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Scout
Member
01-20-2005
| Sunday, June 11, 2006 - 8:22 am
Ddr - that's another good suggestion, but we never seem to have any handy friends with equipment when we need them! I did call around yesterday to some rental places. The first place I called I asked if they rented cherry-pickers. She said, "what's a cherry picker?" I thought, "yay - I'm not the only person in the world who doesn't know what it is." She said she thought I was talking about a lift. So, thinking cherry-picker was just a regional term and we called them something else here and that's why I wasn't familiar with that term, I called the next place and asked if they had lifts to rent. This lady had no idea of what I was wanting. I explained what it was and she, somewhat haughtily, said, "Do you mean a cherry-picker?". Arrgh. So I guess it's just me and the first rental lady who are clueless! Anyway, the second place did have them for rent and they were priced at exactly what you said, so sometime in the next few weekends, we plan to go down and get one. It's in the next town over - otherwise we could have gotten it even cheaper for a four hour rental, but this way, we'll have plenty of time and not have to rush. Thanks again for a great suggestion.
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 10:16 am
Scout, good luck with that fence. Is this the week that you're renting the cherry picker? Just found the *Queen of Clean's* website, which has a world of fantastic tips. I'm putting the sluggish drain tip to good use today. Will let you know if it works. How's everybody doing? Any major fluttering/flying going on? I just heard an excellent word from a Flybaby this morning who was having trouble finding anything to do. Yup, it's true, FlyLady's system really works.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 1:58 pm
LOL, that is cool. I am in the process of some final decluttering, I got through all my bookshelves except one, so will try to finish that up this week. I just need to take photos and make a detailed list, that's what It's deductible said I need to support my claim that the books are in "good" condition. I guess I could do it while I watch TV tonight. All this is to try an get things to Salvation Army so that I can then box my breakables and the apartment people can come in and put down new carpet and paint!!
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 2:47 pm
Wow! You're about to have a whole new place then, Dipo. That sounds very cool other than the minor pain of boxing things up. Good job on the bookshelves. It's great to get rid of those books that you have no intention of rereading anyway. You can always find them at the library if you want them. Don't forget to ask for a receipt for tax purposes. Any chance of a photo of the new digs once they are finished painting and carpeting?
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 8:04 pm
LOL, what happens when you have 1,000+ books and know at some point you'll reread them!? Not only will I reread them but Caleb is getting to the age where he's old enough for some of my fantasy and sci fi books. Well, a few weeks later (what can I say, June's a horribly busy month with family birthdays and such) we finally rented the dumpster today. We'll have it at least two weeks. My first task is figuring out which room I'm going through first.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - 9:43 am
Vee, once I figure out my digital camera and figure out the schedule I will try to post pictures. War, I do reread my books, but not all of them. I have gone through them to determine which are my favorite authors and have kept those books, but got rid of over 200 books last year. So just have a final push to bless others with the final bookcase. Now, when I buy a new book I already know if it will be kept or sent on to others, I give my sister certain books, take some to the office for the commuter library and donate the rest to charity. Is the dumpster the prework to the roof? Or has that already started? ETA: The reason I have to figure out the schedule it that I just realized it will totally conflict with the start of Big Brother, so I need to rework the schedule. How funny is that, I just can't bear to be without a computer on the first night of live feeds!!!
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - 10:16 am
Sorta, Vee. Every few years we'll rent one for awhile and go through every room of the house, every closet, cabinet and counter and get rid of "stuff." It's been about three years since we last did it so it's time. I'd told Darren I wanted this done before the roof, I can only deal with one major mess at a time and this usually sends my house into an uproar. First I have to fight with the kids over the fact that they have to get rid of toys they haven't seen in a number of years, then I have to sneak clothes out of our closet cuz Darren won't get rid of a damn thing unless it falls off of him, lol, but it's also spending the time pulling everything out of whereever, sorting through it and deciding what stays and goes. Plus it takes the time away from other housework I should be doing.
