Snow Chains and Dishwashers

It snowed in Zurich on Wednesday morning. The news from the BBC news told me that you guys, over there, also have several centimetres of snow, about to cause the usual seasonal chaos.

Back here in Zurich, we have the excitement of having the British Prime Minister, as well as Prince William and David Beckham here to promote the U.K.’s bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup (that’s soccer to my U.S. readers), and who will not be daunted by the few flurries of snow that we have had.

To prepare ourselves for this winter, we have bought a new set of snow chains. The old ones were rusty and generally ready for the knackers yard. More to the point, Hazel was protesting about the procedures for putting the snow-chains on to the car. I have never seen the problem with this procedure, which is perfectly straightforward, and which we have followed in 100% of all of the five cases when they have been needed.

I will explain. I rehearse the assembly in the garage. No problem here. When needed in anger, usually during a howling storm, I remove myself from the car, take the chains from the boot, lay them out under the back wheels, and then spend 15 minutes failing to get them hooked together. Hazel comes out of the car, and snaps them together in about 47 seconds.

What could get simpler than this? I really do not see the problem, but now we have the new snow-chains, we will be able to cut-out the last 47 seconds.

Rearranging the Dishwasher

On a totally unrelated subject, I need to correct any thoughts that all is perfect in my relationship with our lodger. Yes, you have guessed it. He has rearranged the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

How the dirty dishes are laid out is a very personal matter and should not be lightly interfered with. Now, I load for maximum efficiency on unloading and making sure that the dishwasher is as full as possible. This means constant shuffling around of plates, cups, glasses, soup bowls etc. It is an exercise in optimisation.

One alternative approach is maximum efficiency on loading. Throw the dishes in, put the `dishwasher tablets in and then “Go”. A kind of dishwasher equivalent of “Just Do It!”

Lodger Richard’s philosophy actually concerns itself with the trivial matter of whether the dishes will be clean. Have you ever heard anything like this? You can imagine the conversations. Being challenged on my positioning of the soup ladle (which could have stopped the spinning thingie from spinning around), could be more than a man could bear.

Fortunately, a generous supply of superior red wine comes to the rescue of this relationship. Cheers!