My Current Nemesis

Pictured here on the left is my nemesis. It is the one thing standing between me and a functioning dishwasher. It is a brass elbow fitting and for some reason, it keeps leaking. Curses!!!

I spent most of yesterday on my stomach on the kitchen floor. Installing a dishwasher is not as easy as I thought - which seems to be the same as all the other projects on this kitchen project. I read the installation manual a few times and it seemed pretty straight forward. I installed the electrical supply that the electrician had roughed in. Then I ran the water supply and drain, as per the manual. I tipped the dishwasher onto its back (with the help of Big Bad) and inserted the copper fitting as instructed. Then I spent about an hour trying to fish the electrical supply, water supply and the drain hoses under the dishwasher, and then installing them in a space only 8 inches tall. Trying to get my wrench in there was a challenge. But finally I did achieve the goal and everything looked great. When Dan returned from work, we turned on the hot water and instead of rejoicing, I spent about an hour laying on the floor, watching water drip from this copper fitting. I turned off the water and tightened it some more, but it still leaked. More tightening, more cursing, and more leaking. Argh!!!

It was such a pain getting everything connected that I didn't want to disconnect it all, pull out the dishwasher, put it on its back and try putting the elbow in again. So, I spent another hour laying on the kitchen floor, watching the elbow leak. Then I thought that none of our projects have gone right the first time. It took three tries to get the kitchen sink in properly. The microwave range hood - three attempts too. So maybe the third time is a charm. Should I even bother trying to get it right on the 2nd try?

Finally I admitted defeat, disconnected it all and tipped it on its back. With a clear view of the copper elbow, I could stand above it and really give it hell with my wrench. (Although it deserves more of my aggression.) And in the end, still a tiny bit of moisture is felt on the fitting once it is all back in its tiny opening and reconnected. I admit defeat again. I will deal with it later. For now I will relish the success of having the sink working properly and I'll go make some coffee using the water coming from the new faucet. Hopefully the third time will be a charm in this installation as well.