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Monday, July 03, 2006 - 4:32 am
Okay, guys, where are those photos? LOL! New habit for July is "Swish and Swipe." I am just going to duplicate *FlyLady's* directions here: Dear Friends, It is the first of the month it is time to pick another new habit to practice for July.I have chosen Swish and Swipe in our bathrooms. Now we get this question every single day. What is a Swish and Swipe? Is it anything like a lick and promise? Our bathrooms are the most neglected rooms in our homes. In fact we neglect them so much that they get so bad that we can't stand them any longer and then we spend hours in there cleaning in our perfectionistic way. We have all done it; scrubbing tile grout with a toothbrush to get it clean or worse yet we use those harsh bathroom cleaners that take our breath away. Then we would step back and say just look what I did! By this time you are exhausted and don't ever care if you see or clean another bathroom again for 6 months. We have done it again. That crash and burn mentality is what keeps our bathrooms and our homes in a mess. If you will do a little every day; you will never have to hyper focus on this room again. We think that because no one goes in there but us that they don't have to be kept clean. Here is the falsehood behind this way of thinking. We deserve to have a clean bathroom too and not just when company is coming. We should treat ourselves like company all the time and with our little Swish and Swipe method; your bathroom will always be clean and inviting. After all nothing says I love you like a sparkling bathroom. I want you to FLY! Finally Loving Yourself is saying that you deserve to have a clean bathroom. So back to Swish and Swipe and why we call it that; this is just what we do when we bless our bathroom every day; we swish the toilet with a toilet bowl brush and we wipe(swipe) the counter top and the with a towel. Let me tell you how I accomplish this while I am getting dressed. Do not allow your perfectionism to kick in here! My day usually starts by jumping into the shower. While I am in the shower I take a little mesh shower ball and put some of the same soap I use on my body to clean the shower/tub. A little every day keeps the tub sparkling clean. Now here is the most important part of taking a shower and it will save you a lot of cleaning time if you will just do this. Open the door or pull back the curtain and allow your shower/tub to dry. If you will do this you will put a stop to mold growing. Just this alone will make your shower smell much better. Now if you have a plastic shower curtain, after a while you will need to stretch the curtain back across the tub to allow it to dry too. I have a very thin fabric curtain that dries very quickly and accomplishes the same thing; to keep water from slashing onto the floor. It never hurts to keep the fan running while you are taking a shower too. This helps to pull the moisture out of the air and keep the air moving. If you had a little fan that could circulate air in your bathroom; this will also help to keep mold from growing. Mold grows on damp surfaces where the air is not circulating. I know this may seem like a lot of words but I promise it does not take a lot of time to accomplish this; 30 seconds to wipe down a portion of your tub while you are in it and 2 seconds to pull back the shower curtain. When I get out of the shower and begin to get dressed this is when I begin the Swipe portion of this new habit. After I have moistured my face, fixed my hair and put on what makeup I wear; then I put away all the stuff I got out. Now I don't want to hear that you have no place to put this stuff. It is because you have too much stuff under your bathroom sink, in the drawers or the closet. Kelly uses a basket that she places under her bathroom sink. When she finishes; everything goes back into her basket and she puts it back where it belongs. The only cleaning stuff I have under my sink is a roll of paper towels and a bottle of Windex. I keep this under every sink in my house. It is readily available for my daily swipe of my bathroom. Now here is how fast this happens. I start with my bathroom mirror. I spray just a bit of Windex on the mirror to clean any dirty spot. Notice I didn't say I clean the whole mirror. When you do it every day; you just have to spot clean. Then I take the same paper towel and wipe down the counter and then the sink. Don't throw that paper towel away yet. You can use it to wipe down the toilet after you Swish the bowl. If you have little boys you may have to use another paper towel to clean the floor too. Now for the most dreaded job in your home. No one likes to do this but when you do it every day you can keep stuff from growing in the toilet: Swish. You don't even need to use a harsh cleaner. I have just used the brush and nothing else. I keep my toilet bowl brush sitting in a crock. This is similar to the kitchen utensils holders we have gotten rid of in our kitchens. Now you can't do this if you have children or pets. I fill my crock with old shampoo (I didn't like) or slivers of old soap bars and water. Soap is soap in my book and anything will clean a toilet if you do it every day. All you have to do is pick up your toilet bowl brush (I have one in every bathroom in our home) and scrub the inside of your toilet. After you do this put it back into its holder and wipe down the back, seat, and sides of the toilet with that paper towel you are holding. This all takes a grand total of 45 seconds to do this; from the mirror to the floor with a Swish and a Swipe and you are done! Do you see how simple this really is? In a minute you have cleaned your bathroom. Now if you have piles of dirty clothes in your bathroom; those need to taken with you when you leave the bathroom to finish getting dressed to shoes. Put them in your laundry room or in your closet in a basket. This is where I keep my dirty clothes baskets. I sort them as I put them into the baskets; a dark basket for dark colors and a white basket for light colors. Establishing this simple new habit is going to change your life forever and get rid of that guilt you have if anyone ever asks to use your bathroom. Are you ready to FLY into a new habit for July! Habits: January - Shining your Sink February - Decluttering for 15 minutes a day March - Getting Dressed to the Shoes April - Making your Bed May - Moving June - Drink your water allotment July - Swish and Swipe Happy Fluttering, Everybody!
