The first visit, I was impressed. They had the big industrial machines that I like. Now, if you're a pansy, and still believe you have to wash lights and darks separately, you can just stick with the wuss machines at 1.25 each. OR if you are a laundry-fu masta such as myself, you can put a WHOLE WEEK'S worth of laundry (3-4 normal loads) in ONE machine powerful enough to even scrub the sin from your delicates for a mere 3.25. Those big machines get things clean.

(OK, I talk the talk, but I'll admit I do sort by color for new stuff. After it's been washed 5-6 times, though, it's probably not going to bleed anymore.)

(I also should maybe mention that throughout high school and college, roughly 90% of my laundry was t-shirts and jeans. I have only recently begun exploring other fabrics, other sleeve lengths. Most of my new stuff comes from the thrift store, though. I toss it in with the rest of my laundry, and if I discover later that silk shirts with pretty silver buttons can't handle laundry The Jen Way, I'm only out three bucks. Most of the time, "Dry Clean Only" is just what They want you to think. I tell you these things because I care. Also, because I am a gibbering caffienated ROCKETSHIP buahahahah.)

The 24-hour place also has vastly superior dryers. Instead of paying $1 for 40 minutes, cursing, and paying another $1 for another 10 minutes, the new place has 8 minute dryers for a quarter. Sweet.

So, I figured out that the 24-hour place was basically cutting my laundry expenses in half each week. I am financially savvy, and I thought this was a Good Thing.

Here's the weird part. I think I am the only person in the neighborhood who actually uses this laundromat for laundry. People come in. They put stuff in the machines, and make phone calls. Then, they leave. During the day, this was odd. Yesterday was structured in such a way that I didn't get to the laundromat till 7 or so, and it was really kind of starting to freak me out.

About six people showed up in the two hours that I was there. None of them stayed longer than 10 minutes. One guy didn't even bother to look in a machine. He walked in, saw me, and walked right out again. I wanted to tell him, "No, it's coo. I really don't care. I don't want to know. You just go right ahead and take those six semiautomatics out of machine 3. I'm not even looking, honest."

I was a wreck. When a random 10-year-old stopped in to buy a soda, my first thought was "OHMYGOD the Coke macnine is full of drugs too!"

I tried to convince myself I was in no real danger. When the police arrived, I had the perfect alibi. I was doing laundry. No, sir, I didn't think there was anything odd going on at all. I don't even know who Big Antony is, and I certainly never meant to accidentally use his "special" dryer. Do you know what this white powder on all my clothes is, officer? Cause I sure as heck don't! I USE THE LIQUID DETERGENT, I SWEAR TO GOD!!!

OK, so maybe nothing happened. There was one guy who put stuff in the machine, made a phone call and left. 20 mintes later, that might have been his roommate who came to check on the machine. Who am I to say?

There were a few people who drove up, and took stuff out of the dryer, and left. But I wasn't there all day. Maybe that was their stuff, and they just didn't feel the need to stay and babysit a dryer all night. They probably were running other errands or something. Some people do that.

The guy who came in, saw me, and left? Well, there's probably an explanation for that, too. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. I think I'll start doing my laundry during daylight hours only, though.

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