Unfortunately for me, my dishwasher came installed in my apartment, so it’s a pretty cheap model. I will check but I don’t believe that there is a “small load” cycle such as with a washing machine.
Male rats can get erections.
Thanks to this thread and the SDMB, I have had my ignorance foughten (made-up word):
- I can be a single guy and worry about clean dishes in a dishwasher.
- I can be a single guy who doesn’t understand washing dishes, or cooking, yet has a girlfriend.
- What does Metamucil have to do with running a dishwasher? (As of yet, unknown).
- People from Minnesota are weirder than myself. Hot dogs flattened like hamburgers? Hamburger rolled up like hot dogs? (I like that actually…here, have another beer).
- I didn’t know Adolf Hitler had fondness for pullovers.
- I couldn’t finish my coffee because the thought of trillions of George Washington’s molecules in it skeeved me out.
- As a single guy two dishwashers are better than one.
- Keeping a tally of how many times I eat off a plate is a good thing.
- There are bugs on our faces eating us all to doom. And having sex while they are at it.
- I was actually interested in the half-life regarding the molecular water composition of dinosaur pee. Go figure.
- One can mail unused water and uneaten Brussels sprouts to starving children in Africa.
- Male rats can get erections.
Thank you all for fighting my ignorance. 
When you go to bed tonight you do so as an educated man.
Not really. I am still pondering the Metamucil question.
Futher research on the topic of previous uses of water molecules: Soda Planet
Does this fall under the title of the thread: Sometimes I don’t make my bed. Especially on weekends, because often I like to take a nap on Saturday afternoon and I want to get under the covers.
Is it wrong not to make the bed? To just leave the pillows and sheets exposed for all the world to see (presuming the world looks into my bedroom)? It seems wrong. It seems uncivilized and slippery-slope-ish. I might turn into one of those people who just takes dishes out of the dishwasher as needed and never empties it–oops! too late on that one.
In fact, I live alone and, sadly, no one goes into my bedroom except me, my cats, my dogs, and (every other week), my cleaning lady. I make the bed on the day she comes, and I do not have her change the bedding. I do that myself, because I’m particular about it. See, I do have standards.
When I make the bed, I feel tidy and organized. On days when I don’t and I look in my room and see the pillows and sheets hanging out, I feel slovenly, EXCEPT if it’s on the weekend, I can rationalize that I may want to take a nap.
Is that so wrong?
I love it! They certainly seem to be using the “long half-life” model. And, best of all, it doesn’t flatly contradict the notion of some trillions of molecules in your morning coffee having been used once by George Washington. (Avogadro’s Number is just that damn big!)
ThelmaLou: There’s always the middle ground, of “making up” the bed. Not really making it perfect, not tucking in the covers, but just sort of drawing it all up and squaring it away approximately. It doesn’t look like a catalog or showroom, but it hides away the taboo sight of the sheets and side of the mattress.
If we all slept in rough, ragged, mounded up “sleeping furs and silks” a la Dejah Thoris of Mars, it wouldn’t matter a dang. But I suppose someone’s mama would say it’s unsightly, and make her kids pick up the whole heap and put it into a box every morning. And no corners sticking out of the box!
All this reminds me of a conversation my sister and I had when we were kids. She said something to the effect that things that were burned did not go away, they just turned into ash and smoke and drifted off into the atmosphere.
At that point I yelled “You mean I’m breathing Adolf Hitler?!!111”
We had some weird conversations when we were young.
I know. The Dope should be better than repeating the bullshit our parents used to tell us that made no sense. And it’s the reason why it’s so hard to talk about privilege, since the term has taken on a negative connotation.
Yes, I do have the privilege of not worrying about my water supply. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. The problem is that there are other people who do have to worry about their water supply. But my worrying about mine will not help them.
Also, the OP didn’t do it without a second thought. That’s kinda the point of this thread. He’s thinking about it.
The OP is wasting water, but it has nothing to do with modes on a dishwasher. It has to do with another thing that just “feels” wrong: reusing dishes.
Or at least, this is how I think about it: Metamucil is water soluble by design, so could just thoroughly rinse the cup and spoon to get it all out, and dry them how you normally dry your dishes.
Your spoon isn’t going into your mouth, so it’s definitely not dirty. Your cup is going into your mouth, but how often have you drank a bottle of soda that you opened a few days ago? You clearly have more than one day on the cups.
Clearly rinsing a spoon and cup, occasionally washing the cup when you rinse it, will use less water than a whole dishwasher load.
I don’t have a dishwasher and don’t miss it, I find they are fairly useless devices that should really be termed dish rinsers and steamers.
You have to pre wash by hand before putting stuff in! Might as well just rinse by hand too.
Dunno about your specific dishwasher, by a dishwasher can be fairly tough on the dishes, leading to spalling, warping, loss of pattern… and blunt knives. I might put the cups through twice, but I wouldn’t do it all the time.
Personally, if I only had one cup to wash, I’d hand wash it. I do know some people who have the “magic cupboard” for storing their dishes, but if it was me, I’d only store enough for one use in the “magic cupboard”.
This is the best use of language I’ve seen in a long time! 
Man, I love this place.
I should hope so – assuming we wish there to continue to be alive in the world, at least some members of the genus Rattus. (Or am I woefully ignorant about mammalian biology?)
Is it only me that finds it is strange that the OP Jackknifed Juggernaut has not returned to his own thread?
Methinks the dishwasher and/or girlfriend read the Terms of Service here and stuffed him in said device for “Rehab”.
I so wanted to know what model it was. (Dishwasher, not girlfriend. But now that she is single after this tragic accident…“Hey, how ya’ doing?”)
Alas, we may never know.
May Jacknifed RIP with the knowledge that many here truly loved him, and that all dinosaur pee jokes will be made to his memory.
Sniff and wipes tear from eye.
This thread has me thinking about the fact that when I put dishes away, it takes four or five different cupboards to hold everything that came out of the dishwasher. Granted, I don’t wash every dish at once, and I want some separation for categories of dishes and pots, but why don’t we have 2-3 cupboards with drawers just like the dishwasher? Isn’t a it a FAR better system for storing dishes?
We could even have a rubber bottom on each which leads to a small drain, and then we wouldn’t have to dry the dishes before putting them away!
Somebody call IKEA, I’m gonna be rich! LOL!
The reports of my demise have been slightly exaggerated.
For those still interested, my dishwasher has a “heavy” cycle but no “light” cycle. So I still stand by my claim that there is no incremental harm from rewashing clean dishes if I plan on running the dishwasher anyway.
That said, I completely agree that we should be more mindful of wasting resources and better that distributing water and nourishment to those not as fortunate as us.
Side question: Do dishwashers use more or less water than doing dishes with a running faucet? I’ve always assumed they save water (assuming the machine is full).
Can’t you just stop drinking Metamucil until your lady comes back?
For a full load, less than washing up with the tap running while watching TV. But more than I use to wash one cup. Your milage may vary: we never used to wash up with the tap running: we put a stopper in the sink.
Also, we never did as much damage as the machine does.