Another weekend.
Went home with all my whites so that I can enjoy the luxury of our washing machine. Home is all the same with same routine going on when you are not there and you just fit in. Everything at its own unique place as decided by the homemaker. The sugar jar, the hand towel, the ear buds-nothing leaves their place and you can literally move about blindfolded and know what lies where!
Most of the Saturday went into traveling because the Ropar bridge was closed for repairs (again!) and the bus had to do a 1.5 hr detour to land me at my home town. The first thing (which was by no means first after relaxing and chatting with mom and having some evening snacks) I did was to take care of the greatest pain that I would face it at my room here: the whites!
So off I went with my laundryman hat...
Machine wash tip #1: Rinse them before adding them to the detergent solution to get rid of the dirt that can be just dissolved in water (and sweat too). So that detergent does not have to act on something that can be removed by plain water.
As the rinsed whites were being spin dried for the next step, I noticed a curious wave pattern forming in the wash tub by the vibrations of the spin drum. Still, standing waves, I was able to relate to the ones that read about in my high school-Fundamentals of Physics (David Halliday, Robert Resnick and Jearl Walker).
Now the geeky stuff began.
I stared at the beautiful pattern etched on the water surface for a while, admiring both the moment and the physics behind it. My concentration broke as the pattern started moving and changing its form-started diminishing. I wondered which variable has changed? Spin drum is vibrating at the same frequency (not slowing down), I am not touching the machine, voltage is not fluctuating.
Hell!! The pattern changed due to falling water level in the tub, reducing its surface area as it went down.
I left the wash tub's drain open! Half of my dear detergent solution went down the drain :(
"Enough of physics Mr. Scientist! After wasting detergent enough to wash one load of clothes, start over now", I said to myself.
