After hours of phone calls (and weeks of calendar time) dealing with garbage disposal annoyances, I made an appointment to have the damn thing taken out today – I’d never had a garbage disposal in any place I lived before, why did I need one now?

Turns out it’s not so easy: the building code now requires a garbage disposal if you have a dishwasher (unless the latter has a separate line), as part of an effort to avoid having clogged sinks cause dirty water to go into your dishwasher. (Reasonable enough.) So that is my new fact for the day.

Fortunately, we’d gone far enough in the warranty process that we actually had a brand new uninstalled garbage disposal sitting around. Now it’s installed, and I look forward to months of blissful freedom from dealing with annoying companies.

Today’s consumer score card: I wasn’t planning to shop at Western Appliance again, but after hearing the plumber’s appraisal of the disposal he removed, now I’m really not planning to shop at Western Appliance again. On the flip side, if you live near Mountain View and need a plumber, I wholeheartedly recommend Master Plumbing and Sewer, 650-691-0400: they’ve been pleasant and professional, and the guy today seemed thorough and knowledgeable.

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