Modestly priced hotels usually include hot breakfast, free wi-fi, parking, and an onsite, coin-op washing machine. Why do the fancy hotels insist on charging extra for basic amenities? The nicer the hotel, the more add-on fees. What is a resort fee anyway? I have no interest in a fridge full of high priced mini-bar food. What I need is a place to keep restaurant leftovers and the stuff from the cooler. I’m not referring to cheap hotels with holes on the walls, stained carpets

Every day there’s another set of dirty clothes. It never ends. As a working mom, I developed my own laundry strategies. My mother dutifully taught me to sort laundry and to iron everything, including pillowcases. I don’t do those things now. If the clothes are old, they can all be mixed together in one load. The occasional sock turns pink or green. A small price to pay for simplicity. When I buy new jeans, I separate them for a while, until they don’t turn the underwear blue

Due to unexpected circumstances, I spent a day at the laundromat near my daughter’s apartment in Philadelphia. Not in the suburbs, but in the city. I would say inner-city, but she assures me that her neighborhood isn’t sketchy, and it seemed alright to me. As a writer, I took pictures of everything. Someone checking the security camera footage would have found me suspicious. But the camera only served as a canvas for graffiti and place to drape extension cords. Nothing on the