I had quite the adventure at the laundromat this afternoon, as far as laundromat adventures go.

First off, I got there and I realised that I forgot my detergent!!!! There was no attendant to sell the little one-use boxes of the stuff, but, thankfully, a nice lady took pity on me and let me use some of hers (¡Muchas gracias, señora!).

I also needed change and the change machine took some convincing to convert my $20 into a mountain of quarters.

I loaded up two machines, put in money, and one of the machines refused to turn on. $1.50 down the drain, literally.

I managed to tap out a whole rough chapter while my loads ran. I’m getting quite good and productive with the iPad!

Then, it was time to try the dryers. One of my loads did not spin properly so I had to wring it out by hand since there was no setting on the washers for just spin and I correctly guessed that rerunning the load would be most costly and take more time than just drying it as is. Fun. I could have done this at home on the beach with a view. 🙂

For the dryers, I had to put in a quarter, turn a knob, then press a button. I knew that the machine was working if giant flames started shooting out of the top of the dryer. I am not kidding.

My loads, even the sopping wet one, dried reasonably quickly and laundry ended up costing me $6.25, a fair price.

At one point, I noticed a guy holding a screwdriver had come in and begun to work on a washer. When he was done, I asked him if he could rescue my six quarters from the bad machine. He did not object and he was still trying to fix the dang thing by the time I left!

All the machines in the laundromat were very old, but the place was quite clean. The whole experience reminded me of carting my laundry to the Wilbrod Laundromat in Ottawa’s Sandy Hill in the late ’90s. 🙂

I was up working on a project by 6:15 this morning (no hardship, I was just up and at ’em by that time!), so I was pretty zonked when I came in at about 3:00. I wanted to get more work done, but was rescued by my French-Canadian neighbour who needed some help with her iPad. I got her mostly sorted out and then it was time for a beer!

Ugly weather is incoming. 🙁 The temperature has dropped and the wind has picked up. The truck is going to get quite a workout charging my computer in the next few days and I think I will go investigate the Port Lavaca library to see if it has any power outlets. If so, I could easily spend a couple of grey afternoons there.

I still don’t have a really full charge and tomorrow I might bite the bullet and ask the French-Canadian neighbours if I could rent their genset for a few hours so that I can start this grey stretch with a charged battery bank and properly calibrated battery monitor.

Finally, a humourous note. I watched the movie About Schmidt last night, in which the main character sets off on an RV journey in his brand new Winnebago Adventurer. Guess the make and model of the latest addition to our little beach community? What a funny coincidence! I can’t believe that movie is 10 years old! I definitely appreciate it more now that I’m an RVer. I could watch that guy park his rig and get parking tickets all day. There’s just something about someone nonchalantly driving a 35′ class A motorhome like it was a subcompact that is hilarious!