Entered on 2001-10-11 at 8:36 a.m..

Laundry in Britian

Since finding the other research students I have also acquired keys. This means that I have access to computers pretty much any time I want them:) I don't have one to call my own yet, but I'll survive for now. On the computing front I have had the good news that my house/room will be equiped with a connection to the university's network by next Friday. This is good because that means I'll have a free network connetion and that I'll have access to news. Now all I have to do is figure out how to hook up my mac to a windows/linux netork. I've been told it can be done, so it looks like I'm off on another quest.

I did a load of laundry in Britian for the first time last night. Compared to doing laundry in Switzerland this was a piece of cake. First of all, unlike Switzerland, I didn't have to turn on both the power and water to the machine. Second, the instructions were in English. I was amazed how many words for washing machine instructions (in german)that I didn't know. The fun thing here is that instead of having buttons that say hot,warm,cold for the different water temperatures or in some washers whites, colors, here the machines have buttons with temperatures on them. Last night I chose 45/45, which Lanre (Lan) assured me was a standard choice. I threw every thing in one washer last night because I didn't have very much stuff, and because each wash costs �2.50. That's close to $3.50 per wash. (May Aux services never read this webpage)

The good news though, is that the washers here seem to be inspired by the tradition of washing ones clothes by beating them mercilessly against a large rock until they surrender the dirt. So I think I can continue my use of only one washer for some time into the future. This is also helped because there is no slot for bleach of any kind. More good news is that the Landrette is not far from my house at all, and that they have four large washers and three massive dryers. (which is different from Switzerland where you have to line dry everything) When I say massive I mean that both Steven and I could easily fit inside one and still have room to pick on each other. So despite the fact that they cost �0.20 for 7 minutes I think that I could fit my entrie wardrobe (see I'm being serious) inside of just one.

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