I'm doing laundry-a long and involved process however it doesn't include filling the kitchen sink and plunging my hands and wrists into a sink full of soapy water.

I am, my friends and gentle readers, the profoundly grateful and fairly proud owner of a Wonder Washer!

Finances being typically tight through the holidays, I celebrated another year of survival by going online with the boss' permission to purchase a Wonder Washer and a Mini-Spin Dryer from thelaundryalternative.com. I waited and waited and finally, a week later, the boxes arrived on a Friday afternoon.

I took delivery at work-I work at a pretty good place-and hurried home. I spent the weekend catching up on things like having more than two pair of clean socks at one time. Truly, the first load I put through the Wonder Washer was every sock I owned.

By Sunday afternoon I had laundry strung all over the house; I'd used two packs of cup hooks and a package of cotton clothesline from the Dollar General improvising clotheslines across the alcove in the hallway for a one unit washer/dryer. The next weekend I ran a 'poor-man's clothesline' between two oak trees in the yard...

Monday I had clean clothes-NO MORE LAUNDROMAT!! Finally, I'd wasted my last quarter in commercial washer the owner had cut off the hot water line to!

OK, I am hoping to be able to find a good used washer at the local Goodwill, where last payday I was able to find a really nice CLEAN sofa and chair-the first I've had since leaving Alabama.

The Wonder Washer is a good friend, and good exercize, too-all I do is pour in a teaspoon of laundry soap, some OxyClean, three gallons of HOT water, and then the clothes; screw down the lid good and tight-trust me, tight is good because if it isn't the lid flies off when the crank is employed, and hot soapy water goes EVERYWHERE...Then crank the handle for a full five minutes to get the clothes clean. The steps are repeated several times with clear water to rinse the soap out.

It's a work-out. Crank, crank, crank; drain, drain, drain (the unit comes with a drain pipe to be inserted with a push and twist to drain by gravity feed into the sink); fill (fill, fill-I use a half gallon pitcher), then crank, crank,...

And OK, the unit is about the size of a propane tank for a BBQ, so I can get a few blouses and skirts, or a couple pair of jeans, or one bath towel at one time. It takes all day Saturday to get enough clothing and household linens cleaned to get through most of the next week.

But it really does beat the alternative of literally handwashing clothing, because I refuse to go to the laundromat ever-ever again.

The mini-spin dryer will spin the water out of one pair of jeans at a time, with it the jeans actually dry overnight!

And I truly cannot tell you how I am looking forward to the luxury of having an automatic washing machine again.

One of my neighbours lent me the use of his washer and dryer this past Sunday. I was embarrassed, afraid he would see me near tears to be able to wash my quilt, bed linens, and some clothing in three easy hours.

I love some parts of the 20th and 21st centuries, electricity and the automatic washing machine rank quite high on the list.