Laundry

One of the side benefits to working at a bed and breakfast inn is that you always have a place to do your laundry.  One of the side benefits to having no such job and no laundry facilities at your home is that you get to go to the Laundromat!

I fully understand that many people have an aversion to laundromats.  When you mention that you are planning an outing to the local washeteria many people get a disgusted look on their face because they have not had pleasant experiences at the washing/drying place.  Some people get a sad look on their face because they feel sorry for you; your life has been reduced to this dismal state and it's much too sad to contemplate.  Many people get the disgusted look AND the sad look, at the same time.

However, I like the Laundromat.  It's very efficient, you can wash and dry every thing you own in an hour, it has one purpose and doesn't have airs of pretense and sometimes you meet interesting characters.  The laundering facility near my Santa Rosa home is just a couple of blocks away, so rather convenient.  Today I did three loads of wash and was out in just over an hour.

There are sometimes (well, often) people in the laundromat who are not doing laundry, but are just hanging out there with their phones.  I assume these are people without homes, but maybe they are simply people who have no dirty clothes and need a place to transact some lucrative side business and what better place than a laundromat!  There are often people doing laundry and conversing with their invisible friends at the same time.  Sometimes they yell loudly at these invisible friends, sometimes they swear at the I.F. and sometimes they take a swing at their I.F.  All while getting their clothes clean.  It's like a little theater show, albeit with no plot or scene changes.

This particular place has many machines so I have never had to wait around for a washer or a dryer.  Smash clothes into the washing machine, be sure to bring a book, read for 27 minutes while the clothes wash, then pop them into dryers, read a little more, then start pulling out clothes as they dry.  Honestly, in an hour you get entertainment and clean clothes.  Too bad it isn't free..... that's the only down side, it costs a couple of bucks for each washing machine and almost a dollar for 15 minutes of drying time.  But still, it breaks up the day, is amusing at times and has function. 

The photo below is exactly what the dryers look like at my local spot.  Two rows of dryers...... no waiting!

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