Back to normal

Day 5

It's our first pit stop into a laundromat since we have been on the road. An unmarked building with tiny washing machines is the place we are going to use. Laundry is a weird thing to do when your not in your house. Stepping into the old rundown building with minimal maintenance should have been our first sign to wait until a bigger city, but we looked past it and started dumping clothes into the money machines. It was $3 a load, and we had 4 of them to do. That's a lot of laundry for only being gone for one week. We blame it on the tiny washers and the fact that one load alone was just towels, and another was sheets. Katie makes an oops and spills some soap on the floor. We cast our eyes around and don't see anything to clean it up with, so I just grabbed that white bucket in the picture and placed it next to it. I'm a safety conscience man due to years of corporate training. It's the best I could do, so that's what I did. 

We go back to the RV and grab Eli for round number two. The clothes get piled into the dryer and we bump into Larry. This elder man with a well weathered face looks at us with a scowl and says "You make the mess in here?". I reply back "Yep, didn't see anyway to clean it up. My apologies". Larry cracks a smile to let me know he's just giving me a hard time and gives me a "That's alright. It happens. Just didn't want anyone to fall".  We leash up the dog and go knock out a one mile walk. Upon our return a quick check reveals that our garments aren't dry. Dang. Another $1 into the dryer and we sit in Shirley for the last 10 minutes. 

Larry roles up in his pickup to chit chat with us a little bit more about Nebraska football and how he's from Minnesota. Since Shirley is dressed up in Wisconsin plates, two kayaks, and two bicycles, Larry's quick wit lead him to the realization we must not be from around here. Now this is where it get's interesting. Larry says to me "Did y'all clean your hands after moving those buckets. You didn't put your fingers in your mouth or nuthin?" I look at him puzzled. "Those buckets are used for anything and everything 'round here, if you gt my drift" I've got nothing to say. I just keep looking at him. His final reply stuns both of us; "We ain't got no bathrooms here..." Whoa whoa whoa. Did this guy just tell me people come and piss in his buckets at the laundromat waiting for clothes to wash? He waves goodbye and drives off. Yep. He sure did. Gross.

We get back to the RV and I scrub myself from the elbows down trying to get rid of any hepatitis that might still be around. I've got to get my mind off of Larry's Laundromat and start looking into a problem with the 12 volt sockets in the dash that keep popping fuses.

This main panel is below the drivers seat, which is located in one of the storage bays. It feeds power to the fuse block under the steering wheel inside. I get a voltmeter out and start checking circuits one buy one looking for shorts or broken wires. After an hour of messing around I figure out that our dash camera's plug has a broken spring inside that occasionally grounds out the system and pops the fuse. Well... one more thing that's fixed. Katie takes Eli for another walk while I'm messing around and when she gets back I go on my own. We're still trying to make sure we get some alone time and a quick 20 minute walk will help me sleep better tonight. 

Oh that's where I left that

Living the homeless life let's you look at the world a little different. First time I've ever seen a hammer impression in a city sidewalk. Time to finish up my little route and get back for the Packers game. It's the first game of the season that just happens to be against the Bears. Beer please.