I've already got another board mentioning this, but my fiance and I recently became homeowners. This past Sunday, we got ready to use the dishwasher for the first time before leaving for church. However, it doesn't work. It doesn't even turn on. I should mention that it was just working perfectly fine during the home inspection. I was like "Okay this isn't rocket science, it's older than my parents' dishwasher but it should work just like any other would." But I still take out the manual and check anyway. Just as I figured, I was doing everything right.

Last night after dinner, my fiance's dad comes over to give it a look. He's a handy guy and likes to fix things (because it's cheaper that way lol) and wanted to see if he could figure out what was wrong with it. He worked on it for at least three hours but no luck. We even went out to Home Depot to buy a new breaker, thinking we needed a new one for the control panel, but that didn't work either. So we were like "Cool, we'll probably have to go out and buy a new dishwasher." Today, his dad asked for permission to go over while my fiance and I are at work to tink with the dishwasher some more. He got it to work, which is awesome. But the culprit of why it wasn't working is making us facepalm so hard.

So, we have these three switches in the kitchen but had no idea what the third one operated. It operates the dishwasher. It turns the dishwasher on and off. WHAT. WHY. I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS BEFORE. Nor have I ever seen this before. A dishwasher that is powered by a switch? Not by simply pressing a button or turning a dial on the dishwasher? I never thought that the switch would be linked up to the dishwasher. Apparently my fiance's dad called my fiance in a laughing fit as he explained what the problem was. WE FEEL SO DUMB.

So what have you guys done recently that made you facepalm, feel stupid, etc??

I'm doing an art piece that I'm probably going to use for a pet profile. It involves acceptance, love, peace, coexistence...I'm getting this across through the 'coexist' symbol and symbols/flags of different religions/prides. I made a board asking which ones I forgot and if anyone wanted me to add anything. The first one I realized I forgot? The Pansexual flag...which is what my best friend is. headdesk

omg i can relate so much lmao

first time i moved into my current flat i couldn't figure out how to turn on the microwave i looked online but didn't get very far since i have no idea what model it is anyway i was just about ready to give up when i realized there are two switches on the wall, under the microwave (since it's in the wall cabinet) and turns out i had to flick those two for it to turn on crisis averted |D

Oh my goooosh xD it's always the obvious things (to us) that we forget, right? That sounds like a cool idea, though. I'm anxious to see how the pet turns out!

Bahahaha I feel your pain! The previous homeowner was awesome because he kept this red binder of every single manual of every single appliance, the decking company he used, info of who he contacted for repairs, etc. and simply left it with the house since he was relocated to another state for work. So that's the only reason why I knew the exact model of our dishwasher.

Like, why?? Why must there be switches to use an appliance? Idk if there's a safety reason behind it or what but we were planning on buying a new dishwasher this weekend, that would've been so embarrassing and a waste of money, since we just bought so much stuff.

I never saw a switch like that for a dishwasher either so this is good to know just in case - thanks for sharing!

The facepalm moment I get most often as an reaction for my own behavior is the "Did I just say that?" facepalm. I have little social competence so it often happens that I say sth, that is totally fine and acceptable in my special little world, and everyone around me is like

Yea! I even contacted our real estate agent because I recalled seeing on the closing documents that there was a one-year homeowners warranty and I was like 'that may be useful.' When I figured out the problem she was like 'Oh don't feel dumb, I've actually had plenty of people ask me about an appliance not working and it ended up being because of a switch like that.' It seems useless right now but maybe in the future if it starts to overflow and leak for whatever reason but the switch turns it off successfully, I'll appreciate it lol.

Oh yes! I can relate to that too. I'm one of those people that behaves differently with my friends than I do peers/co-workers. I remember letting something slip at my last job that I'd normally only ever say with my friends, but of course my co-workers took me seriously and was like 'DID THAT COME FROM YOU?'

lucky, my landlady did nothing of the sort q __ q which is even weirder when you consider that she only rents out flats to students and like.......... a lot never lived alone before? so why wouldn't you make it as easy as possible?? :v

ahahah all outlets in england have switches to be turned off/on so i guess it's not even that weird once i think about it which makes me feel even dumber for not realizing right away |D

I suppose the previous homeowner just really wanted to hold onto everything to be on the safe side. It comes in handy now. But you totally make a good point. I had only lived away from home for one year for college and that was in a dorm. Now that we have a house we are like "what do we, we aren't experienced" lol. Some courses in high school/secondary school or college/university regarding home living would've been super lol.

Oh interesting! We mainly only have switches for the lights, truthfully. And the garbage disposal for the sink. I've seen a couple switches that would operate an outlet for like, a lamp for example. But first time I've seen it for major appliances. It's kind of weird because none of the other appliances have a switch to turn them on/off soooo idk why the dishwasher is so special lol.

Hey when we're so used to the way certain things work, having something out of the norm makes us baffled lol.

I have three light switches like that when I come in my apartment. The far left one turns on the outside light. The middle one doesn't do anything and trips the breaker and the last one, turns on the hall lights. Also, all my sockets are upside down.