Tech tale for our times

Last weekend was hectic - Alyssa got married. We had house guests, a rehearsal dinner, an extra dog. It was wonderful, but as I said, hectic.

Monday, we couldn't find our remote control for our Amazon Fire TV. This is our access to our "good" television - Hulu, Netflix, Prime, etc. I ordered a new one from Amazon. We looked all over - behind the couch and under the furniture - no luck. It was missing.

When the new replacement remote control arrived, I had to pair it with my device. The instructions, which came with the remote, were simple. Here is what they said (paraphrased).

For a replacement remote:
1. Power off the device.
2. Power it on. Wait up to a minute, and the light will blink.
3. Press and hold "home" on the remote.

I powered my device off and on, but the light did not start to blink. I was unable to pair the remote. So, I did some elementary troubleshooting. I figured out the problem - the device was still paired with the original remote, which was somewhere in the room. We searched again, but still could not find it.

I went back to the instructions and read the instructions for using the new remote as a second (additional) remote. They began like this:
1. On your original remote control...So, we could not pair the new remote without finding the missing remote.

There is a happy ending. I was able to pair the new remote by disconnecting the device and taking it into my bedroom (with the doors closed) and using my new TV to pair it.

A poem about Judgment

The only "e" in "judgment" shows up right before the "n".
But in between the "g" and "m" - there's nothing there, my friend.

While on a wilderness hiking trail in the Adirondacks, I missed a step crossing a stream and soaked my sneaker and sock. I was longing for a clothesline. When we got to a lean-to, I found one! Made my day...

Extreme ironing

I think that you - my followers and companion clothes-hanging aficionados - would find this website to be of interest. Please have a look and show them your support. http://xtremeironing.com/

Simple Life blog

A friend of this blog called another blog to my attention, and it contains one of the best recent photos on the subject of hanging clothes that I've seen. It's a very interesting blog, focused on organic and generally simpler living. Please have a look. http://chiotsrun.com/2014/04/26/back-again/

Clothes hanging season coming late

Although the 2014 baseball season has had it's opening day, we may have a late start to the outdoor clothes hanging season this year in Chenango Forks.

A Poem
It's been a quiet winter - snow too deep and temperature too cold for clothes hanging. So, here's a poem.

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To my wife

I must confess a gruesome fact before you find it out.
It's about the laundry - please try not to shout.

I did a partial wash today - I didn't do it all.
I wasn't sure just what to do - I had to make a call.

I skipped the sheets and linens - they aren't very clean.
I thought that adding them would overload the damn machine.

Winter approaches.

Shadows lengthen, days grow short.

Still - the clothing dries.

Watsky

Watsky is an exciting new artist. He has a nice clothes-hanging segment in his "Man of Constant Sorrow" video. Have a look and listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6Ocqp16Ldc

Late in the day

Fall in the Northeast presents some challenges to the clothes hanger. three load day is practically an impossibility. It's hard to get two loads done in a day.

Days are shorter, temperatures are starting to cool, and weather can be unpredictable. A

Today, I had a dry load just taken in from the line and a wet load in the washer. It was evening - sunset was approaching. Should I hang the wet load today, or wait until tomorrow?

The late afternoon fall hang has advantages.

• You get it done - the hanging is behind you.
• If your clothesline is in a grassy area: you get to hang it when the grass is dry in the afternoon. If you wait until morning, you'll be standing in wet grass.
• When it dries tomorrow, you can get a jump on the next load.

All things considered, the late hang is the way to go.

Tie-Dye

In this picture, we see what is clearly not a normal load of laundry hanging on the clothesline. What we have here is a tie-dyed shirt. This illustrates another advantage of the outdoor clothes-line. If you have a tie-dyed shirt to dry, you can just hang it by itself. You don't have to worry about having enough other laundry to make a full load for the drier. Just hang it by itself. It will dry fast!

Basket Placement

To simplify your clothes hanging, you should consider basket placement. When you bring your basket of heavy, wet freshly laundered clothes to your clothesline, you should have a plan in mind as to where your basket will be placed. One sensible placement method is to place the basket near the middle of the clothesline. This technique allows reaching  all hanging points with minimum distance traveled.

Another sensible basket placement technique is to place the basket at the side of your clothesline closest to your door. The thinking behind this method is that you have less distance to carry the heavy basket.  Of course, the trade-off is that you will have to carry your laundry further to get it to where it will hang.