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Lumbele
Member
07-12-2002
| Monday, July 03, 2006 - 6:34 am
Well, I must have missed the memo about the soap in the toilet brush holder. Better late than never, I guess. Those of you who *do* flylady, how religious are you about following orders to a 't'? For example, I don't do my mirror every day. Spot cleaning tends to leave streaks and it's huge and with my arms and shoulders a real chore to clean. So unless company is coming and/or it is *really* bad that mirror waits for blessing day. Also, I don't do paper towels, with very few exceptions. First of all it's expensive and second of all an unnecessary burden on the environment. To wipe down the toilet I keep a spray bottle with the old trusted water and vinegar (50:50), for the sink a bottle of a mild cleaner that leaves that sink and tab sparkling. Add a small hand towel to dry it and Bob's your uncle. For the longest time I would wipe down the shower after each use with a fibre cloth, but by the time I was finished with that I was ready for another shower, so now it gets "erased" during the zone period and as far as I can tell that's all it takes to keep on top of the soap scum etc. For those of you renovating bathrooms, may I recommend checking out the outside of the toilet bowls before buying. Our second bathroom has a toilet bowl with the weirdest and most intricate curves, oodles of nooks and crannies that seem to attract dust and condensation like a magnet. But it does have a great toilet seat with very few crannies to try to get into to clean. This wasn't something I noticed all that much until I started to "fly". You better believe the next purchase will be scrutinised for those features.
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Monday, July 03, 2006 - 7:59 am
how did you know i have an Uncle Bob? If you have those microfiber cloths lum, you don't get streaks on your mirrors. best thing ever invented in my book!
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Lumbele
Member
07-12-2002
| Monday, July 03, 2006 - 10:07 am
Well dang it, landi, leave it to you to nix the best excuse I could come up with.LOL Are y'all in your kitchens prepping for the big holiday? Our b'day is already over with, but I made a big batch of the family's fave vegetable dip, a pile of carrot salad, some green bean salad and chopped up a whack of celery. Now where is that little fairy that cleans up kitchens?
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Monday, July 03, 2006 - 11:10 am
i'm working today. so no prepping for me. we usually eat kfc or mc'ds or taco bell on july 4th. it's a just a chuck/landi/holly thing. and we have a place we go to and get early seats for fireworks.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Monday, July 03, 2006 - 11:33 am
We go to the fairgrounds, take an ice cooler usually filled with sandwich stuff and chips and sodas/water or stop and get chicken. I am prepping though, not for the 4th, lol. In two days we completely filled the large dumpster with "stuff." Kids bedrooms, den, closets and garage. We've decided to keep it for two more weeks for cleaning out the backyard (shhh...don't tell Darren I'm getting rid of some of his firewood, plus a couple bushes that need to go) and finishing the garage. The kids have always had a toybox in the den, along with what they have in their rooms but now we have it so slimmed down the toybox in the den is gone! I don't mind them bringing their toys out here to play, it's their house to and they should be able to play anywhere except my bedroom, lol, but it's really nice not to have the toybox in the den anymore. That always seemed to be my trouble spot, where they'd toss something in and it'd fall out and always toys left laying around to pick up. Caleb didn't have much to do in his room since I'd done alot of getting rid of stuff when I painted it, but Dakota's been working in her room since yesterday afternoon. I keep having to go through her trash box because she's been throwing everything away! About the only thing she's kept is her Polly Pocket stuff. LOL, so I find myself digging through the "trash" to get out the stuff she's not going to be throwing away or donating, but at least she's enthusiastic about it I guess.
