The laundry room is an exercise in mathematical and political prowess. There are three washers. Each of different size. One washer has a separate setting for bright colours which is an attractive option. There are three dryers. Two of the dryers are pathetic and only good for small loads or fabrics which require less intense heat. One dryer is awesome. It is the uber dryer that everyone strategizes for. Each cycle on any machine is a looney. Washers takes 25 minutes per cycle. Dryers take 45 minutes per cycle. There is such a thing as laundry room traffic. When in the laundry room everyone gathers intel on each others laundry intentions for the day. There are approximately 30 others suites in my building. Competition can be fierce but usually isn’t for some reason.
The strategy I have adopted is the bulk laundry approach. I store up until I have to do atleast 3 loads (dark colours, bright colours and whites). Today I had 5 loads to do. I basically block all other laundry users from entry by keeping as many machines busy as I can. It is sort of bullying. Other tenants will usually give up if they see me and my many loads. I closely follow progress in the uber dryer. I show up a bit early if I can so not to lose strategic control of the uber dryer. I do not appreciate it when people take my clothes out of the machine if I’m a bit late so I very rarely will take others’ clothes out of the machine if they are late. I will expel tardy clothing out the of the uber dryer however. I have never been caught during an expulsion process. Usually expulsion can happen without direct confrontation of the clothing owners.
I usually dress strange when doing laundry. I have two pairs of bright pink coloured sweats that I’m quite fond of. Other house pants are equally or slightly less exuberant. I usually wear them around the house along with a t-shirt. When doing laundry I wear something to cover my arms and a headscarf. The arm covering garment and headscarf has never matched my pants. Today while I was in the laundry room my dearest husband left for work and locked me out of the apartment. I had to chase him down Pembina before his bus came with my strange attire and empty laundry detergent cup and laundry bag. I really got the attention of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints men who cover Pembina diligently this time.
This is why I do my laundry at like midnight on a weekday, but then again, there are like 20-something washers and dryers at my place, which is convenient for 5 simultaneous loads
Oh, I forgot to provide more parameters. My laundry room is open from 8am to 10pm. Thanks for rubbing it in.
3 cheers for in suite laundry! hip hip hooray!!
You seem to be such a crafty player in the game of laundry politics. I applaud your tactics. If there was such a thing as mayor of the laundry room, you’d have my vote in a heartbeat. Bummer about being locked out of your place, but at least you managed to catch him. What would you have done if you were stuck outside all day like that?
Let me tell you folks, The sight of my beautiful wife dressed in as she described running across Pembina was a priceless “oscar moment” that is best seen LIVE as I have…muahhahaha! At first when I saw this woman run I was like who the heck is that! However, as she got closer and closer I could see the detergent cup in her hand! The timing was perfect too, because the bus was just behind her. Had she come say 10-15 seconds later……
Rob: I don’t know what I would have done. I probably would have ended up asking the Church folk for some change to call a friend or something. Before making my dash for the bus stop I had already checked if the land lady was in and she wasn’t. So I think that was extra motivation to throw my pride aside and run dressed like a dufus.
Tipu: I cussed you out heavily in my head before I started laughing at the situation.