Friday, June 02, 2006

Doing Laundry

When you go on the long campaigns to different countries, you get more of a feel for living there than when you are on a regular business trip or a vacation. You get to do things like drive cars, go to the the grocery store, and do laundry. Those seemingly simple tasks are suddenly more difficult when you're functionally illiterate like you are here. Doing laundry is a challenge when you can't read the instructions. This washer looked more like programming a VCR than doing laundry.

The washing machine was a sleek modern thing with a lot of buttons on the front. It used very little water and tumbled the clothes to wash them. I think I have seen this type in appliance stores. The way cool thing was the spin cycle. It literally got up to 1200 rpm! It sounded like a jet engine spooling up! If one of those things came apart during the spin cycle, it could kill someone . . . in the next building! Look at this thing go!

Mind you, this washer was full of clothes. They are all about 1 mm thick in this picture.

Drying was also another adventure. Take a look at this control panel.

I'm guessing the word "slut" means something different in Swedish. After the dryer had stopped, I could not figure out how to open the stupid door! There was no handle and no latch. Finally, I just started pushing buttons. See my choices below.
The "lucka" button turned out to be "lucky" for me since the door unlocked to reveal . . . dry clothes. I pushed the right button to start the thing. I was really afraid I had pushed the pantyhose button or something and all my clothes would be drip dry. So after the adventures in guessing at the meanings of Swedish words, I carried my load of laundry up to the room and tucked in away in my Ikea wardrobe. Just another chapter in the exciting adventures of Stratodude!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You silly, silly person. I wrote an entry about this site and your sense of humor on my xanga, so maybe you will get some more views, and possibly some comments. -Kendall-

Anonymous said...

yes i agree with your daughter you are really funny. that made my day thanks. well you dont know me but i know Kendall (kinds) and it must be such a blessing to have a daughter like that, you raised her well. well thanks for makin my day hope you have fun in Sweden!!

see ya TERRA

Anonymous said...

You can't be so bored that you've begun taking pictures of washer and dryer control panels. Here I thought you were busy. Just kidding. Hope everything continues to go well.

John Kramer

Anonymous said...

Hee hee. It was fun reading this. I can certainly tell where kendall gets her sense of humor. Despite the task of laundry, I hope Sweden is a nice trip:)