Aug 04 2008
Could Barbra Streisand be right?
WHa happen?
Those who know me, know that this cannot possibly be a serious question. The answer is never, as in, never-ever-ever!
Goes down like this, the automatic clothes dryer’s “Stainless Steel” drum gets a tear in it. Let me be more specific: a 2004 LG Super-Dooper expensive ($800) (my bad, $1100) dryer’s “Stainless Steel” drum gets a tear in it and needs to be repaired! Thank goodness for the home owners home shield insurance that covers such disasters!
Mr. Fix-it shows up and the conversation goes something like this:
Mr. Fix-it: “Lets get the money out of the way first, that will be $60 for the service call. Then I can start.”
Me: *I felt dirty like it was some sort of pay for play scenario* “do you take credit cards?”
Mr. Fix-it: *what am I a prostitute?* “no, cash or check.”
Me: “Do you have change for $100?”
Mr. Fix-it: “I only have $39 in change”—of course he does.
Me: *If I only had $59 would he do the job? He should at least give me a kiss if he’s going to be short a dollar!*
Mr. Fix-it: *What is this guy waiting for? I’m not going to kiss him.* “I have change in the car.”
After the money was exchanged for service, I was off in the corner smoking, he was fiddling with the dryer. Mr. Fix-it tells me he’s never seen such a thing before, it’s cheaply built he says. I say the dryer actually cost A LOT of money! He says, I’m sure it did, still cheaply made, that’s the way it is these days.
Great!
Bottom line—repair needs to be pre-approved by the insurance company! What? I already paid the monthly bill and the co-pay service fee and it might not be approved? He left without giving me the dollar—didn’t even mention it!
Relax, it’s only a dollar—Fuck! A minute later there is a knock at the door—Mr. Fix-it back with the 4 quarters. Thank you! Very nice man and was very helpful!
Okay what does this have to do with Barbra Streisand? Well, today I had some laundry to do and no clothes dryer to do it with! Old school, hang the clothes on the clothesline, or on the clothes hanging contraption thingy.
Those were the days my friend...
How do you dry clothes on a clothesline? (I should post the instructions on eHow.com)
First you have to shake each piece of wet laundry and try to balance the clothes evenly so as not to knock over the contraption. Clothespins, I have to give it up to, because clothespins are a nifty invention that still works! The idea of hanging clothes on a line to dry is simple enough; the clothes bake in the summertime sun and dry in the ever so gentle breeze. They do this on their own! Can you imagine? No rumbling in the dryer, no gas and or electric needed to be paid for, no carbon emissions contributing to the planet’s fever… Which everyone knows the prescription—more cowbell!
When the day is almost done you go back out pull your clothes done one piece at a time, fold it and stack it in your basket—done!
You get a sense of the old homestead, real housework, the way it used to be done, the way I did it as a kid, and this weird peaceful tranquility—the kind of mindless tranquility that reminds me of ironing.
Hanging does take a little extra time, a little more effort and the clothes aren’t so soft and fluffy, but hell it’s better for everyone isn’t it? Maybe if you only have to do one or two loads in a couple of weeks time—maybe!
This is the Barbra Streisand part, she told us a couple of years ago this is what we all needed to do to save the planet. (prescription=more cowbell) There’s just something wrong with BS telling us the way we all should do things. You certainly know she’s not personally hanging up her freshly cleaned dirty panties for the gentle breeze to blow through and the entire world to see. I would even bet she’s not having her hired help (you know, the people doing the work that Americans won’t do) do it either.
Could Barbra Streisand be right? Of course not, but I thought it might be fun to think about it for a second. Hypocrites of the world—Kiss my ass!
Anyway, I had a good day hanging, drying, and folding the fresh clean air smelling clothes right off the line. Great experience—I did do it that way as a child. I think it was a way to save money when the weather was right. Maybe next week I try washing the clothes in a bucket or with a rock and a washboard.
Plunge and scrub and if it’s still dirty, you plunge and scrub some more!
Or, maybe not…
I’m glad you like the clothes hanging contraption thingy !
Tell you what… I let you keep it if you want
Welcome Marie!
The Clothes hanging contraption thingy works like a charm! Thank you so much for lending it to us—it was invaluable!
Do you happen to have a cowbell we could borrow?
—IrascibleChef
[...] money more than the filthy rich need to feed their pie-hole and be entertained by leftest hypocrite Babs—Baaaah! The people’s [...]