Laundry and the Great Dryer Debate

There's a lot I could blog about right now, I suppose.  Yet it all seems way too overwhelming and complicated to rehash here at the moment.

What I'd really like to do is tidy up the apartment.  The problem is, I've sort of run out of places to tidy things to, until we get our furniture, or until we build some of these:

Ikea spoils.
  European apartments usually don't come with closets - you must add your own wardrobes.  Plus, we had a lot of built-in furniture back in the US, so we need a desk, bookshelf, etc.

So yeah, it would just be shuffling, not cleaning.  Not motivating.

However, I figure it's good to post something, so the family knows we're still alive and such.  Accordingly, I shall tackle a topic quite manageable for how I'm feeling this evening.

(See title.)

guess I haven't removed the stickers yet

My washing machine lives in the kitchen.  I am very excited about it because I've never had a front-loader, and because I feel a special camaraderie with my aunts and Nana in England, all who have washing machines in their kitchens.  None of them owns a clothes dryer either.

out the kitchen door

I actually enjoy hanging things out.  It takes longer, but somehow it's more satisfying to me.

Dryers here do not vent to the outside.  Instead, they have water condensers that must be emptied at least after every load.  We had a dryer at our temporary apartment, but it seemed more trouble than it was worth (but I'm sure we were doing all kinds of things wrong, everything was in German - but still, it was a pain and didn't dry very well).  So we're trying to go without.  If my aunts and 90-year-old Nana can do it, we can, right?  It's plenty damp and rainy in England too!

But...

My upstairs neighbor has a clothes dryer in her cellar, and says she uses it every day.  

So maybe we should get one, at least to use some of the time, like for sheets and duvet covers.  In a damp, cold stretch it could take several days for something like that to dry.  We can also lay things over the radiators in the winter, but we'll see how long I can stand how cluttered that looks.  And my mom made a good point - we have enough challenges right now that if we can make something easier, we should probably go for it.  And she's totally British.

A ridiculous part of me thinks it's cheating to get one. But it's not, I know it's not.  Because - my neighbor!  But - my Nana!  I'm so torn, torn, torn.

Thoughts? Votes? 

Off to shuffle some stuff around now.