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Friday, July 07, 2006 - 8:52 am
This just looked so interesting that I decided to share it, but then thought I should check into these claims further. I'll provide that link at the end. FW: THE MANY USES FOR WD 40 Here are more uses for WD-40, which I did not know about this product! Very interesting what you can do and WD-40 will not hurt you! That is an eye opener!! One more use which I didn't see, is you can spray on your joints and it will take the pain away! Subject: WD-40 WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company. Its name comes from the project that was to find a "water displacement" compound.? They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40.? The Corvair Company bought it in bulk to protect their atlas missile parts. The workers were so pleased with the product, they began smuggling (also known as "shrinkage" or "stealing") it out to use at home.? The executives decided there might be a consumer market for it and put it in aerosol cans. The rest, as they say, is history. It is a carefully guarded recipe known only to four people.? Only one of them is the "brew master." There are about 2.5 million gallons of the stuff manufactured each year.? It gets its distinctive smell from a fragrance that is added to the brew. Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothin in WD-40 that would hurt you. When you read the "shower door" part, try it.? It's the first thing that has ever cleaned that spotty shower door.? If yours is plastic, it works just as well as glass.? It's a miracle! Then try it on your stovetop... Voila!? It's now shinier than it's ever been.? You'll be amazed. Here are some of the uses: Protects silver from tarnishing. Cleans and lubricates guitar strings. Gives floors that 'just-waxed' sheen without making it slippery. Keeps flies off cows. Restores and cleans chalkboards. Removes lipstick stains. Loosens stubborn zippers. Untangles jewelry chains. Removes stains from stainless steel sinks. Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill. Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing. Removes tomato stains from clothing. Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots. Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors. Keeps scissors working smoothly. Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes. Gives a children's play gym slide a shine for a super fast slide. Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers. Rids kids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises. Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open. Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close. Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers. Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles. Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans. Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling. Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly. Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools. Removes splattered grease on stove. Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging. Lubricates prosthetic limbs. Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell). So do I! Removes all traces of duct tape. Florida's favorite use is, "cleans and removes love bugs from grills and bumpers." The favorite use in the state of New York--WD-40 protects The Statue of Liberty from the elements. WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a LITTLE on live bait or lures and you will be catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than the chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose. Keep in mind though, using some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not allowed in some states. Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch. WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray on the mark and wipe with a clean rag. Also, if you've discovered that your teenage daughter has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and re-wash. Presto! Lipstick is gone! If you sprayed WD-40 on the distributor cap, it would displace the moisture and allow the car to start. It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor! Use WD-40 for those nasty tar and scuff marks on flooring. It doesn't seem to harm the finish and you won't have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off. Just remember to open some windows if you have a lot of marks. Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly! Use WD-40! P. S. The basic ingredient is FISH OIL *Link for the Many Uses for WD-40* including the warning to use as directed.
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Scout
Member
01-20-2005
| Sunday, July 09, 2006 - 10:07 am
Has anyone ever painted a garage floor, and if so, do you recommend it? I've been looking at different solutions on the internet (our floor looks so bad with paint splatters, and old oil stains. Our house is on a corner, so people often come in through the garage, so I'd like it to look a little nicer). I wish I could go with those interlocking floor-pads to cover it, but they're really expensive. So I figured painting would be the cheapest option, but not sure if it would just look worse later on when some of it looked brand new, and other parts had fresh oil stains.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, July 09, 2006 - 2:43 pm
We've painted a concrete floor...we have a hobby room where we didn't cover the "foundation" concrete at all until the paint. Just go to your local hardware store and ask. They have great colors (we stuck w/a taupe gray) and it has held up marvelously well -- granted, we aren't driving on it. If I remember, before you paint you have to put a sealer of some sort on the concrete and let it dry. Then we put on 3 coats of the paint using a broom handle w/a paint roller attached. Worked like a dream. I think the paint has to be "epoxy" paint if used in the garage. Like I said, the hardware guys helped us tremendously, so I hope you live in a small town where the "HGs" are knowledgeable men who've been doing this awhile! (HAHA -- Proofreading that and thought, HOUSEGUESTS??? LOL Nope-- Hardware Guys!)
