Another appliance has bit the dust

It seems all our appliances are wearing out at the same time. My dishwasher's little spring loaded container for the detergent will not spring open on the second wash. For the time being I am only using the light cycle and just throwing the detergent tablet in the bottom of the dishwasher. That works really well if the dishes do not have a lot of dried on food. If that is the case, I just put that dish back in the next wash.
My refrigerator's ice maker is not working. We have had problems with it nearly ever since day one. A friend who is a contractor/handyman fixed that for us a few years ago. But for the last 4-5 months it is back to it's old problem. I have remedied that also. I do still have 3 of the old ice cube trays. So I just fill them with water and put them in the frig to freeze, and dump them in the ice cube container for the frig. Now I just need to remember to keep that container full of ice.
The clothes washer had started sounding like a jet plane taking off. Then I noticed that when the washer finished washing my clothes they were all on mainly one side of the tub and were way up the tub. The lid to this washer did not lock when the washer was just agitating, so I looked in one day. It was agitating and spinning, not fast--but spinning just the same, all at the same time. So I thought that I had problems for sure. I doubted that our clothes were really getting all that clean. The only store we have in out town that has new appliances, not just the dent and scratch ones is Lowe's. They usually have a good supply of models of appliances and we have certainly kept them in business here. We went to look at washers. I know there are certain features I want on my washer and others that I really do not need and would probably never use. So we looked around at the models they had on the floor. And just like always, when you are going to purchase something, there are never any sales clerks available. If you are just looking to see what is available the sales clerks are all over you. I finally spotted a clerk behind a roped off area and motioned for him to come to us. He did not work in that area, but he sold us a washer by telling us about the one he had. Ever hear of Fishers & Paycal? I had, but I could not tell you anything about what I had heard, except some of those building/remodeling shows on PBS on Saturday afternoons has F & P as one of their advertisers. The clerk really gave us a good sales pitch. We bought a F & P washer. I love it! I have used it for 2-3 weeks now. It is small, light weight--but heavy enough, has more bells and whistles on it than I will ever use. The good thing is I can program it to do whatever I want it too. It even has one program that I can make for myself. I don't have to hit all the buttons for each load of clothes. I programed one cycle and it is the one I use mostly. It does not have a transmission. That was what was wrong with the old one. I put my clothes in the machine and set it to start and it measures how much water is needed for the amount of clothes I have in it. Is that not just the best thing since sliced bread! I can change the cycle I choose if I want something different. For instance, when I select the delicate cycle it is automatically programmed for a slow spin. I don't have anything that is so delicate it needs a slow spin, so I just bump that part up to medium spin. Also it spins lots more water out of the clothes. The sticker on the machine said it would cost $21 a year to use it!! Can you beat that! It now takes me at least 10 minutes less time for each cycle. Consequently it takes less drying time as there is not as much water left in the clothes to have to dry. Can you tell that I love my washer?? I really do. I know one thing, when I need a dryer can you guess what brand I will choose? It will match my new washer for sure!