"Middle of the line" basket placement






 

Either method is fine - it comes down to a matter of personal choice. I choose to place the basket of wet clothes near the middle of the line. Although I have to carry the basket of wet clothing further, I want to minimize the risk of dropping a piece of clean wet laundry. Less distance to carry, less chance of a drop!

Door hanging

We're having major flooding here in the Binghamton area.  It has not been good weather for hanging your laundry outdoors.  Coming home in the rain the other night, I got my pants wet.  

I don't like to throw wet clothes on the pile, so I hung them on a closet door to dry.  Remember - you can hang clothes in many different manners.  Send us your creative clothes hanging stories.  The best ones will get published here.

Bad Press

Jeff Passan writes for Yahoo Sports.  In response to this column, I sent him the following email:

In your column discussing the financial troubles facing the Mets and Dodgers, you say that they “let their dirty laundry flail about on a clothesline that stretches from coast to coast.”. I write a blog about hanging clothes (http://hangingclothes.blogspot.com/ ) and I would like to clarify this point.

I understand that your image of a trans-continental clothesline is a metaphor. However, that is where it breaks down. Nobody hangs dirty laundry on a clothesline. There would be no point in hanging soiled apparel. Items hung on a clothesline are freshly laundered – clean and pristine.

While I can understand your issues with how some baseball teams manage their finances, I don't see the point in your disparaging the noble practice of hanging clean laundry on a clothesline. Why drag laundry hanging into the conversation only to equate it with the egregious practices that you detail?

Your voice is heard from a major platform. For a future column, please consider using imagery of clean laundry hanging from a clothesline in a positive light.

Thank you.

Irene

Hurricane Irene has pretty much shut down clothes hanging for a while here.  Our electric just shut down a few times, but it restarted - for now.  Good luck to all in Irene's path.  Hopefully, we'll all be hanging clothes again very soon.

Window hanging

Thanks to New York City photographer Leanna Staples for this picture of laundry hanging from a window.

Respect

Today, while removing my dry laundry from the line, I dropped one of my "American Flag" socks (socks with an  American Flag on them).  This got me to thinking - had I disrespected the flag?  What should I do?

As it turns out, clothing that contains an image of the flag should be treated as if it were a flag.  From the folks at ushistory.org:

 Are flags on T-shirts, ties, etc., really flags?

Yes. According to the Flag Code, a flag is anything "by which the average person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag."

So my sock flags are, effectively, actual flags.  Well, I accidentally dropped it.  What does that mean?  From the same folks:
 My flag touched the ground. Do I need to destroy it?

No. You should, of course, try to avoid having the flag touch the ground. But if it does, you should correct the situation immediately. If the flag has been dirtied, you should clean it by hand with a mild soap solution and dry it well before returning it to use.

I will interpret laundering the socks as being in the proper spirit of respect for the flag.

However, this leads to another question.  What should I do when the socks are too worn out to wear any longer?  The same folks have the answer:

 My flag is old and ready to be retired. What should I do?

Section 8k of the Flag Code states, "The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning." We recommend that you contact your local VFW Chapter and ask them for help properly disposing of your flag. And be sure to consider providing a small donation to them for their assistance. Or you can contact your local Elks Lodge (who created the idea of Flag Day, established officially by President Truman, himself a member of the Elks), the American Legion, or the Knights of Columbus. Some Boy Scout and Girl Scout troups also can provide this service.

When my socks are old and worn, I will bring them to my local VFW for burning.  I hope that this information - all an indirect result of today's laundry hanging - is useful.

Hang By Night

It was late, and I still had a comforter in the washer.  Tomorrow was a work day, and I was going in early.  I didn't want to let the wet comforter sit in the washer all night, but I didn't want to use the electric dryer either.  It was quite a dilemma, but I found a great solution.  I hung the comforter by moonlight.  I realize that it was not going to get dry over night.  However, it would air out, and would be on the line first thing in the morning.  When the day warmed up, I was ready.  The comforter was dry by early afternoon, and we were able to hang another load.

Lower East Side

Here's a link to a picture of how laundry was hung in the past:
Laundry hanging on the lower east side

Thanks to the tenement museum.

Clothes hanging around the world

Occasionally, we'll highlight clothes hanging from around the world.  Here is an interesting look at clothes hanging in Venice, Italy:
Clothes hanging in Venice