youstarttorunjustasimhavingfun:
Before & after!
Out sink gets dirty so fast. I never knew this until I moved out. I guess Dad cleaned the one at his house a lot. I never noticed. Anyway, I’m going to try to keep on top of it.
I also cleaned the bath this morning, but I didn’t take photos of that.
All I used was baking soda, white vinegar, & a sponge. & some water. I also used a little caustic soda to clean the drain. :)
inspired by today’s earlier post about emergency unfuckening — and partially by actual necessity for emergency unfuckening — i decided to finally start putting my apartment back together.
here’s some fun backstory: so my bedroom furnace has been inexplicably stuck generating slight heat since winter. here in the upper midwest, we were still in winter coats not two weeks ago, but despite today’s lovely greyness in the upper 50s, it’s starting to get problematic, especially since my century-and-a-half old ex-bakery of an apartment is not exactly breezy and cool and well-ventilated. but the idea of my landlord coming into my place to look into it sent me into such paralytic paroxysms of shame that i’ve pretty much just been sucking it up. it’s the usual story, really: between getting laid off recently and ongoing major depression, i have pretty much nothing but time, and have spent precisely zero percent of it making my home a place i like being (or doing much of anything but drinking, writing, and bored self-pity).
this morning, i made the delightful discovery that the weird intestinal grinding sounds coming from my refrigerator were in fact indicators of a bigger problem, as it apparently no longer, you know, works. this obviously brought things to a crux: while i might be willing to endure a bit of the gates of hell licking at my bed while i sleep in the name of apathy and shame, i actually do need a working fridge, like, fast.
it still obviously needs a lot of love, and realistically probably always will; by the nature of the apartment, with its lack of storage/counter space/actual closets etc, it can’t not be a bit ramshackle, and i still haven’t figured out how to get to the growing pile of refuse that falls into the narrow abyss between the cabinets & appliances that i can’t move, and oh god the floor should be scrubbed, and — but it’s starting to look a little more the level at which a normal person would look around and be like “ew, you really should clean your apartment” versus just staring in silent horror.
not sure precisely how long it took; did the big things in a couple 20/10s, like retrieving yesterday’s laundry from the basement, putting it away & making my bed with clean sheets, collecting and washing dishes (and you know you’ve got issues when shit like making your bed and washing dishes are Big Things), and then scrubbed random surfaces in between… i dunno, what the fuck it is that i actually spend my time doing.
not pictured (trust me — you’re welcome): refrigerator before/after. to the great shock of absolutely nobody anywhere, the fridge needed, um, a little straightening. while there wasn’t so much mold or rotting things as i feared, i’ll never un-see the way the unidentifiable ooze that has streaked both sides dripped down like horror-movie blood… shudder.
Totally unfucked the bedroom for the first time in years!
Desk Unfucking!
A year ago before I started seriously unfucking the rooms of my house and routinely maintaining them, my desk would barely have space for the tablet and keyboard and my buggy whip arms. I’d be working while trying to hold back two landslides of paper and folders and who the hell knows what else.
Fridays are supposed to be “office unfucking days” but I’ve been neglecting it for at least Six weeks. And I’m damn proud that the “before” photo is as bad as it got…it used to only take two or three days to get to that state. :)
Last year I finally cleaned all the shit out of the old filing cabinet and started using it for its intended purpose. Now all my papers have homes of their own when it’s time to file and it only takes a few easy minutes to rid the desk of a stack. (More on that at a later time.)
It’s been a battle, but the writing instrument collection has been successfully won. ALL pens, markers, pencils, etc. were banded together and stashed in the under-desk drawer. Instead of anticipating what I might use in the future and starting out with 30 things in the mug, I took each implement out as I needed/used it and put it in the mug when I was done. A few times of doing this every Friday, and I soon learned what I used every week: one pencil, one ballpoint, one gel point, one highlighter, and a few colored Sharpies. That’s all, folks. If I need anything else, I know where to find it and in the meantime, I don’t have to fumble through a forest of pens in the mug to find the one I want.
For all those little scrap notes floating around on the desk, I started a small “random information” notebook so I can jot down the info I want to keep and toss the paper.
The only knickknacks I have now on the desk fit on the iMac base: two lucky cats brought to me back from Japan by a friend, personalized brass knuckles given to me by a client (don’t ask…), and the sparkly cluster of pyrite I brought back from a trip (which I’m using as a paperweight…so it’s practical AND pretty.)
The clearing, dusting, wiping down, filing, and putting back of everything took 25 minutes. If I had kept up my weekly Unfucking, it would’ve only taken that long to do the whole room, including vacuuming and mopping!
