Hello beautiful souls,
This is JB and welcome to a beautiful night's sleep.
Thanks for being here for another in the series sleep stories with June B.
Join me as I take a trip to the laundrette to get some washing done.
So let's get into your favorite sleeping position.
Make sure you're comfortable.
Close your eyes.
And slowly imagine yourself just melting into the bed.
Now let's go to your breathing.
Slowing down the heart rate and let's take some nourishing breaths together.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Last time.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Thanks for joining me at my local launderette where we will sit and watch my clothes as they go through the various cycles of the washing machine and the dryer.
I don't have a big household now.
All of my kids have flown the coop as they say,
So the amount of washing I have to do is minimal.
I may put on a load once every two weeks and that's perfect for me.
I mean,
Who likes to do clothes laundry anyway?
I can think of a million things I would rather be doing than laundry.
So I put on a load a few weeks ago and my washing machine,
Which I've had for about five years,
Started making a funny whining noise.
Well everything else was working okay on the machine,
So as women do,
I ignored it.
Then I went to put on a load a few days ago and no bueno,
As my daughter says.
It would not work.
I called the repair people because it's still under warranty and they sent someone over to fix it.
Now when the engineer came,
They said it can be fixed.
Good news.
I just have to get a part for it.
Not so good news,
Which they had to order.
Even worse news.
I'm still waiting for the part to come a week and a half later and my clothes all of a sudden are piling up.
Go figure.
I'm currently in that place of limbo.
The place between getting my machine fixed and getting a new one because it cannot be fixed.
I still have warranty left,
So obviously I want them to fix it.
How long do I wait though before they give up and give me a new one?
That,
My dear friends,
Is the question.
This happened to a TV I had around Christmas a few years ago.
What a nightmare that was.
My TV had a fault in November and I sent it off and they sent it back and it still had the fault.
So this went on for weeks until finally they agreed to give me a new one in January because it was still under warranty.
January?
Really?
That was all of my Christmas viewing out of the window?
What can I say?
So I know the place of limbo so well.
After the laundry I go to empty my dirty clothes basket and hope that the part will come in before I have to go again.
Now the funny thing about this story is that I have not been to the laundry in my area before.
Always had a washing machine.
And if I did want to wash my quilt,
I would take it to the dry cleaners and let them handle it once a year.
So after scouring the internet for one that was close to me,
I crammed the car with my dirty washing,
Soap powder and fabric softener of course,
And a bundle of coins and off I go.
So here we are in the laundrette and I have managed to come at a quiet time of the day.
That doesn't mean the laundrette is quiet though.
The noise of all these machines is really loud just by themselves.
Did you know that some people fall asleep to the sound of washing machines all the time?
I hear that it's really good to get babies to sleep.
Just put their little bassinet somewhere close to the spin cycle and watch them just melt away.
Didn't know that.
Although after sitting here for an hour or so I can really see why.
The sound is hypnotic and I have glazed over a few times already actually.
There is such a thing as a service wash.
Since I have been sitting here I have seen many people come in,
Drop off their bags of washing and then go.
Smiling as they go because they don't have to wait.
Personally I feel a little bit funny about someone going through my smalls as they say in the UK.
I prefer to do it myself.
Not to mention the comments from the service wash lady about the choices of some of the customers underwear.
Oh my.
I'm here settling in now and trying to pick out all the various sounds as the machines are in different stages of operation.
Can I pick out those sounds?
I'm not so sure.
First there's fill.
Then wash.
Then empty slash drain.
That sound is quite easy to recognise.
Then spin.
Oh that's the one that goes really high pitched.
It's like a symphony of sound all in a warm place with no conductor so whatever goes goes.
There is never any silence in this place so you kind of have to go with the flow.
Get it?
I have sat here for a while trying to pick out the different colours.
Watching one load that somebody's put in and everything's gone pink.
People talk about these sheets.
They call them colour catchers.
I tried that once and everything still went pink including the colour catcher sheet.
That was really a waste of money.
And nothing can replace some of the beautiful white tops that you may have that end up turning pink.
And it's not the kind of pink that you want to wear is it?
Well I think that's where I will leave my musings for now.
I'm feeling so sleepy that I need to finish up and get home before I slip into deep slumber right here in this chair.
That's probably why they make the chairs so uncomfortable so you don't end up falling asleep in them.
Thanks for being here with me for a while.
Watching the washing go around and around in the machines and listening to the dryer do its thing.
I'm getting a little sleepy now and I'm sure you are too.
So as you slowly drift away have yourself a great sleep and see you next time for another in the series of sleep stories with June B.
