"The Thames"

Last night I decided to do my laundry; a very, very bad decision.

I went to the laundry facilities that are about three blocks away with all of my laundry, put my clothes in the washer, and waited in the computer lab. Unfortunately, the washing machine did not work...it washed my clothes all right, but the spin cycle must have been broken. My clothes were absolutely soaked and dripping when I tried to take them out of the washer. There was still six inches of water at the bottom!

So normally in this situation, I would have rung out the clothes into a sink and then dried them, but unfortunately, when I say "Laundry Facilities" I use the term very loosely. There are two washers and two driers that are shoved away in a closet at the top of a five story stair case. There is nowhere at all to ring out my clothes, and everywhere except the one-square-foot of floor that I am standing on is carpeted. So I did what I knew was a bad idea - I put the dripping clothes into the dryer and prayed.

Well, I did not pray hard enough, because when I came back to get my clothes, the dryer's engine had run down, and my clothes were no dryer than when I first put them into the machine. By this time it was almost 11:00 at night and I had to get up at seven to get to church on time. There was only one option - I had to take my soaking wet clothes home with me.

I managed to get most of them into the suitcase and the clothes bag that I brought. I had to have my roommate, who came with me, help me carry to suitcase. When she tried to pick up her side she proclaimed, "Holy cow! Did you pack the Thames River?"

When we finally managed to get home, we rung out all the clothes into the bathtub, borrowed all the unused hangers on the entire floor and hung up everything anywhere we could think of. Our room is itsy-bitsy, so this was quite a feat. I put plastic bags underneath the clothes I thought were more likely to drip overnight, opened the window, and went to bed.

When I woke up this morning, one of my roommates had closed the window overnight because it was cold. As a result, the windows were covered in dewey water, dripping down the window sills. Despite the aparent moisture in the room, not a single article of clothing was even remotely dry! Most were still dripping. I rung them all out again and went to church.

When I cam back, everything was still pretty wet, but not soaking anymore. So I packed it all up again and went back to the laundry. I am using the computer lab as my clothes are drying right now.

So, I guess I should be more appreciative of quality washers and dryers right in my home. They are such a blessing!