I Feel Like a Dum@ss!!

When moving here I was given a choice of a washer and dryer or a washer and dishwasher for our wedding gift from the in-laws. It was a no brainer in my mind---I took the dryer! Not sure hubby has forgiven me when he washes most of the dishes ;-) but I don't regret the decision, I am another non-ironer!

my duh!! moment came when we moved into our bungalow and I tried to use the gas stove for the first time. There seemed to be a cover or something over the burners...and I thought it was like some of the stoves in the states where there is a cover and it heats up...so then I lit the burner and all of a sudden a big flash of fire came out from under this cover...I panicked and thought I did something wrong...and then idiot that I am I did it again. I am lucky I didn't blow myself up...after I did it the second time..then I realized that it was a cover that had to be lifted on the stove before you light the burner...and then I recently got my first electric kettle...I accidentally overfilled it with water and when it boiled it spilled out all over the counter lol...so apparently I have a lot to learn hehe

What she can't get used to is not being able to open the washer up because she forgot to put something in once it's started....I'll be putting my shirts in and then I hear a desperate shout from the living room that she has something to go in just as I press the on button! 

I still haven't nor will ever get used to this 'for-your-safety feature.

And ironing. Do it when you are watching the telly. Two birds and that....

And ironing. Do it when you are watching the telly. Two birds and that....

Telly time is sacred, man!  I honestly just don't wear things that need to be ironed. I spent plenty of time ironing uniforms for work when I was a waitress in the states, and now that I am finished with that, I am finished with ironing! 

I'm with you, Jewlz. I don't iron anything. My husband irons his own shirt every morning! 

Another DUH moment tonight..."mild" (in reference to weather) means warm...in the US, we used it to mean cold.  Ugh.

My duh moment was changing a lightbulb- but took me only a few moments to realise what I was doing.

I had some trouble with the electric oven in my new place, couldn't figure out that the timer had to be set first in order to work. That took a look in the manual.  

Reversing around the corner took some doing  

When moving here I was given a choice of a washer and dryer or a washer and dishwasher for our wedding gift from the in-laws. It was a no brainer in my mind---I took the dryer! Not sure hubby has forgiven me when he washes most of the dishes ;-) but I don't regret the decision, I am another non-ironer!

Uggh, no way, dishwasher all the way over a dryer.  I really don't mind putting the clothes on an airer- flatten out and smooth out the wrinkles and its easy-peasy. I don't mind not having a proper dryer (this flat has a combo- washer-dryer, my old house had a condenser dryer)

I, absolutely loathe doing the washing up.  However, I *gasp* have found that I like to use a washing up bowl, since I now only have one sink.  

I just wanted to chime in with Jewlz on the no ironing front.  Luckily for work I can wear jeans and t-shirts or sweaters, etc--knits.  Hubby will iron a shirt when he needs one, but his job is a t-shirt and jeans job as well.  When you're working 8-6 everyday and need to cook and do all sorts of other things, ironing doesn't sound in the least bit pleasant.  My MIL irons everything though---including jeans and t-shirts....

Uggh, no way, dishwasher all the way over a dryer.  I really don't mind putting the clothes on an airer- flatten out and smooth out the wrinkles and its easy-peasy. I don't mind not having a proper dryer (this flat has a combo- washer-dryer, my old house had a condenser dryer)

I, absolutely loathe doing the washing up.  However, I *gasp* have found that I like to use a washing up bowl, since I now only have one sink.  

Oh gosh, I am totally the other way round.  Dryer trumps dishwasher any day for me!

I only have one sink...so why do you like the washing up bowl?  

Well, I hang my laundry on what I can "an old lady drying rack" ,just like my grandma used to have, (only hers was wooden) in our spare bedroom. Everything is usually dry by the next day. Unless it's really rainy out.Also if you turn the jeans inside out to dry ,with the pockets facing UP....they dry quicker.

Am I happy about the "no dryer" situation? Um ,NO!

I am also not thrilled with the single (kitchen) sink, the seperate water taps,the 3 hour wash cycle and the no garbage disposal...situation.

I told my husband " I don't get it, we HAVE the technology....why not use it?"

He said "You just don't understand the culture."

damn right . i sure don't .

I only have one sink...so why do you like the washing up bowl?  

Hehhe because I am a lazy a$$ and I can pile the dishes in the washing up bowl and then take it out and still be able to do things like fill my kettle or clean out the coffee grounds without trying to maneuver around them- or when I'm doing the dishes I can dump the cups, or soaking water or whatever and not mess up the clean water. 
I however, at the end of every dish session, clean and dry my washing up bowl like it were its own separate dish so that it doesn't becoming minging.

Add me to the no ironing brigade. Like Jewlz, I just don't wear clothing that requires an iron.  If Tim needs a dress shirt or pair of pants ironed, well, he was a bachelor for 20 years, he can do it himself!

I also never realized a double sink was such an American thing.  My mom's current house is the first house I've lived in where there was a double sink. I remember when she moved in my first thought was "why?"

Oh, and the term "washing up" always confuses me because when I was little, I would get told to "wash up" for dinner, which meant washing your hands, and sometimes it was used to refer to a sink bath. Washing the dishes was always just called "doing the dishes". Every time Tim tells me he's "doing the washing up", I always take a double take because I first think he's going to go into the bathroom!

I am a dishwasher over dryer  gal.. but then again  DH is obsessed  with the laundry and did it  for  the 5 years  we were there..  and  he has the patience  to  air dry  it  'right'.. There  is a  techniqu on how things need  to  be  spread out etc..     I am more obsessed about ironing than he is  so I didn't mind  doing it.. I ironed my jeans  etc  to get out the crunchiness but I always hated Crunchy towels  .. that is the worst.. and  when DD came  along  I said  we HAD  to get  a  dryer  for her  clothes...so we had  an ancient one  that  was  only used  for  those clothes..  too small  for much else.. 

I've not minded not having a dryer, but it did take me 30 minutes as a string of curse words to figure out how to use the £"£$£" oven. 

I'm guilty of dumb@ssery there, as well.  I was trying to cook dinner for bf and his mum last time I was there, and couldn't figure out why the stove burner (hob) wouldn't turn on.  I'd forgotten that the whole thing is on it's own isolator switch. :p

I know people have gas stoves in the States, but in the American South, it seems that most homes from the '50s on are completely electric - you have to ask for gas lines to be installed if you want them, and then only serious cooks seem to ask for them. So, being from Florida, I had no earthly idea how to use a gas stove when I moved to London. I turned the knob on, and no flame. I was too embarrassed to ask my flatmates for help, so I actually called one of my friends from back home, who told me that you have to push the knob in to get the little spark. He then helpfully informed me that as we were speaking that the kitchen was filling up with gas, and that I had better open a window.