Laundry

Not a whole lot has happened around here since I last posted. The Greek place was great on Saturday night, and since its right around the corner, we’ll probably go back again. Yesterday we hung out here at the apartment and did some laundry. I will rant about that in just a minute.

Today we opened a bank account. They were very helpful and friendly. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as we thought it would be. We’re going to try to get our mobile phones within the next couple of days. Now that we have a bank account, getting an apartment and a mobile phone will be much easier. I also started looking at some realtors online and sending messages to agents who had properties similar to what we’re looking for. Tomorrow I’ll probably be out on the street making contact with those people in person. I stopped by the grocery store on the way home from meeting Michael at the bank this afternoon and picked up something to make for dinner. That still seems a little weird to me. I’m so used to shopping once a week for groceries. Oh well, I’ll get used to it.

Now back to laundry. I already mentioned how small this machine is. On the machine itself it says that it is a 4.5kg capacity machine (about 10 pounds, or just over a gallon). By comparison we have a super capacity Kenmore washer and dryer at home that has about a 25 gallon capacity. That’s a pretty big difference. At home we usually do laundry once a week on Saturday or Sunday, and sort into 4 loads. If we’re home, and we keep it going, we can finish laundry in about 4 to 5 hours. Yesterday it took me 5 hours to wash what would be a half load of laundry at home – 4 shirts, 1 camisole, 1 pair of pants, 3 pair boxer shorts, 3 panties, and 2 bras – and only half of that got dry. The rest I had laid out on my pop-up sweater dryer, on the towel warmer in the bathroom or over the doors of the lower kitchen cabinets. I was a little frustrated to say the least.

Tonight I washed another “load” with a few white undershirts and socks. It’s still in the dryer. The machine doesn’t buzz like the one we have at home, so I forget to check on it when it might be done. So, the clothes sat there for about an hour tonight before I remembered to check on them. Maybe after a few more tries I’ll figure out how long it takes to dry them, and I won’t have that problem. Of course by then we’ll probably we moving to our new apartment and I’ll have to figure out a different machine. Oh well, at least I’m in London!

Michael told me today that he might soon be going to Madrid for a couple of weeks. We don’t know when yet, but we’re hoping it works out so that I can tag along with him. I’ll let you know more details as soon as I have them.