Pteryx

Prefix, our concierge service, showed up this afternoon and installed the dishwasher. That's the good news. We are waiting for the first load of dishes to come out of it right now.

The bad news is that while they were behind it figuring out what the flippers did to get the old dishwasher in and out, they found some black stuff on the drywall. So after the holidays, we're looking at mold remediation. The good news there is that whatever it is (mold or mildew), it's not in the drywall behind the sink.

In any case, we're now in possession of a working dishwasher for the first time in weeks and even though we're going to have to pull it out to fix the drywall behind it, and hopefully that's all, it's something.

So our dishwasher died a few weeks ago before we went to Portland. We've been trying to get it replaced ever since. We did the research and bought a Bosch model and arranged to have it delivered earlier this week. The installer said it wouldn't fit in our slot. Turns out that when the folks who remodeled the kitchen put in the marble tiles (many of which are broken), they took part of the clearance that many dishwashers, including the well-recommended Bosch, need. Back to the drawing board and Consumer Reports.

We got a list of brands that would fit and went back to Lowe's. Or rather, spouse did. He arranged for Lowe's to deliver a Kitchen Aid dishwasher that was decently recommended. They couldn't deliver it and install until after Thanksgiving, for some reason, but they could deliver this afternoon. He has also arranged for PreFix, our repair/handyman service, to show up and do the installation on Monday.

Fingers crossed that Monday night will involve loading the dishwasher. Washing by hand is Not Fun. Also I'm yet again annoyed by a sorry piece of remodeling that the flipper who did the house before we bought it--not from them; we bought it from the people who bought it from the flipper--messed up.

The Danish Quartet at Dallas Chamber Music Society. Caruth Auditorium, SMU. November 17, 2025.

I missed the opening event this season but I was glad to make the second concert. This time it was the Danish Quartet, which was probably the best-attended event I've been to out of any of the shows I've caught in the five or so years I've been a season ticket holder. Their last appearance in Dallas was eight years ago and apparently it was a barn-burner.

So was this one. They started with a Stravinsky set and a set from the There Will Be Blood soundtrack, but instead of doing them as separate sets, they mixed the two up. I couldn't tell where one began and the other ended, in part because I never saw the movie, but also because they're just that damn good at arrangements. The rest of the first act was a Beethoven string quartet.

The second act, after the intermission, was northern folk music, mostly Scandinavian, but including a couple of Turlough O'Carolan pieces. It was highly amusing to hear O'Carolan explained to the chamber music audience when I'm used to hearing him discussed in the entirely different Celtic folk music context. They also arranged a Faroese piece, which was interesting because it was all vocal. They finished up with a set of three including a piece of their own with a Chattanooga (TN) theme that I thought was going to go into Orange Blossom Express at one point.

Apparently they're currently touring on a folk album, so that's why they were doing the full set of traditional music. I was watching to see how they handled themselves and while they did come off a bit academic compared to the looser style of playing I'm used to with the Irish pieces, they did move into the folk metier. In particular, I noticed the violinists playing with their heads raised for some of the tunes, which is, as I understand it, a mark of folk play. Also useful if you're going to be singing along to the fiddling, which folk artists often do.

They did an encore after being drawn out by a whoopingly enthusiastic standing ovation, and I don't remember the pieces, but I recognized at least one of them. Definitely a standout performance and I'm glad I went.