Chapter 1: A way too long explanation

This is the story of a guy named Tom Grey ... and a laundromat.



There are generally 3 types of people in this world: those who want to read my blog, those who couldn't give a shit and won't, and those who couldn't give a shit but hate their jobs and have nothing better to do than waste away their day and their company's money. If you disagree with my assessment, feel free to post a disputing comment - but be warned that I myself do not give a shit and probably won't read it. So, now that we've got that out of the way, let's begin.

Some of you may be aware that I had kept a blog a few months back to chronicle my adventures in Kansas City. If you are among that group, you are likely aware that my efforts lasted a whole two weeks before I abandoned the blog entirely. Despite many requests, I just gave up. But now - after Kansas City has long since become a closed chapter in my life - I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of regret. Now I can never look back at a logged account of my adventures with the 3 random married women, Quigg's Death Cleanse, Andy and Big D, LLD Stacy, Starbucks girls and their StarBQ's, Miss Bad News, Crashing a huge wedding with Steve Eddy, Maryn and giant Shuttle Cocks, Losing $1,000 bet about what movie came first; Batman and Robin or Batman Forever (damn you Joel Schumacher!), Sushi James, Invisible Audrey Artists, and countless other things that you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. Most of all though, Kansas City was in many ways life altering. The experience was priceless. The money was liberating. And some of the friendships will endure.

Long story short - I'm a fucking moron. But this detail is not new.

So, now that I have an equally, if not more interesting, adventure to chronicle in the city of Chicago - I'm going to vow not to repeat history. I'm going to do what I pretend to do best - write. (though excuse me if I'm not going to go for a Pulitzer with this blog). WARNING: I'm long winded and this is a no holds barred blog - there's nothing I won't talk about. So if you interact with me - you may or may not want to read. Just thought I'd say it.



The Beginning: into the SpinCycle:
If you don't know where I am and how I got here - I'll recap.

It was exactly 3 years ago. In the early months of 2004, I had foolishly decided to take some time away from working to concentrate exclusively on writing. It was a romantic vision of writing - getting up everyday with nothing to think about except the screenplay. Hours upon hours of unfettered creativity. Progress beyond progress. A writer's dream.

Hmmm...yeah not so much. After a few months, all I had really managed to do was burn through my money, rack up some considerable debt, watch a lot of daytime TV court shows (Texas Justice with Judge Larry Joe was a particular favorite), and write 100 drafts of a screenplay that I still hate. Writing was quickly turning into a typical girlfriend - leaving me broke, tired, and frustrated.

Then came August and an opportunity to get a stand-by ticket to Seattle to visit my friend and (semi-sort of-what?) ex Sarah for a weekend. I say semi-sort of-what because Sarah and I had a long history of friendship and then some that ultimately is long and confusing...we're good friends now though. Anyway, Sarah lived in Boston at the time, but she used to live in Seattle, and she was there for a weekend to attend a Bar Mitzvah of some guy in his 20's who seemed to skip that ceremony in his youth. Having no money, I of course jumped at the opportunity to rack up some more debt and hopped on a standby flight North.

Also in Seattle that weekend was a guy named Scott. Scott lived in Los Angeles, but happened to be in Seattle for the ceremony. He used to live in Seattle, but had recently moved to LA to work at some laundry company. I wondered why anyone would want to work in a laundromat - it seemed like such a waste of life and I immediately figured Scott to be some dead beat asshole. Sarah didn't particularly want me to meet Scott. You see, she and Scott were "friends" at one point and figured our interaction might be awkward. It wasn't. Alcohol has an amazing ability to subdue awkwardness, when you're the one who's drunk at least. Alcohol also has an amazing ability destroy all rational thought, and so, when Scott mentioned that his work was looking for someone to temp for a week, I easily agreed.

"When do you fly back to LA?" he asked.
"Late Sunday night" I replied.
"Great, you can come in Monday morning then"

And that's about the gist of it. I flew back to LA - the plane was late and was forced to land at the wrong airport for some reason. I have a vague memory of Maryn and Quiggs picking me up at the John Wayne Airport- but I'm not 100% sure on that detail - I got 3 hours of sleep - dragged myself out of bed the next morning - drove to East LA - and began my "week long" temp job. My cleaning career began.

It turns out they needed a temp because their employee, a girl named Jenny who seemed way too capable of doing everything, was going on vacation and the place would apparently fall apart without her. It also turned out that Scott didn't in fact work in a laundromat - but rather in an office with gray walls, no windows, and exposed water pipes that could easily kill you if they blew (I'm not sure what's worse). The company was a distributor, broker, and builder of coin operated laundromats and equipment. They had recently acquired the nation's largest chain of laundries, SpinCycle, for a great bundle of money and had plans to liquidate all 172 stores in 16 states for an even greater bundle of money.

A cocky Indian named Shanto told me on my first day that I'd be sucked in like he was and still be working there a year from then. I told him he was crazy and that I was planning to return to the entertainment world after my week was up. Turns out that bastard was right.

I won't go into considerable detail as this post is already long and I'm tired. But the following three years turned out of be memorable ones. I was part of a team, the LuckySpinner's we were called, and together we sold or otherwise disposed of 170 of the 172 laundries and did in fact make the company that great bundle of money they were looking for. It may not sound all that interesting to some of you entertainment types - but to be honest I'm proud to have been a part of that group. I met some good people and it turns out that Scott is both a dead beat and an asshole :-)

In addition, it seems that keeping myself busy also improved my ability to write. By working a job that I had no real long term aspirations in, I found myself looking for any and every opportunity to write. I would wake up at 5am - go to the coffee shop to write for a few hours - go to work - and then return to the coffee shop to write for a few more hours before going home - sleeping - and doing the whole thing again. When I started with the laundry company - I had 2 screenplays - now I have 17 and two manuscripts - some of them are better than others but the experience of writing them is priceless.

The final two laundries were in Kansas City and somehow I was given the opportunity to live there for a little while and sell them. After a while I agreed - had an adventure in Kansas City - sold the stores - and came back. Apparently I did something right (I call it luck) as I was quickly offered a similar opportunity in Chicago.

I had never been to Chicago, but it was the last great American City to visit. Needless to say - I was excited. My mission is simple - open a brand new laundromat - run it - sell it.

And so, that's how I came to find myself running an all cash business on a sketchy street in the murder capital of America. Joy.

If I haven't been shot, tune in next week for more over explained ramblings. I'm going to buy a new camera to replace the one I lost on my trip over here.