One of my quirks.....oh the list is too long

i'm fascinated by our washer/dryer combo...yes i am, thank you very much! i never had a front-loading machine at my house when i was growing up, so every since we got our own washer/dryer a few months ago, i sometimes find myself staring into the little window...because now i get to see how the inside of a washing machine operates!
i'm strange...i know...and i have waayy too much time on my hands sometimes...

on another note, can someone explain to me why all european washing machine cycles take an hour or more?? well, most of them that is...our machine has flash! 30 minute cycle...but our old one, took at least an hour and a half. do french people really think that a washing machine needs an hour to wash a small load of clothes (no jumbo XL loads here)...

that and why are dryers still super rare? well, i know the answer to that question...electricity is super expensive and most houses and apartments aren't equipped with proper vents and pumps...so most of the dryers here sort of "cook" the clothes...but at least its a dryer right? europeans prefer to line-dry all of their laundry (yes, its very eco-friendly), and then iron everything...which means that all the towels that the boy's family has are as rough as a porcupine (but my dad claims that at such rough towels can serve as an exfoliator as well....gotta love that!)...

but i've seen so many french families and couples hire housekeepers and cleaning ladies who spend most of their time ironing the laundry and linen....wouldn't all the money that these people spend on housekeepers who do all the ironing, be better spent on a dryer? and seriously, who has all this time to iron these days?? the boy's mom spent her entire life ironing everything until the boy and his brother bought her a dryer this year for christmas....needless to say, it changed her life and she loves having soft towels now... again, its one of those a-ha moments that i love categorizing under "french people entering the 21st century"..