OMG! Have you ever had an epiphany? A moment when all the little pieces fall into 
place? An ahah, now I have got it by golly!
place? An ahah, now I have got it by golly!Yup, I have just had one of those. I feel like Sherlock Holmes, Magnum PI, Angela Landsbury and Columbo all rolled into one. Magnum is certainly my favorite, like me he could be slow at putting 2 plus 2 together but he always managed to look good doing it. I would even argue that Mr. Jeopardy is much like Higgins (all knowing and condescending at times) But once again I digress.......
After my last blog venting about the dreaded washer/dryer combo unit which comes with the new Hurley house I received some e-mails of support from expat friends from the Thames Valley American Woman's Club who are eighty members strong. The first was from my friend Candida who put things into perspective for me.
"I think your next step should be living in Hong Kong. You have had the perfect training.
Land is at a real premium in Hong Kong, so everyone (well almost everyone except for multi-multi-millionaires) lives in high rise blocks in small apartments. They are really expensive to rent and everyone lives in a much smaller space – no room for American style appliances or laundry rooms. They sell even smaller appliances than in the UK, since space is a real premium. Virtually nobody has a drier, instead you have this little drying rack which is fixed to the wall outside your kitchen or bathroom window and you pin all your laundry to that before you go to work. When you come home you take in your lovely dry washing. Or maybe not? If it has been a windy day and you haven’t pinned it on really well, there is considerably less washing on the drying rack than there was in the morning! Also bear in mind that the higher up you live, the stronger the wind is (we lived on the 24th floor). In the summer it rains constantly and it is 99% humidity, so nothing ever dries outside. We thought we were really lucky because we had 2 bathrooms which was a luxury compared to most of our friends, however we learnt very soon that the best use for the 2nd bathroom was as a drying room. I also invested in a really lovely chromed drying rack, which I shipped back to the UK when we returned. This next bit will really make you Americans laugh – of course this stylish rack was well used back in the UK, so when we moved to the USA we shipped it with all our other essential possessions. The house we rented in the USA I had only seen in the pictures on the internet, so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw the upstairs laundry room which was the size of a UK single bedroom, with the huge washer and separate drier and a built in drying rack. Needless to say my chrome drying rack which had been transported to its 3rd continent was never unpacked, but I couldn't’t be parted from it so it was shipped back with us to the UK when we moved back.
I still really miss my American laundry room and probably will for the rest of my life!"
Land is at a real premium in Hong Kong, so everyone (well almost everyone except for multi-multi-millionaires) lives in high rise blocks in small apartments. They are really expensive to rent and everyone lives in a much smaller space – no room for American style appliances or laundry rooms. They sell even smaller appliances than in the UK, since space is a real premium. Virtually nobody has a drier, instead you have this little drying rack which is fixed to the wall outside your kitchen or bathroom window and you pin all your laundry to that before you go to work. When you come home you take in your lovely dry washing. Or maybe not? If it has been a windy day and you haven’t pinned it on really well, there is considerably less washing on the drying rack than there was in the morning! Also bear in mind that the higher up you live, the stronger the wind is (we lived on the 24th floor). In the summer it rains constantly and it is 99% humidity, so nothing ever dries outside. We thought we were really lucky because we had 2 bathrooms which was a luxury compared to most of our friends, however we learnt very soon that the best use for the 2nd bathroom was as a drying room. I also invested in a really lovely chromed drying rack, which I shipped back to the UK when we returned. This next bit will really make you Americans laugh – of course this stylish rack was well used back in the UK, so when we moved to the USA we shipped it with all our other essential possessions. The house we rented in the USA I had only seen in the pictures on the internet, so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw the upstairs laundry room which was the size of a UK single bedroom, with the huge washer and separate drier and a built in drying rack. Needless to say my chrome drying rack which had been transported to its 3rd continent was never unpacked, but I couldn't’t be parted from it so it was shipped back with us to the UK when we moved back.
I still really miss my American laundry room and probably will for the rest of my life!"
After receiving that e-mail I felt a little bad complaining about my issues. At least my delicates were not flying over the streets of Hong Kong. Perhaps that is why all the good dry cleaners are of Asian descent. No tickee no washee for you! Maybe everyone sends their laundry out since there are no dryers to be had, hmmm...hence the need for many good Asian dry cleaners.
Then, I received another e-mail from Patricia who just melted her child's mattress protector yesterday in one of these deadly contraptions. "And I decided just this afternoon to wash Leilani's bedding and use the combo dryer too, instead of hanging it out on the rotary dryer outside (because that's where Leilani's stuffed animals are hanging to dry) By bedtime her bedstuff was not dry yet, that steamy damp stuff, as you describe! So Tony came home and gave it yet another good whack of drying and guess what? the rubber/plastic in the mattress protector started melting together! It was DRY but pretty warped to put back on the bed. I think we'll have to go and buy another one. I NEVER use the dryer, and I find our friends (Brits!) tend to hang their stuff all over the house to dry (undies over the chandelier, bras hanging from candlesticks...) ... my 88yr old mother thinks it's a disgrace, all the laundry hanging all over the house. Lucky for us we have the airing closet, nice and toasty and that's where my wash gets its final dry cycle".
Honestly, you cannot make this stuff up if you tried. All my friends and family who think we are living the high life overseas can sit back with their giant Maytag's and private laundry rooms and laugh their asses off.
It's a good thing Patricia has an airing cupboard I thought. Hmmmm.....wait I am having a Magnum PI moment. Where is TC and Rick to celebrate? Where is Higgins to scowl? Oh wait there he is- "Honey, do we have an airing cupboard?" "You know we do" Mr. Jeopardy replied, "it is where we store the luggage." What? Here I was wondering why that closet upstairs was always so hot inside. As a matter of fact, I was worried that the hot water tank was running too hot since the closet was so warm. It may be a potential fire hazard. I also wondered why the shelf installed in the closet had slats instead of solid shelving. "How was I supposed to know we had an airing cupboard?
"Did you know that is where we are supposed to put damp towels and hard to dry items?" My beloved looked at me like I was a moron. "Honey, every house in Britain has an airing cupboard but we use ours to store our luggage." This remark from the man who has not done a load of laundry on his own while I have resided in the same house and who I am convinced married me for just such a purpose.
I went upstairs for a closer look. Suitcases were stacked on the drying shelf. It really was very toasty in there. Wow, we really do have a drying cupboard. Now I finally understand what the dial selection on the washer/dryer combo unit means which represents cupboard dry. I could not for the life of me understand why anyone in their right mind would put their clothes away damp.
"Higgins! Oops, honey why don't we use this to dry things instead of leaving them hanging in the kitchen on the drying rack?" "Well where do you think you will put our luggage and vacuum and everything else you have shoved in there?" he replied.
Sigh... what do you call it when you have an epiphany for naught? My answer is vent and have another glass of wine
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