I am happy to report that the rash on my ankles has improved tremendously since I dug down to the bottom of my sock drawer and found some socks to wear that were washed back when we had the washing machine that actually used water to rinse the soap out.

Don purchased a ziploc bag filled with laundry soap “pods” that are supposedly “HE” friendly and then he chose the highest water level setting he could find on the dial.  He’s hoping the demands of the new appliance have been satisfactorily met but my ankles will have the final say.   I can say the redness has faded considerably so I no longer look like a Red Footed Boobie!  I had seen individual packets of soap used in dishwashers before and they seem to be quite hard so when Don handed me one of those little “gremlins” as he called it, I was surprised at how soft and squishy it was.  I feared the small amount of water the washer uses wouldn’t be able to get the pod wet enough to break down the outer shell had it been as hard as the dishwasher ones.   As he was returning the bag to the washer I said, “I thought those things would be a lot harder.”  He said, “No Bev, they’re really easy!”  I had to laugh as I thought about how words can have different meanings.  Hard can mean difficult but it can also mean firm.  I used it in reference to the second definition and Don immediately translated my comment to mean something completely different!

We did both cautiously agree the dryer is working out well.   So far it appears to be very similar to the old one.  It will most likely never be overworked as the spinning wonder of a washer it sits beside does half of it’s work.   Not that anyone would ever find themselves in a position to hide a full size car tire in the house or hide one for any reason, for that matter, but we know one place it will definitely fit if the necessity arises.  The capacity of this dryer is huge and the opening is enormous but we’re liking those changes.  They’ve made throwing clothes in it and removing them a breeze!

I guess changes to what we’re used to aren’t always the end of the world.   With this washer,  we’ve learned to feed it soap in “pod” form and as long as we convince it we’re washing an extra large load of full length, bulky winter coats every time we hit the start button, everything should work out just fine!