could buy three low-end washers for the price of one of the 'fancy' ones, and I did by one. It failed after three years -- a house sitter overloaded it -- and I bought another of the same brand. It's lasted well, and I'm still ahead money-wise over having bought the high end machine. The 2001 gas dryer is fine. I don't think I've ever had a gas dryer fail to where it can't be repaired inexpensively. (Don't care about 'matching sets' in my laundry area.)

The condo has an old Maytag washer/dryer combo with an agitator washer. I miss the much dryer clothes coming out of my front load, and it has a knack for creating 'prison escape sheets' (ropes). However, this Maytag was made before the company was sold. I hope it will go on for a long time.