October 10, 2011 8:54 AM
A person used to hear young men say, “I’d give my left nut for [fill in the blank]” and everyone knew precisely what he was saying.
Sometime over the past few decades I filtered out allowing myself to precisely ‘want’ anything without consciously intending to do it. When I get the silly-assed notion I ‘need’ or ‘want’ something I just stuff it into a file folder in my mind marked, ‘tentative’, and go into a patience mode. That just involves waiting for the Universe to drop whatever it was, or the components to fabricate it into my life. Which the Universe consistently indulges eventually.
But yesterday in town I saw this and it stopped me in my tracks. “Wow!” thinks I. “That thing could wash a lot of clothes at once, and it has a wringer.”
I’ve been using the Thrift Store busted near-freebee 1947 Kenmore for some time and I’m generally tickled pea-green with it: Clean Underwear and Hard Times. But it has the decided disadvantage of not having a wringer. This results in not getting so much water out of the clothes, so they take a lot longer to dry on the line.
I tagged and numbered the concept of the washer above and sent an order for something along those lines out to the Universe. But as I thought about it driving away it dawned on me what I actually ‘need’ if I were going to do some needing is a carwash chamois wringer.
Or this:
But the cheapest of those new runs almost $100, which doesn’t fit into any strong likelihoods of me ever forking out. Even on EBay they run that price and upward.
But those things appear to be built to last. I’m betting when car washes go out of business they end up in places nobody expected, taking up space and not getting much use. I’m going to watch for them at flea-markets, auctions and garage sales. And maybe I’ll post something on the Yahoo FreeCycle groups for Kerrville and Fredericksburg.
I wouldn’t give my left nut for one of those wringers, but if I wanted one I might.
Steve Goodman knew all about the trap of wanting dream things, though. In this song he just about says it all:
Steve Goodman — Vegematic [Live]
Old Jules
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Thanks to the morning yuk yuk Jules. I’ve fun a lot of chamois through one of those. I went yesterday looking to maybe buy a few things. All the big boys were out of my price range.
By One Fly on October 10, 2011 at 10:09 AM
Morning One Fly: Hope all’s going well for you in your new local. Yep, things cost a lot when a person buys them new. Thanks for stopping in. Gracias, Jules
By Old Jules on October 10, 2011 at 11:57 AM
Hee, hee! Hey, isn’t that a wringer on the back of that old washtub? Doesn’t it work anymore?
By short little rebel on October 10, 2011 at 2:39 PM
Thanks for the visit and comment short little rebel. You’ve cleared up something I wasn’t certain of when I was over reading your blog. Gracias, Jules
By Old Jules on October 10, 2011 at 3:48 PM
This is great, Old Jules – like your post very much. Yes, don’t we just think “want want want”. It’s great you file it away! This old wringer washer reminds me of what my dad brought home one day. It would only turn on at the powerpoint, and whenever you turned it on – 8 times out of 10 – you’d get an electric shock. I HATED doing washing.
By wordsfallfrommyeyes on October 10, 2011 at 4:06 PM
Wordsfallfrommyeyes: Interestingly, if you go long enough between washings you’ll be willing to get the shock. But more likely before then someone else would agree to do it for you. Thanks for coming by. Gracias, Jules
By Old Jules on October 10, 2011 at 5:29 PM
We use this exact model for our wringing needs (the hand mangle, not the drool-worthy old wringer-washer there). I haven’t found the perfect buckety thing for it, but we’re doing alright with a 3-gallon type. I would say that it’s a 1.5 person job to do it well, but if you’re used to doing without much wringing, doing it “well” might not feel mandatory.
By The Good Luck Duck on October 10, 2011 at 5:34 PM
Hi Good Luck Duck: Thanks a bunch for the comment and read. Mind sharing what problem you had with fitting it to a bucket? Sounds as though it’s a worthy critter. Gracias, Jules
By Old Jules on October 10, 2011 at 7:28 PM
Hi Jules I love the video, had cold drink and listening to and enjoyed it. thanks for sharing Zahir….. 🙂
By ♡ The Tale Of My Heart ♡ on October 10, 2011 at 5:43 PM
The Tale of My Heart: I’m glad you enjoyed it. Old Chicago Shorty’s been a favorite of mine for enough decades to make me feel old, almost, but not quite. Thank you for the read and visit. Gracias, Old Jules
By Old Jules on October 10, 2011 at 7:29 PM
Ah…. the memories. My Grandma had a wringer-washer.
My Grandparents lived in the (now gone) town of Valeda Kansas, east of Coffeyville. My grandpa was born in 1878, I believe. They had an entire “wash-house”, which was an outbuilding with a well and hand pump in it. The pump emptied directly into an old ball-and-claw style tub, but the spout would swing away to empty into a wash tub. The sulfur smell was awful.
Pops was a blacksmith by trade, and his ‘garage’ was an entire shop. When he wanted to work on something, he would enlist the grandkids to turn the crank that ran the leather belts, which ran EVERYTHING in his shop. Wish I had pictures!!
By sekanblogger on October 12, 2011 at 12:15 PM
Pics would be nice sekanblogger. I’m obliged you paid a visit. Gracias, Jules
By Old Jules on October 12, 2011 at 8:05 PM
Hi Old Jules. I found you by a chance and I don’t even speak a good english to tell you my world. But thanks!
By Anita on November 5, 2011 at 6:21 PM