A Waste of Time

No particular depth today but something happened yesterday that was such an utter waste of time I found myself shaking my head in wonderment.

Our dishwasher broke -- again. We didn't actually get it fixed last time. The repair guy came out but didn't really know anything about our brand. So he made a call to the manufacturer and discovered it was the latch. But while he was there it started working again. Of course it did because he's the repair guy. So, he told us it wouldn't hurt anything to just keep using it until it died; however, there was one small glitch. It beeps annoyingly while it is sensing how dirty the dishes are. Okay, it bugs me, but I can live with it and when I can't, I start it when I leave the house and come home to clean, shiny dishes. The best part of this whole thing? He didn't charge us for the service call. Woo hoo!

This week it started doing the same thing (working sometimes, not others, stopping in the middle) so we decided to just have it fixed. Steve called the guy and set up an appointment for Thursday at 3:30. Keep in mind that he already knows what is wrong. Very important. Steve left work early to meet him at the house. I get home, fully expecting him to still be there but to my surprise, he wasn't. "Ah, he's late", I thought as I drove up. Last time he was 2 hours late. No, he had been there and no, it was not fixed.

"Why?" I asked.

Steve replied, "Because he didn't have the part. He has to order it."

I protested. "But he already knew what was wrong. Why did he come out if he didn't have the part? What did he do?"

Steve said, "He took the door off and pushed some buttons. He'll be back early next week to fix it. In the meantime, we can use it if it'll start."

Oh. Okay. No, that's not weird at all. He wasted his time, his gas, and Steve's time all the while knowing what was wrong. Maybe he thought it repaired its own latch and there was something else wrong. Yeah, that must be it. At least he didn't charge us for the house call.