Welcome To The Hand Wash

Well both of my laptops have decided to have problems. I forgot one's cord at work and the other I don't even want to discuss. Go me and electronic problems...again. Hopefully I actually did leave the laptop cord at work or I am in big trouble. Anyway this week's lecture - I mean blog post - is on laundry. Honestly I have been thinking about this one for a while.

My apartment complex technically has laundry rooms. This is very much a technicality. There are only two washers and dryers in a room every three buildings. This isn't too bad, except that the hours posted mean that I can only do my laundry early on the weekends. This is why I typically do my laundry at my parents house (my dad has been talking about adding a quarter machine for me to pay them with). I usually choose to do it at my parents house because a) it's free and b) mom wants me to visit more often.

The laundry machines at the apartment aren't awful, but they are also not as nice as the ones at my parent's house. They are exactly like the ones from my alma mata, except more expensive. They also break down about as often as the ones at school did. They are not terrible and I can live with them, but they also cost money and are not the most gentle on really nice clothes. This is why I have taken to hand washing some of my clothes. Thursday is hand washing day.

Hand washing clothes is a great way to get nice clothes clean without worrying about ruining them. It is also easier to get rid of certain stains (e.g. blood, sweat, oil...etc). Hand washing also has the benefit of giving your arms a great workout. Here are some of the things I have learned to do while hand washing:

1) Always wash your clothes in a clean sink or bathtub. You won't get other stains in your clothes if you so this step first.

2) Hydrgen peroxide, white vinegar and baking soda are the best for getting rid of stains. Hydrogen peroxide is great for getting blood out of anything. You just have to be careful with colors. All three of these home products can cause fading in colored clothing. However they are also really good at keeping white clothes white.

3) Woolite or other gentle detergent is better for hand washing than other brands. It keeps clothes from getting too uncomfortable.

4) I almost always hand wash my clothes in cold water.

5) I always thoroughly wash and moisterize my hands after washing my clothes. My hands get really dry, so it is important to put lotion on them.

If you start washing your clothes ( to save money or protect your clothes) always talk to someone who has prior knowledge of doing so before you start. You could accidentally end up ruining your favorite silk shirt. Also the internet is also a very good resource. I found a lot of information on getting rid of some of the worst stains from online help guides. I hope this helps.

Welcome To Fixing Things

From Work Orders and Running Toilet

                I know I am a day late again, but I have a good reason. I got home really late last night and all I wanted to do was go to sleep. Having plenty of sleep to do work in the morning trumps writing a quick blog post (though I really should work on making them a little longer) any day. So instead I am writing it today while watching Sleepy Hollow. If you haven’t seen the show yet, you should. It’s pretty creepy. If you like things like Supernatural, Buffy, X-files (maybe not to that level) or any of the old school scary shows from my generation (Are You Afraid of the Dark, So Weird, and Goosebumps).

                Anyway, I have been having apartment problems for a few months. Okay, I’ve had apartment problems since I moved in. I have since discovered that the guys who come to repair things are really nice and good at their job. My first problem (that hasn’t been fixed yet, but I live) was that when I moved in, my screen door needed to be replaced. It still has a hole in it, but it’s at least covered. My second problem was the door issue. It still is a little warped, but at least I can open it now without throwing out my bad shoulder. My third (and most annoying problem) was my toilet. All of my other problems I could live with, but running toilets are an enemy worth fighting.

                I didn’t really notice it at first. I thought it was the guy above me being really noisy (more on him/her later possibly).  I can hear what goes on in the apartment above me, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to think that was what the noise was. It also didn’t run all that often. That was until I noticed that something was off and I tried to investigate for myself. The lessons I learned that night were a) running toilets are really really loud and I can’t sleep when they go off every four hours and b) I should not mess with things unless I actually know what I’m doing. I honestly did not sleep that night. It was awful.

                The next day that guy came and fixed my toilet. I watched him do it so that I would know what do to next time, but he noticed that something was a little off about how everything was sitting. He said to call if it was still having problems. The toilet worked and everything was peachy for about a month and a half. Then I noticed that the toilet was running, again. Not as often as four minutes at least, but it was noticeable (that and the guy/girl above me has since moved out so I know it wasn’t him/her). I called in to have it fixed for the second time. The repair guys came while I was at work and called to let me know everything was put into its right place and to call if there are any problems.

                I get home, happy that my toilet is finally completely fixed. I started making dinner and that was when I heard my toilet roar again. That’s really the only way to describe a running toilet; it sort of roars its displeasure at being broken. So I called the emergency “fix it line.” They are very nice and very good at keeping a new tenet calm in the face of a very stressful situation. They sent another person to fix it within the hour. Luckily this time it was just that the weight was too high and simple enough to fix. I truly hope that this is the last of the toilet problems (though the repair guys said that it was a common enough problem here). I’m going to go with it being that the pipes are really old. Heck my pipes in the shower leak. I have no idea how to fix that, but I did report it to the landlady. Now if only they would fix my screen door.