h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

oh, right, by the way: still here, still breathing, fighting the good fight and whatnot. things are plodding along; not bad but not great either. very mediocre, i guess. life is like that when you have no money! but enough complaining. trying to convalesce with the fiance as we're both a bit under the weather and NOT looking forward to school starting up again. SO burnt out.

oh well.

as usual, hope to be able to be online more, but we shall see. glad to see that the gang's still here. s

[GD]

There was something in the backlog about Herne Bay, but I can't remember what it was now, nor the eloquent reply that I had framed in my mind.

Suffice to say - Herne Bay -

was that sea?! sea?!

Hiya, Sea! Been a while. A few months, I believe.

Oh, and on the subject of cleanliness: I honestly don't know if I'm clean or not. I've moved around a lot in my life, and it got to the point where my entire family just stopped unpacking things. We just set the boxes up like we would set up furniture, started saving newspapers because they were good packing material, etc.

Basically our houses have always looked like we had either just moved in or about to mov out for exactly those reasons.

I see myself settling down in an Indiana city that's close enough for a daily commute to Chicago, though I don't know what possible career could warrant it.

Well, it's done. The final tally was 3 bags to charity, and 7 (yes, 7) bags of trash. I found the source of the rotting food smell...the last time I'd asked her to clean up, she apparently shoved several items of food, including a banana peel, into a cubby hole behind her movies. EWWW. But now it's all clean and smells like orange cleaner and she's shocked by the amount of floorspace she has.

I even spot cleaned the carpet and vacuumed the edges under the baseboards.

[{Courtesy}]

I am not a clean person. I feel uncomfortable in the surroundings too clean. And when I clean up my home it makes me nervous as I tend to nag on my kids then about getting everything messy again. I comfort myself with the old saying that the owner of the dustrolls must be a good person in heart.

Me? I am a slob. I live with other slobs and it gets out of hand at times. I think that my particular pit would be much better if I had any proper storage like a closet. Also if I could remove the computers and networking kit from my room, I would have a great deal more space.

I came home tonight to find a dog living in my house. Mikey got a mutt from a shelter today. I am not sure I am happy about that yet. I am not much of a dog person.

Hello sea, nice to see you back!

I mentioned Herne Bay and all I can remember is being freezing cold, eating hard-boiled eggs and not knowing if the grit was sand or salt, but I was about 4 years old and can't really remember much else. Was there a pier?

I loathe housew*rk with a vengeance, but it is one of those things that has to be done so I try not to think about it, just get on with it. I am untidy, so is H, in fact we all are. But No2 son is the worst for putting things down and just leaving them there. I was amazed to discover that as soon as he started moving out that the hall shelf was clear and has remained so! Our hall is small, so no room for furniture, just a shelf, but the clutter on it made the whole place seem messy!

I tend to live in organised Chaos.

Things are clean, but not always put away.

Oooh, is Houseplant advice available?

Anybody anygood on Cheeseplants? mine looked sad, so I watered it, but it still looked sad, so I watered it some more!

Upshot is, I overwatered it, I have drained the bottom pot, but the plant not recovering

It says on the label that it likes shade, and the hall has no windows of its own, could it be too dark?

Being tidy (or not) seems to have nothing to do with your upbringing - my brother is tidy, with every thing in its place, while I live in a sort of organized chaos - but I know *exactly* where things are!

The trouble is that I always seem to have several things going on, and if I were to put them away I'd forget to finish them - and no, I can't finish one thing at the time because I constantly get sidetracked, and start on something new...

My mother is *very* tidy so I always around in a frenzy trying to tidy up if I know I can expect a visit from her. Now, she's aware of this, so she always gives fair warning. But afterwards, I don't know where to look for things I want...

Simulpost, Toc!

I have the same problem with my Mum, least she lives 450 miles away

I discovered that once my mother left my father, her completely bizarro anal retentive dust-once-a-day habit went away. I mean, she's still a lot more of a neat freak than I ever was, but now she at least let's the dishes sit in the sink so she can talk to her guests. I think sometimes, the neater someone's house is, the more chaotic their minds.

Then again, I know folks whose mental and physical spaces are cluttered as all get out, and others whose pads are cleaner than a whistle, but none of the accompanying mental chaos. Or perhaps they just hide it well.

I mentioned about Whitstable at first, Grey Desk and the huge change in the town in the last 3 years since the DFL (Down From London) people discovered it. North London on Sea.

Caer metioned Herne Bay as being nearby. To date their DFL problem isn't as bad, so it remains much as you both remember it. Yes, there is a pier.

I feel like I'm a major contributor to the much hated backlog with long postings that people don't really have time to read or comment on. So, since term starts again soon, I'll return to lurking.

Happy New Year!

Oh come on - what would there be to lurk at if not backlog? It's what makes this place interesting!

Coley, the backlog is the raison d'etre....!

Cheeseplants: do need light. The 'out of direct sunlight' means 'not in a south-facing sun-trap', and it would prefer to get morning or evening sun, or at this time of day any sun, to no natural light at all. Also dust it down with a damp cloth: it may not be able to breathe properly.



I am neither tidy nor particularly clean, which makes the ranting and raving about the Stepson pretty ironic. I do however require my surroundings to *function* properly. So you can stack dirty dishes 18" high on the draining board and leave them there for three days, and I am relatively cool about it. But I will go nuts at three things stacked in the sink, because you then cannot use the sink. Likewise, so long as the bins are filled and emptied regularly, I'm happy.

Doesn't seem much to ask, does it?

Mind you, I love it when Carole-the-cleaner has been, and the place is clean AND tidy. We are the only ones of her regulars that she is coming to between Christmas and New Year, which is amazing when you consider the number of fags we bum off her.

Ben
PS - Z - I am more than happy to provide wheels for shifting compost. It is so significantly cheaper if you buy it in big bags that it's a no-brainer.

I can't do today, because Carol-the-cleaner is coming, and I can't do Jan 1st because we are going out, but any other day, just whistle. (You know how to whistle don't you, Z.... )

My God the woman has a factotum!

Or two while the Stepson is on holiday from college.

Carole-the-cleaner issues the orders, and the Stepson and I carry them out to the best of our abilities.

B

The tidiness of The Nest fluctuates according to how poorly I am. When I was ill for several months a couple of years back, things got very badly out of hand and I was quite ashamed. But now Channel 4 has started that 'How Clean is Your House' series I realise that as far as slobbery goes I'm just a minor league player. It's a very strange programme. To be *that* filthy is one thing, to display your family's grime to the public on national tv is quite another. Still, it makes good entertainment for the rest of us. The Guardian tv guide once said of How Clean that if you turn the sound down during the commercial break you can hear your neighbours hoovering... and it's true .

The website for How Clean is http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/H/how_clean_is_your_house/index.html

I once went out with someone who was very, very tidy and I came to the conclusion that super-tidiness is an illness. I think he thought that if he lost control of even the tiniest part of life the whole thing would crash down around him. He was a devotee of the Hay diet too, which I think speaks volumes.