Believing, with backup

I actually did it. I managed to disconnect my dishwasher and my gas stove and not flood the place, nor blow it up, nor electrocute myself. When I heard Monday the stove and dishwasher were going to be left for me to deal with I was freaking out, but I called my two helper friends for them to tell me I could do it, and that helped. And they offered to be on call if I needed assistance.

And assistance was needed for the strangest things, and the strangest conversation ensued. OK, M, I'm ready to disconnect the tube from the gas line but I don't know which way I should turn the wrench. It looked gunky, and I figured I'd have to apply force - like step on the damn wrench to open the seal, and it had to be the right direction or else I'd mess everything up. So, me talking about jars and lids and him talking using the official technical language and us not communicating, until finally we connected and I understood.

And so I hung up and opened the seal, and smelled gas. Holy fuck. I managed to close it quickly, and then called the other friend, B, terrified. Oh, btw, there will be some residual gas in the line so you might smell gas. But you might also have a bad valve. OK, so what do I do?? Solution - keep the valve closed and try to turn on the burner. No flame, so no gas, or at least not enough. So, I did it - took it off. And didn't blow up.

As for the dishwasher, I was fine until I couldn't get at the ground wire, and finally said screw it, and cut the entire wire, which made it 4-5 inches shorter, but oh well, I had a time limit, since a friend was coming over to help me get the stove out of the house so I can have Habitat pick the stuff up.

I had called a handyman earlier in the day to ask about uninstalling and reinstalling the stuff, and he called me. I told him I had the stove ok (I put the new stove in place as well as connected the new hose) and was afraid of the dishwasher. He said for him it would be opposite - afraid to do the stove. In any event, he said he's more of a carpenter, so I may need to try the dishwasher myself. But though I finished all this stuff very early, facing and overcoming the fear really wore me out, so I ate stuff I could heat in the microwave, and watched the Biggest Loser. And now it's bedtime...