Assuming I have paid my bills on time, can anyone explain to me how my landline has gone out while my DSL still works? And yes, it's the line, not the phone, because the Tivo can't dial out either.

Bad filter on land line? Are the tivo and land line sharing the same DSL filter?

Consuela, I've had that happen too. I had to have a service call, which I scheduled online through the DSL that was working.

Good idea, Ginger. I'll try that.

It sort of feels like everything in my house is breaking at once. Very annoying and expensive.

Suela, I have access to Consumer Reports from work, so I can report on what they recommend in the way of washer/dryers. Did you have a price point, or are you especially interested in energy efficiency?

Also, anyone have any recommendations for washers and dryers? Now the washer's gone out as well as the dryer.

I lurve my Bosch NexxtAxxis units. (They're not cheap, but they're extremely energy/water efficient, and QUIET. And have a "hand-wash" cycle for delicates.)

[etf annoyingly spelled model name]

I saw a stackable set by Kenmore on the Sears website today for about $1000 that had an Energy Star front-loading washer; that's about what I'm interested in. Full-size but stackable, energy-efficient.

I'm probably going to the Sears Appliance Outlet in San Leandro next weekend, so it would be nice to have a couple of Kenmore choices to pick from. They sell dinged and returned machines for many dollars off regular prices, but I won't know what they have until I get there.

I'm probably going to the Sears Appliance Outlet in San Leandro next weekend, so it would be nice to have a couple of Kenmore choices to pick from.

Sears washers and dryers are made by Whirlpool and generally have good reviews in CR. But that's from reading CR at my parent's house, and may not match the latest reviews.

Insent the CR Feb 2008 report to Suela; anybody else wants it, let me know.

I'm very happy with my Whirlpool Duet washer, another front loader. Again not the cheapest around but it is efficient, quiet, has a large capacity, and has so far gone 8 years without a single problem. Our dryer is a very basic Maytag unit, we basically tried to find an inexpensive dryer that could match the large capacity of our washer.

It looks like they've added new features since we got ours, or stopped making the relatively low end model. [link]

I have a Kenmore front-loading washing machine. I love it. I have had mine for 4 years and had another set for a bit over a year before that. I really like them.

I like my Bosch dishwasher. I am having problems with getting the dishes as clean as I would like sometimes though.