Dirty socks and three bags full...

As you know from previous posts, my living situation is a unique one. I live in a one-bedroom apartment that, for zoning purposes, is not actually a one-bedroom apartment, but a two-room office space completely with shower, kitchen and cable hookups.

I'm probably not supposed to live here, but live here I do (with the full knowledge and approval of my landlord, who has been nothing but gracious from Day 1). I live a pretty simple, quiet life - most of my day is spent indoors working or going on business meetings, so my neighbors never really hear or see me. Occasionally, I'll see someone the hallway, we'll do the cursory nod bit and pass without a word exchanged. The only thing that might get anyone curious is that my car is in the parking lot, 7 days a week. But after three months, no one's asked me what I'm doing here. The jig is not yet up!

While the place is a steal rent-wise, it does come with the drawback that I need to keep up the ruse that this is a place of business and not also a home. You can read the previous post (here's the link, again) to see some of the things I do on a daily basis. But what I didn't mention and has become a pressing issue is simply laundry.

I need to do laundry.

I'm out of socks. My last hand-towel is so over-used that it's constantly damp. I'm low on underwear and have been forced to (*gasp*) wear pairs that aren't color coordinated to my outfit. I'm wearing shirts that I hate because all the ones I like are stuffed into two giant, overflowing bags. And I probably should change my sheets, too.

The thing is, I don't have laundry in my building, so the simple solution of "just doing it," doesn't work. I would just load it into my car and drive around the block to my local coin-op, but if I did that during the day, someone would put two and two together and realize that, "Hey, that guy has leopard print boxers hanging out of that bag... he must LIVE HERE!"

So, in the past, I've done laundry by sneaking it out to my car before I go to bed - usually around midnight. However, the problem with that has been that I either forget to do it before I fall into bed or I'm just too lazy to make the walk out to my car. It's hard to get motivated when you can't keep your eyes open from staring at the computer too long. And, have I mentioned I'm lazy?

Good news, though... I did find out there is one remaining washboard factory here in the U.S. They make, by hand, the old-fashioned, metal-and-wood, elbow-grease models. I've got a bucket, if I get a board, I won't have to go to the laundry center. Maybe I could even string up a clothesline and dry my clothes secretly at night?

That wouldn't be creepy and get me arrested, right?