I love how the top rack is height-adjustable while the rack is in place; no removal and re-insertion necessary.  You will love the flow-through water heater; no more melted plastic due to exposed heating elements.  My only beef is with the condensation drying.  For dishes this is fine; the hot final rinse heats the dishes and causes water to evaporate off the dishes.  However, to fully dry plastic containers, air needs to be blown inside the chamber to draw the moist air away.  Rinse agent is a must and it helps to open the door after the cycle has completed.

Here are some photos:

Documented Features:

• QUICKWASH
  Our fastest cycle yet, this feature allows you to wash a lightly soiled load in just 30 minutes. It’s perfect for times when you need to wash a small load quickly.
• Extra Capacity
  More capacity means more convenience. So Bosch dishwashers have extra-large interior space, allowing you to fit 14 place settings rather than the industry standard of 12.
• RACKMATIC®
  To accommodate large or oddly shaped dishes, RACKMATIC® allows you to raise or lower the premium upper rack at the touch of a lever (even when full), giving you up to 14″ of space on the bottom or 10″ on top.
• Stainless Steel TALLTUB
  The specially engineered Bosch TALLTUB is not only space efficient, but energy efficient. Allowing up to an incredible 22″ of usable space when you remove the top rack, its high-quality stainless steel construction retains heat better than plastic tubs, which helps dry dishes faster and more efficiently.
• ECOSENSE®
  An advanced sensor system determines the soil level in the wash water and automatically deletes fresh water fills if they’re not needed, saving you time and money while cutting energy usage by up to 20%.
• ECOACTION™ Option
  This cutting-edge feature adjusts water temperature and cycle length for optimal efficiency, allowing you to reduce energy usage by up to 25% with just the push of a button. Combine it with a cycle for the ultimate in performance and efficiency.
• Flow Through Water Heater
  In conventional dishwashers, water falls randomly onto an exposed heating element. And since not all the water touches the heating element, this results in slower and less energy-efficient heating. Bosch dishwashers, on the other hand, channel 100% of the water through tighter coils in a confined heating chamber, which heats the water quickly and efficiently up to a sanitizing temperature.
• Condensation Drying
  Built with a solid stainless steel tub, Bosch dishwashers utilize condensation drying to save you money on your energy bills. Condensation drying works by heating the dishes with hot water from the final rinse. Moisture condenses on the cool stainless steel tub and is drained, so your clean dishes dry without an energy-wasting active drying element.
• Half Load Option
  Use this option when washing small, lightly soiled loads that fill half or less of the dishwasher’s capacity on both the top and bottom racks. It dramatically reduces energy and water consumption, and can be used with the Power Scrub Plus, Regular and Auto Wash cycles.
• ENERGY STAR® Qualified
  Proving once again that Bosch is committed to efficiency, all of our dishwashers are ENERGY STAR® qualified.
• NSF Certified
  Bosch dishwashers are certified by the National Sanitization Foundation (NSF) to eliminate 99.9% of all microorganisms when run on specific programs, while eliminating any carryover of bacteria into future loads. The NSF is an independent, not-for-profit organization – one of the most respected independent certification companies in existence today.NSF certified programs:
  - Power Scrub Plus
  - Auto Super Wash
  - Auto Plus
  - AUTOWASH™
  - Extreme Wash
• 48 dBA
• Two-Pump Motor System
  By using two small pumps to individually wash and drain instead of a single large one, vibration and noise are dramatically reduced. Smaller parts and a more contained motion contribute an important part to our sound-reduction system, leaving you amazed that the dishwasher is even on.
• Suspension Motor
  The more isolated a motor is, the less its vibrations can be transferred. So we’ve suspended our two-pump motor to help absorb and minimize any vibration and noise to the housing, as it is absorbed by rubber hammocks, letting you enjoy your time in the kitchen whether the dishwasher is running or not.
• Solid Molded Base
  Preventing noise and leaks are what makes a good dishwasher a great one. That’s why we’re the only U.S. manufacturer to give our dishwashers a solid molded base. The single-piece base effectively contains sound, and prevents leaks by automatically shutting down if water is detected in the base.
• Insulation
  Noise is also buried beneath the three layers of insulation inside our near-silent dishwashers. Metal, cotton fiber and heavy-duty bitumen sheets capture and dampen sound to create a decibel level no louder than raindrops. (Insulation package varies by model.)
• OPTIDRY®
  Multiple sensors automatically detect the presence of a rinse agent and measure its level in the dispenser, automatically adjusting the final temperature and wash cycle for spotless drying results with each wash.
• Optional Delay Start
  With a nineteen or twenty-four hour timer, Bosch dishwashers work on your schedule. Program them to start once guests leave or after you’ve drifted off to sleep. Wait until you’re out of the house, or run it in off-peak evening hours for even greater savings on your energy bill.
  
