Washing Machine Woes

Allen and I have now been married 8 years.  Of that time, approximately 18 months have included an in-house washer and dryer.  Carlson Terrace, our first abode had a community washing room, free, but a good trek carrying a heavy load of laundry.  The second place was the one that actually did have a washer.  It was nice while it lasted.  In Rogers, our duplex had a washer and dryer installed about the last 2 months we lived there.  Again, just being able to throw wrinkled shirts in before putting them on, was nice.  In Bloomington I used a laundry mat a block away.  It was deserted most of the time and looked like it might have had a hay-day in the 70's.  No one was ever there so I took Pepsi a lot for company.  I had a love-hate relationship with that place.  It was quiet and got the job done.

Now, in Omaha, once again...no washer and dryer.  However, there is a community wash room on each floor.  Somehow though, we've misplaced the key.  I actually think we never got one, but they won't believe that now and if we ask for a new one, we'll have to pay to replace it...so I have been going, again, to the laundry mat.  :/  Now its even worse.  I work 40 hours a week and the last thing I want to do with my time off is go to the hot, crowded, dirty little place across the street.  But, the past week I realized something.  Sometimes the door to our laundry room in the apartment gets propped open with a trash can.  On those days I can use the facilities...but I have to wait for those days.  I know, complicated, right?

So, tonight I was kinda desperate, our laundry room was closed and locked, and I needed clean towels, but I was not desperate yet enough to pack up and drive across the street...so I explored.  Our apartment's hallway's generally smell strange, musty, sometimes outright like B.O.  I avoid and hurry through them at all costs. But, like I said, I was desperate.  So, with Pepsi in tow, up the stairs I went.  And wonder of wonders!  The second floor was open and had 3 washers and dryers, unlike our lonely 1 on the bottom floor.  Yay!  No laundry mat for my Friday night.  So I loaded up my 2 $1.75 machines and headed back down to enjoy some tv before coming back to switch them to the dryer.

30 minutes later, one machine was done...the other was backed up and stopped.  The clothes were just laying in dirty water....So, hoping that the hairs I was finding were my own or Allen's I drug them out of the luke warm pool and into the other machine...another $1.75.  Meanwhile the others dried.  The second mistake I made was using dryer number 3 for washing machine number 2 that already had been washed twice.  I don't know, maybe that load was just cursed?  It didn't even heat the clothes up.  After drying 30 minutes they were still sopping wet.  I could have rung them out better.  So, now after spending $8, I have one dry load of clean clothes and one clean load of wet clothes dispersed and hanging out to dry old-school throughout the apartment.  Yuck! for laundry woes.