Sunday, November 9, 2019

It’s Sunday weekend and Veteran’s weekend. It’s been quite a busy week with planning for the new year. Work has been slow somewhat but we’re picking up more customers individually and we’re changing our policy to be more customer oriented. And when I say work I don’t mean this site but my day job. This year is winding down fast and winter is fast approaching. With the purchase of a new residence lately, getting ready for winter and finding furniture and a bed has been on my mind. You wouldn’t believe how much time it takes to look for a mattress in store. You have to drive to a new place, look around and hear some salesman pitch a bed and then drive to a new location. You’re lucky to hit at least 5 stores in the span of an afternoon.

There was one that was particularly nice. And the sales person gave us their business card and told us to take a picture of the price and make and model because it would require an order to be placed. I think it was really so I could price shop around a little more. I’m thinking it was a blessing in disguise so I could really look around with no pressure and see more mattresses and price points. I also happened to find an overstock store with the same mattress and even more information and dimensions and probably could have had it sent to my address if I wanted. The price was cheaper by a hundred dollars online and didn’t include a mattress encasement, but those are relatively cheap and you can get those for between $30 to $50 and not the $80 to $100 one store was trying to charge. These were not small stores but big chains from MH, Hv, As, CM, FroFu, MK, SO, FFr, OM, MF, BL, SF for instance. And the price points were all above $500 to $1k after all is said and done with foundation and mattress and shipping.

So mattresses have been on my mind, but also trash cans and making sure you get the right trash bag. Who would have thought that you have to get the right size of bag to go with the trash can as there are 4 gallon, 8 gallon, 16 gallon, 32 gallon etc… And then there are draw string, scented, and flap tops. I had gotten a 4 gallon size for one can and it needed an 8 gallon because of how wide the mouth of the container was and the bag wouldn’t stretch across the top. I will use it for a different trash can in that case then.

The other thing that I’ve been doing has been trying to clean a bathtub and the toilets. It’s not easy to do adulting. I’ve been bleaching down one of the sinks and recaulking and also wiping off dust. One of the bathtubs I scrubbed it down and bleached it and also sprayed down with mold and mildew remover. This is not the new house mind you. I also got a nice 98 cent ring toilet brush from Walmart and some other cleaning supplies. The Works for example is the regular go-to to clean the toilets. It really eats away at biowaste. But one of the toilets had some film deep inside near the entrance and I tried flushing the water level low and then cutting off the water supply and then adding a lot of The Works. In case you aren’t aware of chemistry, certain chemicals in the house are poisonous by nature already, but adding and combining with other chemicals can be even deadlier. The Works is made of hydrochloric acid according to its MSDS. That’s a material safety data sheet. Working at several jobs I’ve gotten some basic training about chemicals and their hazards and that all chemicals have some type of chemical sheet that explains hazards and safety precautions. If you ever get a chance, look up the chemicals online. The other chemical is bleach which is something you should never mix with alcohol which can form chloroform, stuff that make you pass out like in movies. And don’t mix bleach either with vinegar or peroxide. We all have heard of not mixing bleach with ammonia which I remember from an episode of “Who’s the Boss?” starring Tony Danza. Bleach is made of chorine molecules from its composition of sodium hypochorite and one reason you don’t want to mix bleach with most items is that the chlorine gas can be released and it’s poisonous, sort of yellowish and can make you cough and irritate your lungs and eyes. I didn’t fully realize this again till the other day when I was cleaning and had some left over bleach that I dumped into the toilet which had some of The Works. It started to get really smelly and cloudy in the toilet and I quickly had to flush the toilet.

Be careful because you can cause boiling spewing eruptions with chemicals if you aren’t careful! Never mix cleaners!

I also found some Lime-A-way which has sulfur compounds and may have urea or sulfamic acid and other compounds. It seems a bit more powerful than The Works on certain stains. I didn’t combine chemicals. I find that a good brush that reaches the location and getting the chemical right on the stain is the most effective. Any water that dilutes the chemicals makes it less effective. Having brushes in different sizes, shapes and angles is the best thing you can do. I will have to go back and get the angled one at Walmart because it actually was built at the right angle.

I’ve also been thinking of the holiday and what to get for the up coming holidays. Thanksgiving is usually one of the nicer holidays since all you have to do is show up with food. Not much about shopping the day after and many people also work.

This weekend is the Veterans Day weekend and a lot of places work and even the stock market is open and most banks. Luckily I get some time off to relax.

With the weather getting colder and dropping into the upper 30’s I’ve also gotten some Goretex gloves and thought about using boots this year to keep my ankles warm as I irritated it some this year while lifting heaving wood logs.

I also have been wanting to get a hair cut but it’s not really high on my priority list yet.

My neck has not been bugging me as much since I haven’t been leaning forward or backward as much and protecting the angle of my neck and the way I sleep.

Speaking of sleep, we found some nice mattress encasements for about $30 at Target and some other waterproof ones at Walmart for cheaper also. I had bought some nice ones also a few years ago online. You can find some nice dust and allergen and microbe and bedbug resistant zipped mattress encasements out there and they have to cost a lot. Just read carefully.