Catching up... THE LAUNDROMAT

June 13th

might as well start out the weekend with some good old fashioned honesty:

1. i have a headache
2. i am home at 10:20pm on a friday night in nyc
3.i am exhausted
4. i thought i would be city savvy (oh how wrong i was)
and 5. i believe that friday the 13th brought not only bad luck my way, but also pms

(DISCLAIMER: this might be slightly offensive or just WAAAY too much information for some people. that being said, read on with caution and please do not take what i am about to say too seriously.)

so today was ok... started out fantastic. good old, walk the dog around the block and up the hill. yes, i am losing weight. this being my only redeeming thing to hold on to as i sweat before work on my uphill journey with dog in tow, or should i say, towing me.

so the commute i have down pat. door to door (if i have the guts to shove myself and my massive purse into the jam-packed subway car) takes me 30 min. not too shabby, if i do say so myself. (and i do.)

friday the 13th brought me slight frustration at pretty much every turn today. starting with senuti. that's itunes backwards and i learned that from my techie boss back in good ole flow-rida. so, the program downloads onto my new work computer and it is supposed to allow me the capability to download the songs off my ipod and onto my new itunes. things are running pretty smoothly, i am listening to all my old songs and then a purchased song comes up and hence an "authorize your computer to play this song" prompt. i type in my information and hit continue. ERROR -9813. what. the. hell. is. that??? i google. i come up with threads telling me what to do to recitfy the situation. nothing works. i contact apple. the little chat person, who's name just so happens to be Phap, tells me to CALL apple. i think phap stand for pretty hot and pretty much in the dark about what the heck is going on with itunes. so i call. the woman in india tells me it's an itunes problem. "well," i say, "Phap told me it was an apple problem."

she transfers me. i delete something with a super helper woman who then tells me i must re-install everything on my computer.

i have messed up my computer now to the point where the local tech guy has to fix my computer. ARGH. at this point, i am frustrated beyond belief. i cannot function without music. i just cannot work. i emog, email, chat, anything... music keeps me focused. without it, i am as productive as a double arm amputee trying to knit.

tech man comes downstairs tells me he needs 20 min. alone with my computer. i let him have it graciously, and i go shopping. retail therapy. i bought a pillow sham. i swear i cannot go one day without buying at least 1 thing. i'm working on this.

the truely amazing part happens when i decide i should do laundry tonight because i figure not too many others would be doing laundry on a friday night. i go down to my basement (cause i have laundry IN MY BUILDING) with a ziplock full of quarters. "odd," i think to myself, "these washers and dryers only takes cards." let it be said that my card was upstairs. sooo, i go upstairs. again. get my card, come downstairs. i follow the directions on the washer. add detergent (liquid) and add clothes. close the lid. and swipe my card. ERR. <--- that is what the machine said when i swiped my card. uh huh. it doesnt take just ANY card, no no. that would be TOOO easy. so, i take my clothes which are now lathered with wet soap out of the washer and put them back into my laundry hamper. i swear, i feel like a moron in this city. everything i am learning the hard way.

on the way upstairs with my laundry hamper (AGAIN) i meet a very nice woman by the name of sarah. she kindly infoms me that i need a special card to do laundry here (i have figured this out the hard way by now, thank you sarah). one that i must first send off for in the mail. thank you, sarah. and thank you asshole broker who forgot to mention ALL the little details.

at this point, i HAVE to do laundry tonight bc the clothes i wanted to wear were soaked. i gather all my clothes into my granny cart. called so because it is slightly too short--probably perfect height for a grandma. being as though i am NOT a grandma quite yet, it makes my butt stick out in the most peculiar way because of the way that i must bend down to steer and to hold onto the super short handle.

and thus began the dominican ballet. once i entered the laundry mat, i was entered into a choreographed dance without even knowing it. the hallways were so narrow that this person had to go that way, and i had to go this just to get through. everyone spoke in spanish to me. so i hear, "spanish spanish spanish, blah blah blah." i might as well have been listening to the wah wah wah wah character from charlie brown. do i LOOK spanish?? ok ok, i know, i AM a little tan. and i do have brown hair and brown eyes. but really?? doesnt the deer in headlights look do the trick? when you speak to me, and i dont answer. AT ALL. that should be a clue. but no. so the dance continues. i go this way, you hit me with your cart. i go that way, i hit you with my cart. it was fantasically aweful. not to mention.. the rush for the dryers. oh lawd. i still need to get that "pushin and shovin" confidence. BUT i got all my laundry done. even the bra off my body. yes, i took it off while i was there. ha!

so i finally take my full boobie bouncing PMS-ing self back to my apartment, granny cart and all, and am now enjoying this crappiest movie robin williams has ever made on a friday night alone in the city. give me time, and these might become more filled with stories of an actual social scene.