my instinct is to say (or write, if you will) that if you were looking to spend some time reading all about something that is mundane or of little interest then you have reached the right place. however, on reflection, i just might try and make this of some vague use, look you see.
as the title not so much suggests as it does state i made a visit to a laundry service recently. no, this year has not commenced in a way which was quite so exciting as last. the reason for this visit, other than the obvious, was to get some bedding washed. for day to day laundry concerns i have agreeable ways to wash and subsequently dry clothes in my lodgings in my place of exile. it is simply not so that i can do bedding in such a way, for there is no practical means to dry it.
perhaps some of you are interested, if not intrigued, to know if i went full tilt Nick Kamen since i was in an appropriate place to do so. the answer is a straightforward no. other than me somewhat lacking the physique to do so, i also didn't have any Levi's on, and nor was there any classic music playing. where i reside is reasonably cosmopolitan, but i suspect that had i gone done Nick Kamen then the authorities would have been contacted and i would have been placed on some register or other. sorry.
how much did this laundry adventure cost me? and yes, i appreciate that's a definition stretching deployment of the word adventure. well, the wash element cost £5.50 and the drying element cost me £3.50, so a flat £9 in total. this cost did not seem unreasonable when various factors are considered. such factors would be needing to get the bedding washed, relevant equipment for doing so available, maintenance and business costs, energy use, etc. or not etc, as that's about it. for comparison, of sorts, when i dropped off a similar number of bedding items at a laundry in Ealing the fee, bearing in mind we speak of London (innit) was north of £20. on one (1) instance William agreed to do my bedding for a fee close to what Ealing charges, but he grew tired of doing it. not that i go through all that much in the way of bedding, but still.
for some form of "practical" information here, on an energy cost basis to do washing and drying at home would be somewhat cheaper. some brisk, quick internet research, and do be mindful of how energy prices are not fixed and we are in some crisis or other, suggests that the wash would have cost around £1, whereas the tumble dryer run time would have cost £1.50. that, however, is reliant on one having both a washing machine and tumble dryer at home. such equipment is not cheap. i would reasonably expect one would have to make an outlay of around a grand (£1,000) to get a decent one of each type of machine.
just how many loads of washing and drying would one need to do to "negate" (or balance out) the cost of the most modest priced laundry service i could find? not really sure. i could try and work it out but it feels like a bit of a headache, especially when you factor in maintenance and what have you. also fluctuating energy costs over time. hang on, i think i can sort of work it out, but first some video.
right, is using a laundry (like what i gone done) ultimately more cost effective than doing it at home? let us assume that i would do one (1) load a week, and leave transportation costs out of it since it's all in walking distance. factoring in the cost of washing pods and (likely) fluctuations in energy costs, that more or less (kind of) comes in at £550 a year, or "per annum" for those what like to sound quite posh. ergo, or rather very roughly, it would likely take one north of two (2) years to "break even" on buying a washing machine and tumble dryer and just doing it at home. but then you have to factor in convenience and all that. with this, of course, being based on the laundry of one (1) person, moi.
to state the obvious (for those who require such) the above is "more the vibe of it" than any sense of a fact based conclusion. still, it enabled me to write of this laundry visit in a more facts and figures, if not particularly interesting, way than i had expected.
what did i do as the laundry equipment did its thing? read, actually. those of you who(m) for some reason read this blog on a regular basis (thank you for doing so) shall be aware that of late, as in the last year, i have had a "drop off" in interest in reading. merrily the book i have selected to read now is most engrossing and enjoyable. also i nipped in a nearby shop to get a drink (sadly no coffee available, it may well be i take a flask next time) and i think that's about it.
not entirely sure at this stage if i can commit to making sure any further adventures (or exploits) during the year (2025) ahead will be more interesting than this. well, i have at least 4 (four) gigs booked at this stage, with not a single one of them being Oasis. presumably at least one of them might be a bit more exciting than the laundry. a temptation exists to write here of how, unexpectedly and potentially inexplicably, actually the laundry visit was more interesting than the James gig last year, so probably for the best if i just sign off now.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