A quick update on the major summer room redo. My drawers have never really had any organization and, until I found UFYH, shirts were stacked horizontally. No more of that. Now I know what’s in my drawers. This one is Virginia Tech and fandom shirts. My drawers are wider than 2 columns of t-shirts but not wide enough for 3 so I’ve taken the center for shirts folded a little smaller. With a hole for a few that haven’t made it from my apartment yet. One drawer in a war-zone of a room after moving back home.
thanks to exam season, my room has gotten pretty messy.
taking a break from revision, and considering the fact that i’m moving out in two weeks and need to start packing, i decided to do something about it
since i’m in student accommodation, i don’t have access to a hoover and therefore the floor is still pretty unpleasant. but not bad for 30-45 minutes work.
i cleaned my room and washed my sheets today.
…9 months later.
In August last year I wrote this ask. You can tell when summer in Seattle happens based on the time of year I’m compelled to do this. Well, needless to say I didn’t do it then. I was too cowed by the grossness. But today I was inspired. Turns out all it took was a magic eraser, a warm bucket of water and a rag.
Drain volcano time!
Ate my lunch and washed up the dishes. While I was washing I noticed a bit of a smell coming from the sink, so while my dishes were drying I got out the baking soda and vinegar to have fun with science.
I did actually push the baking soda down in a little bit with my fingers in the regular drain and dropped it all down through the rubber flaps on the garbage disposal side, but that was after I took the pictures.
Then comes the foamy explosion of science and cleaning. One of the pieces of lemon peel that I keep in my vinegar to make it smell a little less like vinegar (Thanks to whichever member of Team UfYH I got that tip from!) fell into the drain, but I just sent it down the garbage disposal and ground it up since it could only help with the smell.
Then since there was baking soda and vinegar residue, I scrubbed the sink itself a bit while I listened to my science explosions bubble on down the pipes.
Yay! Sometimes cleaning is fun!
Above: at 12pm [in the hot sun] Below: at 6pm [my son and I chalked up the cement]My mom has a tendency to throw anything on the porch. Luckily, I like cleaning.
I had difficulty draining the punching bag’s base, but wiping shoes, trash can, and kid toys and throwing stuff away was easier. I left some flat planks and white marble tiles on the left side of the porch in the grass because I don’t know if she still needs that for renovating the bathroom.
The finished result. Here are the befores. I realize that the floor and chairs are still really nasty, but Brian’s asleep so I can’t vacuum. Also, I might be terrified of vacuums. I take the cats and we hide in a different room. Yes, I know. I’m pathetic.
That vase was just given to us by Brian’s mom. It was her mother’s. She passed it down to Jackie, and Jackie just gave it to us. I’m thinking Bob was going to throw it out (b/c he’s an asshole like that), and that’s why we have it.
Before
Blackened, crusty, greasy and gross.
I will sometimes clean out the thingies under the burners, but the rings around the burners rarely get any attention.
After
I started with baking soda, which took some of the black stuff off, but then I had to use Easy Off to really get anywhere. It is not perfect, but it looks a million times better.
Even more baking soda and a toothbrush didn’t get the baked on grease along the rim of each burner, but I’m satisfied with the outcome.
it’s the little things that make me happy
like now I know I need to go buy green flip flops
I gasped a little. It’s lovely.
Floor in front of desk unfuckery part 2
Pic 1 & 2: disgusting felt pad, miraculously clean felt pad!
Pic 3: omg you guysssss!! I found so much good stuff!! Groceries and cash even! For a single parent who can barely afford the month-to-month, this is like winning a little mini-lottery all to myself. :) It’s like a reward for cleaning!
Pic 4: chair and drawers moved back, achievement unlocked.
Pic 5: bed full of stuff, and bin I’d like to get it all into… Eep!
Pic 6: well, I got it into the bin, the carrying bag, and a few extra project bags that need to find homes yet. At least this stuff is now all in the room that will be the craft room soon, and less disorganized than it was… (Rome wasn’t built in a day. I know, I say that a lot. I need to right now, lol.)
Pic 7: that corner’s in a lot better shape now and the pile in front of the cupboard from a previous unfuckery is STILL CLEAN! :0
Bonus pics 8 & 9: before and afters of the candle area on my dresser. It’s nice to have that cleaned up again too, it really helps that area of the room. And candle-light is super relaxing and helps my anxiety a ton! :)
So, while I’m still really in the weeds right now, I’m making a little bit of progress at a time, every once in awhile. But by doing that, I’ve been able to keep up with each new level of cleanliness as it emerges, and keep the progress moving forward even if it’s in such little jumps. But they’re big jumps too, at the same time.
Okay now I’m not even making sense, lol. But yes, wins and progress and such.
It’s going to be okay. :)
