Laundry or the Most Boring Post Ever

I've been washing my clothes at the laundromat since my basement flooded. It didn't seem too prudent to operate electrical machines that were underwater. Going to the laundromat isn't the worst thing as there is a nice one near my work. It's a bit of a time sink though as it's not the greatest place for concentrating, so I can't get much done.

I do love the large capacity washing machines. I can wash an entire week's worth of clothing for two people in one of these machines. Just stuff, add soap and go. I use a smaller machine for my whites. My laundry sorting follows a precise scientific formula: can you bleach it? If yes, it goes in the whites load. If no, I consider it dark and toss it in the big machine. I love the smell of bleach by the way. It smells so fresh and clean, and nothing beats the smell of a bleached white towel fresh from the dryer.

Back when I was in college and the laundromat was the only place I could wash clothes, I owned no light-colored towels or pieces of clothing. Everything was dark. That way, I did not have to sort anything. Pretty clever, eh? Well, it's not entirely true though. I did own a white tee shirt from the Engineering Expo. I handwashed it to continue avoiding sorting.

So, yeah my laundry room was destroyed by the flooding this summer. It used to have nice walls, built-in cabinets, a built-in ironing board, two closets, and a counter for folding. When it flooded we had to gut the room. After gutting we realized that apparently previous owners had finished the laundry room, and no other part of the basement, to cover up flood damage. I'm guessing it was from the major floods we had back in 1997 because the ceiling tiles were stamped with a date that year. They didn't, however, do any real waterproofing, regrading of landscaping, and they did not install a sump pump. I guess that's all up to me now!

There was mold growing five feet up the concrete block wall underneath the wallboard we pulled out, and there were mushrooms growing along the base of the walls where they meet the floor. It was fungus heaven! I joked with Craig that if we didn't get the water problem solved, I was going to start a mushroom farm in the basement!

Now we've got the problem mostly solved. There's still one troublespot, so I called the waterproofing company to come back out and fix it. I have to figure out how I'm going to set up my "new" laundry room. I'd like it to be my well-organized laundry paradise, and it sure will be nice not to have to visit the laundromat anymore.