Five household American life hacking, which are worth to learn
'31.10.2022'
Source: New Time
For a year in America I managed to live in ten apartments in different parts of Washington and the suburbs, and I am very happy about it. Despite the inconvenience of travel, I studied both the city and the housing market. It seems that Americans are much better able to organize their space.
I saw a typical American life, writes Maria Prus, a journalist for the Ukrainian service of Voice of America, who lives in the United States. It would seem, well, what is new to come up with? But, apparently, Americans are much better able to organize their space, quotes New Time.
1. Ergonomic kitchen. Directly above the stove is a microwave with a hood integrated into the bottom. This saves space, especially in smaller apartments.
Even in low-cost homes, a garbage disposer is built into the sink, that is, a garbage chopper - of course, small, from food. You clean, for example, potatoes, and cleaning can not rake out of the sink in the trash, but simply chop and wash. The rest of the food on the plates is also ground. Very comfortably.
Dishwasher - another member of American families, more precisely - 75% of families in the country. Although, according to these statistics, it is the least used basic electrical appliance.
There is a whole "dry cleaning mafia", controlled mainly by immigrants from East Asia.
2. The washing machine does not exist separately without a dryer. This is called a laundry unit. Sell and install them together. There is a washer - and there is a dryer. This is an unshakable rule. The question of where to dry the bed, towels and blankets does not arise.
Cheap apartments of such a "unit" may not have. In this case, there is a room for washing and drying - one for the whole house. If there is no washing machine in an apartment building at all, this is evidence that quite poor people live there. They are only public laundry.
Americans do not erase anything at all manually. I had a problem with where to buy a wash basin by hand. Found only on Amazon.
Coats, suits, shirts and dresses are handed over only to dry cleaners, which also repairs clothes. This is generally a separate “dry-cleaner mafia”, controlled mainly by people from East Asia: for less than $ 12 and the patch will not be delivered. Of this amount, start-up and cleaning-ironing services.
3. Air conditioners. Without them, the Americans do not represent their existence. They are not only in the poorest homes. For the rest, this is the norm, without which 4-5 can survive months of a hot, wet Washington summer.
They come in two forms. Cheaper - the so-called window units (window units). They are installed in each bedroom and in the living room. Such installations physically charge up cold air when it gets hot.
Another type - air conditioning, centralized air conditioning, more expensive and more convenient, because it constantly maintains the desired level of temperature.
If Europeans often save on heating and air conditioning, Americans are more prone to extremes. In the summer, in every office, shop, bus and subway car there is insane cold, I just freeze in a T-shirt. In winter, it is so warm that the sweater begins to choke and bake.
4. Logistics and parking. Where to put the car - the headache of all Americans living or working in a big city. Parking on the roadsides there are three types: "busy", "expensive" or "prohibited."
85% of the population of America - car owners. Therefore, the availability of parking or even an underground garage - of course, not free, - often becomes a decisive factor when choosing a home.
New apartment buildings are often also equipped with special places for a truck to move near the freight elevator, and therefore the boxes do not interfere with residents, and the van does not take up space in the parking lot.
5. Amenities, that is, additional amenities, bonuses, services. These are game rooms with billiards and table football, office rooms with computers, exercise machines, bicycle storage rooms, a grill and pools in the territory or even on rooftop, that is, on the roof of the house. In the US, they are available not only for the rich, but also for the middle class. Sometimes you need to pay extra over a monthly rental or once during the settlement.
In addition, in such houses free maintenance and minor repairs of apartments. Dishwasher out of order - replaced. Jammed window - repaired. Batteries will be checked before the heating season. It is only necessary to inform the administration.
All repairs will spend the day so as not to interfere with the owners. For a sweep, spread out polyethylene or put on shoe covers. You come home in the evening - and there it is clean and regular. And yes, as long as you are not, someone else walks into your apartment. And no, it's not scary because they do not steal anything.
Add to the service in such a concierge at the entrance, spacious corridors, four elevators and a free coffee machine in the lobby, and it seems as if you live in a hotel.