• AQUASTOP® Leak Protection
  Bosch is the only U.S. manufacturer to offer a high-tech leak protection system like AQUASTOP® in their dishwashers. A precisely engineered tub and sensor system detects leaks in the solid molded base of the dishwasher, shuts down operation and automatically pumps out water before contact with floors. This eliminates the risk of costly water damage.
• PERFECTDOOR® with AUTOCLOSE™
  Falling dishwasher doors are a thing of the past. Bosch specially engineered PERFECTDOOR to stay in a fixed position when it is open more than 10 degrees. This increases safety by eliminating the possibility of the door dropping open or springing closed suddenly.
• No Exposed Heating Element
  Because our Flow Through Water Heater is not located in the tub and has no exposed heating element, it prevents plastic items on the bottom rack from melting. It has the added benefit of protecting you from accidental burns during unloading.
• CHILDLOCK – Control Lock
  Bosch offers a child lock for your children’s safety and your piece of mind. The control lock prevents changes to the wash program while the dishwasher is in operation.
  

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Coming home was a bit more interesting.  Our house is on a hill.  Getting down a snowy hill is no problem.  Going back up was a different story.  Even though our Mazda5 has excellent all-weather tires, it was no match for the slope of the hill.

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I had to resort to driving up the hill backwards to get home.  Driving up the hill in a front-wheel-drive car is best done backwards when there’s a lot of snow on the ground.  The front wheels carry more weight due to gravity and will have better grip.

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This looked like an easy fix and luckily the hardware store nearby had some 5″ flexible ducting available.

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This is a 6 shelf system using commercial chrome steel.  It features retaining ledges in the back of each shelf for ultimate support as well as Triple-Truss support.  It can hold 600 lbs (272.1 kg) per shelf and a total 3600 lbs (1632.9 kg) using the leveling feet.  When using wheels, the carrying capacity is reduced to 500 lbs (226.8 kg) total.  Did I mention it’s NSF certified?

Anna’s rack

Anna needed some shelving for all her scrapbook stuff but didnt want to add any shelving to the walls so she opted for a stand-alone solution.  There were a few choices at Costco including a more compact, heavier unit with solid metal shelving.  Another one was a cheaper, lighter, resin based shelving.  In the end, she chose what I believe was the best combination of durability, price, and holding capacity.

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In our new home, we enjoy a larger living room where space is not much of a problem (at the moment).  I was able to take my beloved Paradigm speakers (a pair of Mini-Monitor V3 and a PDR-12 subwoofer) out of storage where they’ve been patiently waiting for the past 4 years.  I also ordered new banana plugs from MonoPrice to finish the ends of my 16AWG Monster Cable speaker wires.

I connected them all to my older Denon 5.1 receiver and played a few test tracks.  Something was off; it must have been the acoustics in the room.  I checked the settings on the receiver and my subwoofer and made some adjustments.  I had set the crossover frequency for the subwoofer at a really low 80Hz.  The subwoofer will play the lowest frequency and starts to attenuate response at 80Hz.  However, the fronts are still somewhat too small to play these low sounds above 80Hz.  So, the music volume tends to dip around the 90-100Hz range.  So I raised the crossover frequency on the subwoofer to as high as it would go (thereby attempting to play any sound sent to it by the receiver).  At the receiver, I set the subwoofer crossover frequency to 120Hz and now the sound sounds fuller without too much of a bump in response at around the 100Hz mark.  Thankfully, this subwoofer is very “musical” and not overly boomy or muddy.  I’m no audiophile so I can’t really explain what I mean.

Last night, we listened to select CDs from our collection: from Charlotte Church to Pavarotti to The Beatles.  They all sounded excellent and quite literally music to my ears.

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