They take for.ever (in excess of 3 hours) to do one load and often they don't get the clothes dry.

See, but this is my situation now. And with half the space. They're expensive enough that I won't jump from this pan into that fire, but damn.

What kind of high efficiency W/D do you have now, Brenda?

The drawback that she hates the most is the inability to wash one load while the other dries. So it takes her all weekend just to get a week's worth of laundry done.

It's a Maytag something or other. Part of the frustration is that nowhere does it tell you (in the manual, or in a gazillion places online) how long things *should* take. Because it's all woo-woo-sensors! and shit. So all I know is that even the anticipated time that shows up when you put something in seems obscenely long (33 minutes quickwash, 50 something for regular, 126 for dry cycle) but then in practice the time just keeps recalibrating.

I wonder if there are high efficiency washers and dryers that work. I would think there would be.

Well crap Brenda, that sounds worse than the all-in-one! We just bought a washer/dryer for my mother-in-law's house (since there's now 5 people doing laundry) and we went Old Skool and just got Kenmore low-tech ones (they ran about $400 or so each) but the wash cycle is equal to a regular dry cycle (except for jeans) - they run about 45 min for each. I can get 3 loads done in a couple of hours. I think the washer uses a ton more water than the HE ones though and since we're in drought-y CA we probably should have been more "water-wise" but eh? we didn't have the cash!

Can you go back to JPL as a worst-case scenario?

Hiring freeze.

Having moments of terror, but trying to stay focused...

I hear, you, Allyson.

I'm apartment hunting, the insane behavior of my neighbors has me pouring through Craigslist, and I got an automated response on a bunch of inquiries.

Is it customary for the landlord/rental agency to ask for the application and credit report before I even see the place? Sounds sketchy to me.

Maybe I'll just stick to the newspapers...

eta yeah, I think I will. just went to one of the websites and this is all it was:

"Hi and welcome to Katie's Rentals. Where I, Katie, give you the best deals on apartments and houses that I buy. I own 22 properties over a handful of states in the US."

Julie,

There are a lot, a lot, a lot, of scammers on Craigslist. If it sounds sketchy, it probably is. [link]