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Friday, April 04, 2008

Windy Weather

Today was a sunny but very windy day, so plenty of twigs and leaves were blowing onto Mr. Clean's lawn. It was good to see him out there, stooping earnestly over each encroacher, blue underwear crowning over the top of his jean shorts. Somehow, I got the feeling that if there were a nuclear holocaust, Mr. Clean would be outside, picking ashes out of his lawn.

Some of us said "screw work!" and went to the beach. We would've gone sailing, except that my catamaran is still being worked on and we want the hulls to be in tip-top shape (they're undergoing a paint job).

But because I'm prone to burning, I opted to bring along my umbrella. Everyone spread out towels, and my friend John galiantly struggled with my umbrella as it blew inside out. Twice. We finally settled for planting it sideways in the sand, and I crammed my towel within it's shadowy recesses, squirming under the pole to get comfortable with a good book.

Throughout the two hours we spent at the beach, sand continued to blow constantly. Towels were covered regularly, and I routinely shook out my book.

Finally growing tired of being sandblasted, we packed everything up and hit the road again. As we drove up to my house, we could see Mr. Clean diligently picking up leaves and twigs. Again.

This promises to be a blustery weekend, so Mr. Clean will have his work cut out for him.

It kind of gives you a warm feeling to know that consistency and dedication still exist in this world, even if they usually belong only to the Obsessive-Compulsive.

It gives me an even warmer feeling to remember that Mr. Clean does not live with me. I'm sure Mr. Clean would heartily agree with that.

7 comments:

daveawayfromhome said...

I once tried to camp on the beach in Padre. Set up the tent in the lee of the car, struggling with it in the wind. Finally got it set up, climbed inside, and sat for about a minute as sand rained down through the vent in the top, after having blown up under the tent's rain jacket. I havent tried that since.

Anonymous said...

Saur,

You should have a second house in NC, nothing fancy.

Also your hair would be so much more manageble away from the humidity.

I use to live next to Mr. Clean growing up. No lie he called the police on me at least 10-times. My football was either killing his grass or his trees or something.

Suzy-Q said...

Can I borrow Mr. Clean?? My yard could use some de-twigging

Paul Nichols said...

Mr. Clean is probably a nice guy. I like neat, clean yards and I tip my hat to those who care well for their own. Could you give him our address, please.

The Lazy Iguana said...

I got a lead on a sailboat large enough to live on. It is moored off Watson Island now. I am thinking I may try to get it. It is supposed to be in good shape. Upper 30s / lower 40s footer. Monohull.

Skipper wants to be a boat cat.

And then there is the possibility that I may take up a side job that could become a somewhat regular job. Boat cleaning below the waterline. I have some of the stuff I need now, I would just need a dingy, a few scuba tanks, a very long regulator hose, a wetsuit, and some sort of underwater battery powered buffing / cleaning device.

I would make a few hundred off each cleaning job. The time to finish a job would depend on the size of the boat and how ugly the hull is. But if I could pick up 4 or 5 jobs a week then there is a new full time occupation that could rake in up to a grand a week ca$h. A grand a week would be enough to live on for now, so why work any harder? No point in killing myself expending extra effort when it is not needed.

You should plant a jacaranda tree in your yard. Mr. Clean would love that. Another good option would be a Florida Orchid tree. Both these trees are messy. The jacaranda drops twigs like crazy and the Florida Orchid tree drops flowers like crazy. Plant them close to the property line for maximum amusement.

Saur♥Kraut said...

Lazy, :D I DO have a jacaranda!!! Those are the twigs the poor man is sweating over.

The boat sounds AWESOME! I recently heard that WalMart is looking at a tiny piece of property I own, which might mean I'll have enough to also get a fixer upper like that.

As for cleaning, there is definately demand for people who can do that. It's nasty work, though - be warned. ;o) But you probably know that already. Knowing you, you've done your homework.

Saur♥Kraut said...

Paul, well, as for 'nice', I wouldn't know. If cleanliness is next to godliness, then he's a saint. But he's easily angered and frustrated, and when he IS, his eyes get all googly behind those cokebottle glasses, his face turns red, and he gets quite...er...snippy.

Aunt Jo, If you provide the airfare, I'm sure he'll be putting you to rights tomorrow!

Krok, This is the first Mr. Clean I've ever lived next door to. It has it's benefits - the house looks like a Barbie Doll house - like both the lawn and house are sculpted out of plastic!

Daveawayfromhome, Yeah, I'll pass on the camping out. We have a gorgeous beach here that's wonderful and lots of campers go there (Ft. DeSoto). There are abandoned ruins, all kinds of things. And prickly seed pods from the trees there. And bugs. And sand. And wind. And rain.

Not me, thanks.