I bought the appliance

No, not the washing machine. Even though it's July and the new Bosch Nexxus model came out it really isn't much different from the old one. It's still big and ugly-looking and I keep hoping that a new 1200, or even better 1400 rpm, super efficient but cute model will be launched on the market so that when I skip into the appliance showroom it will call to me "Modernemama, buy me and I will answer all your laundry demands with ease while satisfying your need for clean lines and cool design".
No, we had a dishwasher crisis. On Wednesday the 38 year-old cream coloured Maytag dishwasher clicked off halfway through a cycle leaving behind a couple of inches of dirty water in the bottom of the machine. There is no drain programme so Steve had to bail it out with a spoon and a cat dish. Then he took off the bottom plate and discovered that the drive belt had broken. That's a $16 part but he didn't think he could reach in to slip it on and I didn't want to pay a service charge for something so simple (I know, flaky economics) so I seized the moment and rushed out to order this beauty:

OK, so it was $1000 but after thirty eight years I think the old dishwasher has earned its retirement. They deliver the new one on Saturday and I'm sure it will be more efficient and quieter, and it will certainly look smarter. And I'm another step closer to the dream kitchen.