Laundromat Post #1
Our new apartment comes with free DSL service, but unfortunately it does not have a laundry facility. So for the first time in many years I am slumming it in a laundromat to do my laundry. The plus side to this otherwise negative coin is that the closest laundromat to our new place also has free Wi-Fi service for its customers, which means more than a few See Me Get Rich blog posts are likely to be written on location at our scenic local laundromat.
Speaking of laundromats, one encounters a curious cross-section of locals there. One might say that laundromats are the great equalizer. Rich or poor, big or small, Mexican or Filipino, we all must have clean clothes from week to week and the quarters to go with them. Laundromats are similar to funeral parlors in their ubiquitousness in our society. You have heard of death and taxes; but one might just as well add laundromats to that list. It occurs to me that a laundromat might make a perfectly good business venture in the sense that it will always be required by those not fortunate enough to own their own washer and dryer. Even as I write this I can hear the quarters clinking out of the change machine and plunking into the commercial washer and dryer units at an exorbitant rate.
I am definitely partial to business models that consist of profit generated by no actual work on my part (other than maintenance, cleaning, etc.). Perhaps this is why I am also drawn to dividend style investing due to the increasing dividends paid over time for exactly zero effort. As the old adage goes, the poor and middle class work for their money while the rich make their money work for them. The day when I truly make the transition from one field to the other for my bread and butter is a day I look forward to. I do not believe idleness to be virtue, but I do await the day when I can have the time and energy to pursue my own affairs and interests unfettered by the constraints of traditional employment. In the meantime, though, I'll be advising and writing to you all from the ever-present laundromat.
