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Laundry
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zaneth



Joined: 31 Mar 2004
Posts: 545
Location: Between Russia and Germany

PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2004 3:05 pm    Post subject: Laundry Reply with quote

Seems like somebody's hung up on the laundry thing, but I guess it's me. Don't know why I can't let it go.

Ok, when you get home tired at the end of the day, you take off your clothes that look dirty. While your letting your skin breathe or enjoying the feel of your sweats or track suit, you put some water (cold or hot) in a plastic tub sitting in the bathtub. Pour in some laudry soap from your 15 ruble box of Aistyonok and swish it around with your hand till it mostly dissolves. Put in your clothes (I like to give them a quick rinse under the tap if they're really dirty). Press 'em down so they're under the water and maybe squish them around a bit for good measure, making sure they're all wet. Now you're done for the night. If somebody needs the tub, the plastic bucket can be moved.

Next morning dump out the water, wring the clothes and rinse them a few times. Get to play in the water a bit, it's relaxing. Hand the clothes on lines in the bathroom. After they've dripped a bit move them to lines in the kitchen, where it's warmer and drier. If you need, open the little vent window a little and turn on one of the gas burners on your stove. They'll be dry in no time. The process takes a little time but you just need to have enough other clothes to wear while the dirties are in process. Lots of times you can wear a pair of pants more than once, or simply rinse them out and let them dry overnight.

Sunday evening while you're watching TV or listening to the radio you do your ironing for the week and hang stuff in the closet. It's really not so terrible. You don't even really need a proper ironing board. A towel on the corner of the table will do nicely.

It's part of the charm.
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waxwing



Joined: 29 Jun 2003
Posts: 719
Location: China

PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2004 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I no longer enjoy this delight, as I now have a washing machine.
My question is, are you ever able to get clothes (especially white shirts!) really clean?
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Communist Smurf



Joined: 24 Jun 2003
Posts: 330
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2004 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't mean to pry into your personal life, but where is your wife while you toil-away?

I've never had the pleasure of washing clothing by hand. My girlfriend, who has had the pleasure, seems fairly content using the machine though.

Why do I feel like I just said something dirty?

CS
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zaneth



Joined: 31 Mar 2004
Posts: 545
Location: Between Russia and Germany

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 9:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Really clean? No, not really. I don't wear white shirts too often. I'm rather poorly dressed. If my shirt or pants (trousers?) look OK I hang them up in the entrance way and wear them again. I prefer colors that don't show dirt too much.

Wearing the same outfit two days in a row isn't a crime where I live. I see even fairly well-dressed people doing it occasionally.

One nice thing about a machine is the centrifuge that squeezes the last bits of water out so clothes dry really fast on a line.

As for my wife, well, that's another subject all together. But I was talking to a possibly single audience.

Boiling the kitchen rags on the stove in an enamel bucket is fun, too.
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bobs12



Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Posts: 310
Location: Saint Petersburg

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 9:37 am    Post subject: Sunday best Reply with quote

Wow, I feel like I live in five-star luxury reading this Smile

I have a washing machine, but the St. Petersburg summer climate is too humid for drying clothes except in direct sunlight- I have to start using the balcony now that my flatmate has gone.

How do you get your girlfriend to do washing for you? Unbeleivable! Where can I get one of those?!
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Communist Smurf



Joined: 24 Jun 2003
Posts: 330
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 9:45 am    Post subject: Re: Sunday best Reply with quote

bobs12 wrote:
How do you get your girlfriend to do washing for you? Unbeleivable! Where can I get one of those?!


There's 7 million of them here in Moscow. What's wrong with Petersburg?

CS
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bobs12



Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Posts: 310
Location: Saint Petersburg

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 10:06 am    Post subject: Hmmm... Reply with quote

Saint Petersburg is being taken over by a wave of feminism! Wink
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waxwing



Joined: 29 Jun 2003
Posts: 719
Location: China

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 10:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well there is the small matter of whether your wife or girlfriend also works for a living. If you pay her way then her doing the washing isn't entirely unreasonabe Smile
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bobs12



Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Posts: 310
Location: Saint Petersburg

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 10:54 am    Post subject: Good point Reply with quote

I was kinda kidding- she works a lot harder than I do, I end up looking after her. I buy all her beer though- does that count?
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Communist Smurf



Joined: 24 Jun 2003
Posts: 330
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:12 am    Post subject: Re: Good point Reply with quote

I just got the skinny on your sig line казнить нельзя помиловать. Interesting story, clever.

CS
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bobs12



Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Posts: 310
Location: Saint Petersburg

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting... does the signiature function support Cyrillic?

Yeah, great story. Good one to drop in if you're ever trying to hammer into a Russian why they have to pay attention to grammar and punctuation in English!
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waxwing



Joined: 29 Jun 2003
Posts: 719
Location: China

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nobody ever commented on my sig .. Crying or Very sad
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bobs12



Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Posts: 310
Location: Saint Petersburg

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually, I've been racking my barins about it ever since I first saw it. Too shy to ask what it meant Embarassed

Is it a response to 'would you like borsch or solyanka, and would you like bread with that?'?
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Communist Smurf



Joined: 24 Jun 2003
Posts: 330
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 1:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Waxwing,

I just read your sig line out loud in a room with 7 Russians. They started laughing, and I mean a lot. I asked them to explain why it's funny. I guess I don't get it...? They say it's "Russian Humor" and it's a quote from some cartoon.

CS
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bobs12



Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Posts: 310
Location: Saint Petersburg

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 1:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Russian humour... does anyone get it?!
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