Thumper Thinks Out Loud

Wanted: Cleaning Fairy

The packers showed up yesterday right about the time they were supposed to, just a few minutes late. They would have been on time, but someone gave them an address 100 number to the left of correct, and since that house number does not exist… well, they got a bit confused trying to find us.

The packing company sent two guys to pack us. Two. The last move we made, from Grand Forks to here, it took four people two days to pack all our crap. These guys got here and worked really well – until they ran out of packing materials at 3:00 p.m. They could have sent for more stuff, but the one guy was sick, so they left. There’s still 70% of the house to pack and only Monday to do it; if they send only two people again it’s going to be one long day for them. The truck comes to pick everything up on Tuesday; if it goes like it did last time everything should be loaded by mid-afternoon… or we could get screwed like the people across the street, and wind up with the Crew From Hell, and they’ll still be here at 10 p.m. loading stuff.

Either way… once all the stuff is gone, we have to clean. I hate cleaning. I really hate cleaning. Well, if I’m getting paid for it I do a great job, but I hate cleaning my own house.

There’s the problem – when you live in military housing, you have to leave it pretty darned clean. Usually before they let you sign out they do a white glove inspection; they want is so clean that smart people hire contract cleaners to assure they pass that final inspection. Last time we lived here we paid $300 for someone to clean out house to military standard. In Grand Forks we paid $200.

We were all set to fork out the cash again, but they’ve changed the rules a little bit here. Travis has a contract cleaner they send in to clean houses after occupants leave, so it has to be good, but not perfect when you move. We have it even better – our house is slated to be torn down to make way for new housing. Ours has to be so-so… only the appliances have to be as clean as we can get them. But, the housing guy also said that if we break a sweat cleaning, we’re working too hard.

But I still don’t wanna do it. I want a Cleaning Fairy. Someone to swoop in and do it for me.

I’m lazy that way.