a ghetto laundromat visit...

Because my husband was going to be out of town for most of the day, I decided I was going to be super productive at home. :) Laundry was included in this productivity. Recently our washer decided to spring a leak - but only when it's filling with water -- which means that doing a load of laundry is somewhat possible if you're prepared with towels and willing to clean up after yourself. :) Today I was not willing to do that -- plus I had to wash various comforters and blankets that would have been too large for our washer anyway. So I headed for the local laundromat.

Originally, I had planned on going into another town to use their facilities, but on my way out of town, I saw that there was a laundromat just down the street from where we live. "Aha!" I thought to myself, "It would be much easier to do the laundry here, a block from home, then 3 miles away. Then if it takes longer than expected, I can go home and be productive while I wait." And so I pulled into the parking lot and hauled my baskets of laundry in.

Now, I know that laundromats are not usually meant to be comfortable or particularly clean and enjoyable, but this one had to be the worst I'd ever seen. The front door and windows were coated - literally - with gnats, mosquitoes and spiders. This was encouraging. So I gulped down my concerns and flung the door open - trying to avoid touching any of the bugs as much as I could. The place was completely deserted - aside from the bee which occasionally visited my piles of laundry, and the multiple spiders, gnats, and ants that hid in various crevices and corners. "Joy..." I thought grimly, but I knew what I had to do, and these economy sized washers and dryers were my only hope! So I dove in - at least I had the place to myself. I used 4 washers and 3 dryers to finish all my laundry, and boy was it hot in there!! No AC -- which I think should be a must for laundromats, especially when you end up sitting on the counter, watching the dryer spin (so much for my goal of productivity... :) )

All in all, it ended up not being quite as awful as I thought - except that 2 different dryers ate about $2.25 worth of my quarters. At least most of the machines worked - though the setting left MUCH to be desired.

There was a comment box on one end of the room, but I thought it might not have enough room for all of the comments I might have suggested. So 3 1/2 hours later (due to delays in some of the errands I was running) I finished. Though it was nice to get all the laundry done at once -- I don't think I want to visit a laundromat again for a very long time... :)