09:58 – More work on the biology kits today. One of the things I need to find out is what size box we’ll need. I’m hoping the kits will fit in a USPS Priority Mail Regional-Rate large box, but we may have to go to the slightly larger USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate large box. The flat-rate box costs about $15 to ship to anywhere in the 50 states, while the regional-rate box averages a few dollars less, typically $8 to $14, depending on destination. Since we sell the kits for the same price regardless of destination, the price of the kits will be about $4 higher if we have to go with the flat-rate boxes.
One of the interesting things about the Well-Trained Minds forums is that the members talk about a lot of stuff that’s not related to home schooling. There’s a current thread about washing machine odors, which apparently are a very common problem with front-loaders. We have a top-loader, but we’ve recently noticed a musty odor. Running loads with lots of bleach hasn’t helped, nor has leaving the lid open so that the machine can dry out. I told Barbara a couple weeks ago that there’s apparently mold growing in inaccessible areas of the machine, and I’d planned to take the back off and see what’s going on in there.
But someone mentioned an easier solution on the WTM forums. Apparently, there’s a product called “Smelly Washer” or something like that. It’s “all-natural”, so I have no interest in using it. I prefer products that are all-artificial, such as good old sodium hypochlorite, AKA chlorine bleach. Apparently, the trick is to overfill the tub, so that lots of water gets splashed around and slurps over the inner tub to reach the mold growth areas on the outer tub. So, after I finish doing our actual laundry today, I’m going to run a large load without clothes using hot water and adding a few gallons of hot water manually to the tub after it’s filled to the regular large level. I’ll add half a liter or so of chlorine beach to that load, and hope it’ll slurp over and get the mold or whatever is causing the odor.
14:31 – Ruh-roh. Barbara just stuck her head in my office door and asked me if it was okay if she moved some of my clothes from our bedroom closet to other closets in the house. My mouth said, “Sure,” but my mind was screaming, “No! No! A thousand times, no!”
The problem is, I (and those clothes, no doubt) am afraid that this is just a way to gently ease them into the trash or Goodwill pile. I have yet to meet a woman who really understands that most guys (including me) form deep and abiding relationships with our clothes. They’re kind of like our dogs, except that they live longer. Women are ruthless and utterly emotionless about clothes. Something has a small hole in it, throw it out! Something has an indelible stain, throw it out! Something doesn’t fit quite as well as it used to, throw it out! Something is out of style, throw it out! Geez. Women have no loyalty whatsoever to clothes. I mean, throwing out an old friend just because it’s a little worn is like shooting a dog because it lost a leg.
Of course, I freely admit that men’s and women’s definitions differ somewhat. What a woman calls “a little worn” a guy calls “almost new”. What a woman calls “worn out” a guy calls “broken in”. And what a guy calls “a little worn” a woman calls “disgraceful”.