Happy Friday!

It's that time again......FRIDAY!! I'll try to contain my enthusiasm but I'm sure I'm not alone in my love of Friday's.
Not sure what to do on a Friday night? Here are a few suggestions:

• Have some friends over for game night! Balderdash, Taboo, even the old standard Charades are always good for a few laughs. Ask your friends to bring over some snacks and make it a potluck game night. It's inexpensive and is a guaranteed good time.
• Head downtown! Take a walk and find a restaurant that has outdoor dining. People watching is always good entertainment.
• KARAOKE! I have several friends who LOVE doing this and it always makes for a fun evening. The good thing about karaoke is that you don't have to be the world's greatest vocalist to enjoy it. If you aren't shy, give this one a try!
• Enjoy some live entertainment in your city. Go online and see who is playing at different music venues around town or maybe find out if there is a comedy club where you can check out some up and coming comedians. If you're lucky, you may even be able to find some FREE shows around town (and how can you possibly say no to that??).
  
• Go to a movie. I know, I know - you do this all the time but there is something relaxing and enjoyable about sitting in a theater while noshing on popcorn. Invite a big group of friends to see a silly movie and blow off some work-week steam. Or if you don't want to go out for a movie, invite them over and have a "themed" movie night complete with snacks. Idea - if you will be watching 80's flicks like Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles have foods you would have had back in the day like PB&J sandwiches, Capri Sun juice, Fruit Roll Ups, Pizza Rolls. You get the idea.

Well, hope these ideas help you come up with your own Fun Friday plans! Remember, do what you like and like what you do and a good time is just around the corner.

Until next time, keep it clean!!

AZUMA News!!

On May 10th, AZUMA Leasing began providing washer and dryer rentals in the Richmond, VA area!! We are very excited to be a part of such a historic community!

A few historical tidbits of information about the lovely city of Richmond:

• The Powhatan Indians inhabited much of the Richmond area until 1607.
  
• Richmond became a settlement between 1607 and 1609.
  
• The city of Richmond is named after the London suburb of Richmond-upon-Thames and was given this name by William Byrd II.
• Richmond served as a trading post trading furs, hides and tobacco until it became a city in 1742 and later became the state capital in 1782.
• In May 1861, Richmond was declared the Capital of the Confederacy

Richmond boasts many attractions devoted to it's historically-rich and diverse culture.

• The Historic Downtown section has cobble-stone streets and homes that were once occupied by Edgar Allan Poe amongst others.

• Maymont Park is considered to be one of the most beautiful urban parks in the country. The land for Maymont Park was donated to the city of Richmond by a wealthy landowner and now has numerous fountains, an Italian-inspired garden and a peaceful Japanese tea garden. There is also a petting farm for children with sheep, lambs, chickens and other animals.

• The American Civil War Center and Richmond National Battlefield Headquarters is the site of the iron foundery that supplied items to the Confederate Army. The goal of the center is to be the definitive museum on the Civil War and showcases information and items from both sides of the battle.

• The White House of the Confederacy was the mansion used by Confederate President Jefferson Davis during the Civil War.

• Interested in a walking tour? Swing down to Monument Avenue to walk the old brick roadway and take in the statues and beautiful homes.

What's not to love about Richmond? With it's history and charm, AZUMA Leasing is very happy to add Richmond to our AZUMA family.

Until next time, keep it clean!

A Brief History of the Washer

Ever wonder how we went from pounding and rubbing our clothes on rocks to the slick, in-home washers we have today? I was wondering that myself and decided to do a little research (afterall, we are in the business of renting washers and dryers so it only makes sense to know how we came to have the equipment we rent!).

A looooong time ago, people use to take their clothing and linens to a nearby river to wash them. Rubbing the laundry on rocks helped to flex the cloth and make it easier for soap (made of animal fat) to penetrate the fibers to get it clean. This eventually led to the advent of the wash board but this still required rubbing the clothes but at least a basin of water could be used instead of a river! People traveling by water would sometimes place their clothing in a bag, toss it over the side of the ship and let the ship drag the bag through the salty water for several hours.

In the early days before running water, gas or electricity, doing laundry was very laborious and time consuming. Imagine (if you can) - one wash, one boiling and one rinse use to use approximately 50 gallons of water (that's the equivalent of about 400 pounds). The water wasn't in your home so you had to pump it from an outdoor well and then carry that water inside to be heated on your woodburning stove and THEN transfer the water to the wash basin to START the wash process. To conserve time, many women would reuse the warm soapy water after the least soiled clothing was washed, then use it for progressively dirtier clothing. And when all of that was done......you'd get to do it all over again! WHEW!!

The earliest washing machines had tubs made of wood. Later, metal tubs allowed a fire to burn below the washtub to keep the water warm during the washing process. Electricity was not common in many households until the 1930's so most washers were hand operated. Later, automatic washers were connected to sink taps to have a temporary water supply attached. By 1940, 60% of electrically wired homes had an electric washing machine. Water removal by spinning didn't come into play until electric motors were developed since spinning requires that the tub be moving constantly to properly wring out the clothing and by the 1950's, most American manufactured washing machines had a spin-dry feature. A University of Montreal study found the advent of the washing machine to be an important milestone in the liberation of women. Women were now able to enter the workforce because they were free from the drudgery of doing the wash!

In the last century, washing machines have gone from being a luxury to being an item of daily necessity in most households.

Hope you enjoyed the little history lesson! Until next time, keep it clean (which is a lot easier now that you don't have to beat your clothes on rocks!).