Month: June 2019

Power-Wash Therapy, the next big thing!

~ beachbumpoppy ~ 1 Comment

I love my job … but there are days, and this was one of those days.

What I felt like doing when I got home was playing some mindless video game or something equally nonproductive, but we are getting our house ready to sell. I have discovered over the years that inanimate objects do not heal themselves. Leaky pipes do not seal themselves, chipped paint does not restore its self, dirt and grime don’t reform and become clean. This realization was a big disappointment to me.

Apparently in 1890, when our house was built, you could not have too many porches. Ours has “only” four, the least used of them is the one off the dining room at the back of the house. Why is there a porch and door from the dining room? In spite of what my grandkids might think, I was not around in 1890 … you will have to ask the builder. What I do know is that over the years it has acquired a protective layer of dirt and grime.

I gave it a light scrubbing with a detergent and bleach mixture, then hauled out the “big guns,” my Ryobi, Honda engine powered, power washer. I donned my safety goggles, then fired that mother up. The engine was roaring, I was getting splattered, the dirt and grime were being blown away by a force they never expected and I felt my tension melting away.

Then it dawned on me; forget psychotherapy, forget laying down on some couch and talking about how you were not respected, put some goggles on, prepare to get wet and blast away dirt, grime, and peeling paint!

At least for most guys, power washing checks a lot of boxes:
 noisy? check … gasoline powered? check … creates fumes? check … messy? … check … instant gratification? check. (disclaimer; I can only speak for guys, in spite of being married 40 something years and having two daughters, women are still a mystery to me, though I do love a good mystery).

Feeling stressed? The stock market got you worried? Your boss riding you? Politics driving you nuts? Stop on by, I’ve got projects and therapy that will cure your ills. For the nominal rate of only $100 an hour, I will set you up with a clearly defined task, a noisy, messy, fume-producing, power washer and you will feel like a new man (or woman).

Poppy

The Lady in Front of Me

~ beachbumpoppy ~ 7 Comments

Having several hours with nothing to do and no responsibilities sounds heavenly … until it happens to you.

Hour one:

I’m in Jury Assembly Room S52 in the St. Louis County Circuit Court building. I’ve been here only an hour, at least that’s what the clock on the wall tells me. My internal “Boredom Meter,” tells me it’s been much longer. The notice on the wall states that the maximum occupancy for this room is 259. The room is pretty full, that’s a lot of bored people.

Hour two:

There is a magazine rack in the far left corner. It’s not getting much traffic, at least not two hours into the process. Once everyone’s cell phones start to go dead, there may be a run for 8-month-old copies of Sports Illustrated and People magazines.

I’m situated about three-fourths of the way back on the left side of the room. I was hoping for better people watching, but it’s a pretty nondescript group of humans, at least from my perspective, observing a collection of the back of people’s heads.

I’m bored out of my gourd, and since misery loves company, I will do my best to bore you too by attempting to describe the lady directly in front of me.

Occasionally she will look left or right, giving me just a glimpse of her face. She is not wearing any makeup. A collection of faint age spots are sprinkled across her cheeks just below the tiny crinkles that extend from the corners of her eyes. Her hair is a pretty shade of auburn, clean and shiny, straight with no hint of curls. I can’t determine the length, but it’s long enough to drape over the front of her left shoulder. Periodically her left arm raises, reaches behind her head and pulls back into submission any strands that are attempting to stray.

A pair of small, simple, silver hoop earrings and a tiny silver chain necklace are the only jewelry visible to me.

Her cap sleeve t-shirt, a soft salmon-pink, compliments the texture of the fabric, softened through many laundry cycles.

Her head bobs ever so slightly in the manner of someone whose legs are crossed and foot is wagging. Other than that she sits erect, almost motioness compared to my fidgeting.

She pulls a paperback out of an unseen bag and for a moment raises ir high enough for me to see the print, but I can’t make out the title in the running head.

It’s human nature to make snap judgements about people based on their appearance, wardrobe, manner of speaking, etc. After sitting behind someone for a couple of hours, I wouldn’t call this a snap judgement but I’m pretty sure she …

Oops, the bailiff just called my name, gotta go!

(FYI, Got selected and I’m sitting in a jury for the rest of the week)