Shivering Laundromats!

This morning started out very warm...70 degrees...and remarkably humid. The early clouds burned off quickly and, by mid-morning, the sky was clear and bright. That lasted only a short while, though, as another set of clouds drifted in, setting off a series of rain showers.

The trees all over Dallas have been in a hurry to drop their leaves over the past week, so that almost all at once the streets and lawns are filled with massive piles of orange and brown and crimson debris. Such a sudden and dramatic drop is unusual, in my memory, and a little bewildering. Why all at once?

Late in the day we experienced what may have, in some odd fashion, precipitated the leaf dump. Just after 6:30 pm, as my wife and I were crossing the parking lot of a restaurant to join a couple for dinner, a cold, cold wind ripped into us. It was the cold front the meteorologists have been talking about for several days. "Get ready for an icy winter front," they told us, "and be on the lookout for ice and snow."

When we left the office at 6:15, the temperature was 74 degrees. By the time we finished dinner at about 7:30 (it was a quick one), the temperature had dropped to 51. According to Weather Underground, it's now hovering around 43 degrees.

While the cold snap could have been the perfect opportunity to come home, make a hot toddy, and get ready for the onslaught of winter in our nice, dry house, it was not to be tonight. My wife put in a load of laundry, only to notice a few moments later that water was pouring out from under the machine. A quick check of the hoses revealed no external leaks. A closer look revealed that the leak is inside the machine...possibly just a hose that needs replacement. But, the machine is 16 years old, so it may be time for a replacement. I'll take a look tomorrow afternoon, if I have enough strength to battle the monster and win my attempt to move it so I can open the back.

The clothes that were in the washer when it began its tantrum were soppy, soapy, and generally a mess. My wife was satisfied to let them sit overnight...we could take them out, put them on towels until they were dry enough to put in the dryer, and then dry them. I argued that it was not a good idea...I should take the wet mess to a laundromat and wash them to be sure the soap did not do any damage to the clothes as the soap dried into the fabric. She reluctantly agreed and insisted on going along. I found a laundromat nearby, by looking online, and we drove down to it. It has been years since I have used a laundromat; it brought back memories of being a nearly destitute student and subsequently a nearly destitute post-student worker. It also make me think that we too often get very, very isolated from the real world when we rely on the comforts and conveniences of home.

A trip to the laundromat made me think about how much it costs to wash a load of laundry ($1.75 for the smaller of the washers that were available) and how much of an effort it is to use a laundromat, versus the convenience of a laundry room in one's home or apartment building. Not only that, going to the laundromat forces one (if one is a middle-aged geezer) into an environment that is foreign...an environment in which most of the people are poor and live a completely different lifestyle than mine.

It would behoove people like me...and certainly those with far more money than I...to make it a point to get a reality check from time to time. Here are a few things that could bring the real world into sharper focus (I'm preaching here...cannot say I have done these things, but should):

• Use a public laundromat for a month, in place of your own private washer and dryer;
  
• Do not use the dishwasher for a month, instead doing dishes by hand;
  
• Take public transportation to work for a month...especially if, like me, public transportation to the office requires a 2 hour time commitment one way, and changing vehicles at least 4 times and waiting at bus stops or light-rail stations for some time between rides;
  
• Rely on only the of-air television stations for news and entertainment...or, better yet, pretend the television is broken for a month;
  
• Make lunches to take to work every day for a month...something simple, like tuna sandwiches;
  
• Do not go out to restaurants for a month...or, if you must go, go to the cheapest places you can find and then only once or twice during the month;
  
• Turn off the computer and forget Internet access for a month...pretend you cannot afford it;
  
• When shopping for groceries, buy only what you absolutely must have...clip coupons like a madman and buy only what you can get cheap

There's more, of course, but you get the drift. I should take my own advice. I know it would bring the luxuries of my life into sharper perspective and teach me to better appreciate the challenges that face less fortunate people.

I'm climbing down now. Good night.