No matter where you live, there is no such thing as a nice laundromat. They aren't clean, and I'd estimate that most of them have at least three broken washers and generally 5% or more of the dryers are either broken, or should be called "dampers" instead of dryers, because that's the best you'll get out of them.
Right now it is -25F or so, and the dogs and I are sitting in my running car. My clothes are in the wash and when the cycle is over I'll run back inside and put them in the dampers.
Most of the vehicles in the lot are running because there are no plug-ins here and once my clothes are the least damp I can get them--which I estimate will take at least 12 quarters for two "dryers"--I will want to be sure my trusty old car will start again. Besides, this way I will also avoid having to scrape the inside of the windows from all that dog breath.
I already had to move the car because there was a dog in the vehicle next to mine, triggering Sofie's insane desire to dig through the car door to get to him. We spent a good ten minutes training that quiet, calm dogs who lie down and ignore other dogs get cookies. Then I ran out of cookies and had to repark. Yes, people in Fairbanks take their dogs with them even at -25. Our dogs go everywhere.
My twelve quarters have been paid and I now have 36 minutes to finish this post. Then I'll have to go inside and fold my clothes because I'm a woman and don't use the special, patented wrinkle method all these cabin dudes use. Yep, your basic guy, whether he lives in town or on a dry cabin, is happy to take his clean (sorta dry) clothes out of the dryer and jam them tightly into a duffle bag. The really classy guys use black trash bags.
No, I eschew the exquisite wrinkles offices by that method and I actually fold clothes. Of course that means I have to mingle with those same dry cabin folk who are there to take their weekly, monthly (some smell like yearly) showers. Oh don't get me wrong! I was one of those people for two years! And that is why my house has water, or at least one of the reasons. Pooping at -40 in the outhouse was also a big motivator for plumbing.
Getting ready to go to the laundromat was also not what most of you do. First I had to plug in the car for three hours so it would start. Then I carried laundry out and put it in the trunk because the interior is, well, a Hairmobile. I had to judge when to put the liquid detergent bottle in the trunk so it wouldn't freeze before I got there. I wasn't going to put it in the interior because I experience has taught me that Ole might decide it was delicious. Since the kippered herring incident I am rather cautious.
Well, typing this on the iPhone has been fun, but it is about time I ventured into that hot room to fold my clothes. Wish me luck. I hope only for good smells and no screaming children. If I'm out of luck, I may yet be converted to the wrinkle method!
