Emperor's New Clothes Part II

In a previous posting, I talked about getting new clothes. Before wearing some of them, I wanted to run them through the wash.

Let me explain washing machines in Europe a bit. The machines are front loading type. They spin very fast to get as much water out as possible. That's probably because there are no dryers. At least not that I've seen in any house I've been in. People hang their clothes to air dry inside, on balconies, or somewhere outside.

The labels next to buttons/dial on the front of the machine in our apartment don't have words, just pictures. That way they can be sold in any country in Europe I think. The funny thing is we haven't figured out how to use the washing machine in our apartment yet. I guess the pictures aren't enough for Karen and I. I talked to my uncle in Poland today and he tried to help me. I think the biggest problem I had was that the machine doesn't go through cycles automatically. You have to change between them yourself. Now I need to figure out when the right time is... wait for it... wait for it...

We did get laundry soap. There is a little drawer you pull out to fill with soap/fabric softener. The first time I used soap I put it in the wrong slot. I think I put it in the fabric softener slot. Oops... Second time I got it right. The clothes smelled like soap when they were done. I'm not sure if the soap was rinsed off or not though. Eh, they smell clean. Good enough. Next step spin cycle. The machine sounds like an airplane engine when it goes to high speed, neat! That video at spin cycle link shows the same machine we have but luckily that kind of spinning incident hasn't happened to us yet.

While hanging stuff to dry, Karen noticed some pinky-ness on a piece of clothing. Uh oh... another shirt had red splotches. Sigh... red clothes stain/bleed when you wash them. I kinda knew that but didn't think when I loaded the clothes. Luckily I didn't wash Karen's clothes, just mine. I think two shirts are ruined, two others have splotches in areas you can't see too well. Talk about frustrating.

I read something in a book recently that made me feel a little better about this(only slightly better mind you). It went something like this: "If life was void of imperfections you would have a perfect life. It would be a pretty boring life then wouldn't it?" Meh... Maybe I can use the clothes when I get cast as an extra in a movie and need to look like I have blood on me.

I think blowing up the death star was easier than figuring out this machine. Luke had the force at least. The only force I have is my foot hitting the machine... (and the internet to look for instructions)