another learning experience

Before I go into the events of today, I must tell you about an incident that happened sometime in the last couple of years. As most of you know, for 20 something years I lived in Corpus Christi. I was in a pretty convenient location. The two major malls were 10 minutes from me. Then I moved to Wimberley and worked in New Braunfels. If I wanted to go to a normal mall, vs an outlet mall, I had to leave work and drive into San Antonio (45 minutes, and then 1 1/2 hours home) or drive to Austin after work (1 1/2 hours and then 45 minutes home). In short, I was in the middle of a no-shopping zone. WalMart and Target in New Braunfels became the only places I went.

One day, I went with a friend to J.C. Penny in San Antonio. This is where I had an experience that indicated to me that I had spent too much time away from the civilization of a shopping mall. I walked into J.C. Penny, and started looking around for a shopping cart. And I kept expecting some little gray-haired lady to welcome me into the store.

The moral of this story is that we become creatures of our enviroment. And when something happens to throw us out of our routine, it makes you feel...well, sometimes...stupid.

I rounded up all the dirty clothes and headed for a washateria today. Get away from the Hilton, and the area around Hobby Airport isn't the best in the world. I was given directions by the bell captain to the closest place, but still checked it out before I got out of the car. There was Spanish TV blaring, I think they sold Argentina lottery tickets, and I was the only Anglo in the place. But it was full of other women and felt secure in broad daylight. Now, this isn't the part of the story about what forced me out of my comfort zone. It was the fact that I had trouble operating a coin operated washer! I didn't have a problem with the coin changer because I use those all the time in Las Vegas. (For the record, I got $10 in quarters just so I could hear the coins drop!). And I even was ok with the mega-wash-4 loads-at-one-time washer because it had clear instructions, in English, printed on the side. But I had this one load of whites. And put them all into this Speed Queen right beside the mega washer. It didn't have how many quarters I was supposed to insert. But I figured that I would just put some in and it would start. So I put in 2 quarters, and waited. Nothing happened. I put in another quarter. Nothing happened. With the 4th quarter, I felt sure that I would hear the water pouring in, but I didn't hear anything. I lifted up the lid and peaked in, and did see a little trickle of water. But the thing that bothered me was that right by the coin insert, the numbers 34 were flashing. What could that mean? I was supposed to put in 34 quarters? For one little load? Had my whites been measured at the 34th degree of dirtiness? Or that I had 34 seconds to act before something blew up (I've been reading spy novels). I had to act fast, so I got the attention of the closest woman to me that spoke English. Giving me what I fondly call the "What planet are you from" look, she told me that the 34 was the minutes left in the wash cycle and if I would put the lid down and leave it down, it would fill up with water.

I considered whipping out my diplomas and degrees from my luggage to show her, but I don't think she would have been impressed. And so here I am tonight, sitting back in the Hilton. I have clean laundry. But there is a question that is burning in my mind and may keep me awake tonight. Maybe you can answer it: "Why does anyone care that a wash cycle has 34 minutes in it?"

It looks like I will be moving to Louisiana this weekend. But still looking for a place to live in the Slidell area. One place has been located that has water damage on the first floor and no electricity. I fear the mold effect on my sinuses worse than the lack of electricity. So the search will continue.