Howdy-
I've not posted here in a while, but I have a story to tell that I think some of you may appreciate.
My wife's grandmother died about 5 years back. She was in her mid 90's by that time, and she lived in a little garden apartment complex that is occupied exclusively by senior citizens. Very proud of that she was - still able to cook and clean for herself right up until the end.
There is a little laundry room at the back of the complex. Adjacent to the laundry room is a gravel yard with one of those old square rotating clotheslines.
In that laundry room is a wringer washing machine - make and vintage uncertain. It still runs fine, but it leaks oil. There is an aluminum pie plate underneath it to catch the oil.
When I first saw that wringer, I offered to bring her a modern automatic washer and dryer to use at that complex. Everyone could use it - surely they are all tired of wrestling clothes through that wringer. She however, set me straight.
"Don't you dare", says she. "The wringer suits us fine. Those new machines are real nice, but they are done when they want to be done, and we'd have to get up from whatever we are doing to take the clothes out. The wringer just runs and runs until we are ready to take the clothes out - might be 10 minutes, might be two hours if we get to visitin'. Besides that, if you take away that wringer, Mrs. Jacobs will never see her son again."
Huh?
"Howz that, Granny?"
"Mrs. Jacobs' son comes over for supper every Sunday afternoon. He's a real nice boy, (I met him - he's every bit of 60) and we all enjoy seeing him. He never misses a Sunday, and the reason is that he is the one responsible for dumping the oil out of that pie pan back in to the machine. If he didn't have to do that, he'd be taking his Sunday suppers somewhere else.
I see...
"Now don't you give that old washer another thought. Come on in and have a piece of pie. Mrs. Markowicz will be over directly, and she would like for you to have a look at her kitchen light switch".
As far as I know, that wringer is still there.
I've not posted here in a while, but I have a story to tell that I think some of you may appreciate.
My wife's grandmother died about 5 years back. She was in her mid 90's by that time, and she lived in a little garden apartment complex that is occupied exclusively by senior citizens. Very proud of that she was - still able to cook and clean for herself right up until the end.
There is a little laundry room at the back of the complex. Adjacent to the laundry room is a gravel yard with one of those old square rotating clotheslines.
In that laundry room is a wringer washing machine - make and vintage uncertain. It still runs fine, but it leaks oil. There is an aluminum pie plate underneath it to catch the oil.
When I first saw that wringer, I offered to bring her a modern automatic washer and dryer to use at that complex. Everyone could use it - surely they are all tired of wrestling clothes through that wringer. She however, set me straight.
"Don't you dare", says she. "The wringer suits us fine. Those new machines are real nice, but they are done when they want to be done, and we'd have to get up from whatever we are doing to take the clothes out. The wringer just runs and runs until we are ready to take the clothes out - might be 10 minutes, might be two hours if we get to visitin'. Besides that, if you take away that wringer, Mrs. Jacobs will never see her son again."
Huh?
"Howz that, Granny?"
"Mrs. Jacobs' son comes over for supper every Sunday afternoon. He's a real nice boy, (I met him - he's every bit of 60) and we all enjoy seeing him. He never misses a Sunday, and the reason is that he is the one responsible for dumping the oil out of that pie pan back in to the machine. If he didn't have to do that, he'd be taking his Sunday suppers somewhere else.
I see...
"Now don't you give that old washer another thought. Come on in and have a piece of pie. Mrs. Markowicz will be over directly, and she would like for you to have a look at her kitchen light switch".
As far as I know, that wringer is still there.
