A Clean City Story with a Dry Vent

When a floor-full of people share three washer/dryers, politeness is key. Sadly, one resident hasn't quite gotten that concept yet.

11am - two washers taken, which is OK because I only have one load of laundry that I must get done today. Grab my dirty clothes and soap, and rush in to find that there were already clothes in the third washer, but nobody had started it up yet. While standing around for a few minutes trying to figure out why someone's dry clothes are just sitting in a washer, a neighbor pops in and sticks in the card that operates the washer.

"Oh," I said, "you're using all three washers."

"Yes," she replied, "and I have a lot more laundry to do."

I asked if she might leave one washer open on the next round rather than use them all again, and she said she would.

It takes 38 minutes for the washer cycle to complete (the machine counts down). I went back in 45 minutes to give her time to get her wash into the dryers (also three).

All three machines had just started another full cycle.

1pm - I went back in an hour, since the dryers take an hour so no sense jumping into the washer when the wet clothes would have to wait, say, 22 minutes.

Wet clothes were still in the three washers - she hadn't bothered to put her stuff into the dryers.

2pm - I went back to my apartment and waited another hour - still no movement of clothing into dryers. Another tenant (wearing just shorts - nice upper body, though) came in and I explained our plight.

"Hell, you can blame it on me" he said, taking wet clothes from one of the washers and popping it into a dryer.

3pm - Right after we finished clearing two of the three washers, the same woman from this morning came in. I said that we had waited for a long time before giving up and moving her stuff. She said "oh, sorry" and started up the dryers.

So she'd be there in an hour because she knew that two people would be waiting for the dryers, right?

Ummmm, no. I cleared out the washer I had used (to leave it for the next person - what a concept!) and put my wet clothes into my laundry basket. But though the dryers were done, no sign of "her" to take away her stuff.

4pm - OK, no biggie, I'll come back in a bit. I went out and picked up lunch. Brought it back. Ate it. Checked the laundry room again - the dryers were still full of dry clothes.

4:40pm - Now 40 minutes have passed since the dryers stopped and I'm done waiting. I finally give in and put her stuff from one dryer on the table in the laundry room. Upper-body-boy comes in and does the same thing, mentioning that he had checked several times, too.

I felt bad about touching someone else's stuff, so I wrote a note: "I waited 40 minutes, and then really needed to dry my stuff so I took yours out."

5:40pm - When my stuff was dry an hour later, her stuff was still on the table, untouched, and still in the one dryer we, The Impatient Ones, hadn't used.

That's life in the big city. Always challenging, sometimes frustrating, always interesting....

Progress!

Nope. Just kidding. Jay's been working incredible, I-hope-it-doesn't-kill-him kind of hours. So time just isn't there to make the final changes to the drawings so they can be submitted to the Building Department and the Co-Op Board.

To nag or not to nag, that is the question. Heck - I'll just make him dinner at 2am, tuck him into bed, and wait for a lull in the action. And THEN we'll get his show on the road, or at least make it more interesting....

Molasses, or There's Always Something Else

Just like writing a blog, or finishing up the changes on the Drawings, there's always something else that's much more important to do. The cost of a co-op in New York City means that most of the time, "something else" means working for a living. Jay still puts in 14+ hours a day, and I'm spending half of my time discussing upcoming projects with clients, vendors and colleagues, and the other half of my time taking care of the cat, Jay, the apartment, my not-for-profit organization efforts, and actually doing income-producing projects.

So now it's June, 2006, and our Renovation efforts can sweetly be described as "moving in molasses." We're still living in the unrenovated space and trying not to buy or bring in anything that will have to be thrown out or moved out and then moved back in during The Renovation. Though our "refrigerator" is a little thermoelectric cooler-ette, I've become quite good at fitting stuff into the bitty thing, though you do have to be prepared for an avalanche upon opening it if there were leftovers. And for almost a month now, we haven't had to replace the inflatable bed thanks to the mattress cover that has not yet allowed the cat's nails to pierce it. So things are, in general, great!

Spring in downtown Manhattan is a wonderful experience. The street entertainers in Washington Square Park, the muffin tops jiggling their way through SoHo, the community gardens tucked here and there bursting into color - all make it fun to be here. Yes, I miss having my own lawn and garden to putter in, but am walking around the area instead and there's so much to see.

So we try to squeeze in a little work here and there on the Drawings. Maybe someday the Mythical Renovation can eventually become a reality, and then things can get interesting...