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Scout
Member
01-20-2005
| Monday, July 10, 2006 - 10:03 am
Thanks, Teach. I left a note in your folder.
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Monday, July 17, 2006 - 2:08 pm
Oh I miss this place...it's been too hot to do very much fluttering, but I have tried to keep up by getting up early in the morning. Is anyone else adjusting the schedule to accommodate the heat? Lum, I just now saw your question about the nitty-gritty of cleaning a bathroom. I don't use very many paper towels either...usually just in the kitchen for very specific things like soaking up grease in pans, etc. My daily method of swish and swipe for the commode is to use toilet paper and wintergreen alcohol. I wipe down the entire surface with that and flush the evidence. BTW, there is an absolute correct way to clean a toilet, but since FlyLady doesn't care about methods, I won't get into it. Don Aslett does care. LOL! I don't wipe mirrors daily, but I will clean them the minute that I notice they are smudged. I wipe down the shower every few days after my own shower using a rag and some cheap shampoo. FlyLady's method of keeping a vase filled with bleach and cheap shampoo or soap slivers to clean the toilet bowl works really well for me. I "erase" the sink several times a day. The floor is swiffered daily and washed every few days. I never have to scramble to clean the bathroom if company is coming, which is a good thing. Since the entire North American continent is in a heat wave, it's safe to wish that you all stay cool and don't give up on your routines. Happy fluttering!
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Lumbele
Member
07-12-2002
| Monday, July 17, 2006 - 2:27 pm
Yep, I adjust the schedule alright. I just streeeeeeeeeetch the chores over several "zone fests". Never did swiffer every day nor dust. The commode gets swished daily, so do the sinks. The kitchen floor and under my desk gets swept daily. So unless something is blatantly messy, it bloody well has to wait for blessing day, scorcher days or not. There is always plenty to do, should I choose to be occupied, but I do try to keep up with the routines, emphasis on "try".
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, July 21, 2006 - 12:07 pm
Stupid question time. How do you clean a window you can't physically get closet to? We have a single story home but one window has a cooler in it. On the other side of it is a large bush so about the closet I can get to the outside of this window is about 4-5 feet. Usually I clean the windows before summer starts and before the coolers there so there's no problem getting to it, and I'd typically wait til summer is over when it's gone, but with the storm yestereday (wind and rain) the windows are absolutely filthy and there's no way it can wait til Darren removes the cooler.
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Lumbele
Member
07-12-2002
| Friday, July 21, 2006 - 12:46 pm
pressure washer?
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, July 21, 2006 - 2:07 pm
I have four HUGE windows that are all 30 feet off the ground -- we were able to find a long-handled squeeqie thing. It extends/adjusts and works well when accompanied with a garden hose with a sprayer end that can be "pointed and shot". Good luck!
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, July 21, 2006 - 2:19 pm
Oh oh! I have a long handled brush for washing my van that hooks to the waterhose, wonder if that'd work? I could use just soap and water. Letting it air dry and the water spots wouldn't bug me too badly, at least not as much as the dried muddy/dirty mess that it is now! I don't have a pressure washer, though after seeing a friend using one, I'd love to have one, lol. That thing was awesome!
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Friday, July 21, 2006 - 8:22 pm
Wargod, I have an extender to wash a window that would require a ladder otherwise and I add a few drops of a a dishwasher rinse like Cascade Crystal Clear to the bucket so that the water sheets off. It works very well...almost as well as a squeegee. Let us know how it goes...
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, July 21, 2006 - 11:05 pm
Oh that'd be good, then I wouldn't have to worry about the spotting either. I won't be doing the windows for a few days because we still have the same type of weather conditions that caused yesterdays storm.
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