Laundry math

The machines in the laundry room at my apartment complex don't take cash or coins. What you do is pay money ($5 and $10 increments only; no singles) into a machine in the office that adds credits to a swipe card that you use on the laundry machines. I thought it was a smart way to cut down on the possibility of theft and damage since it eliminates cash from the laundry room. Then they jacked up the price from a dollar a load to $1.05 a load (just to clarify things, a load = 1 use of either a washer or a dryer; to wash and dry the same clothes requires two loads, or $2.10)and created a ratio imbalance that would have made the evil hot dog and bun barons of days gone by absolutely green with envy. Check this out:

• Week 1: $5 gets you four loads and leaves you with a balance of .80
• Week 2: $5 gives you $5.80 which gets you five loads and leaves you with a balance of .55
• Week 3: $5 gives you $5.55 which again gets you five loads and leaves you with a balance of .30
• Week 4: $5 gives you $5.30 which once again gets you five loads (can we talk about how unlikely it is to have an uneven number of loads of laundry every week?) and leaves you with a balance of a nickel.
• Week 5: $5 gives you $5.05 which only gets you four loads and leaves you with a balance of .85
• Week 6: $5 gives you $5.85 which is five loads and leaves you with a balance of .60

Anyway, this goes on and on and on, and it takes a total of 21 weeks to get your card down to a zero balance so you can either do your laundry elsewhere or start the whole thing over again. This ensures they keep you on the hook to use their laundry room and card service for an extended period of time or they get to pocket some extra money from you. Granted, it might be as little as a nickel, but still. Sometimes it amazes me what the Bastards (Bastards = Some people who control shit) will do to get over on you.