Washout!

I got a nice early start this morning (for me, anyway), and had planned to make a quick trip to the store, followed by a good workout, cleaning the oven, then just relaxing and enjoying the rest of the evening. Although I’m not too far away from the relaxation part, it was supposed to happen much sooner than it is! There was quite a thunderstorm happening this morning, so I stuck around waiting for it to pass. Waiting...and waiting...I finally realized that this storm was going to stick around most of the day, so I’d better just scrap the shopping plans and get to the rest of the stuff.

I’ve made good progress on stuff, though, and I’ve learned a valuable lesson. I need to clean the oven more often! At least I’ve managed to keep from passing out from the Easy Off fumes, but man, that shit is putrid. I’m glad it’s warm enough that I could have the kitchen window open all day, and I set up a fan to blow the fumes away from me towards the window. It hasn’t been too bad, but if you don’t hear from me after this, I succumbed!

Look at it, though. Just look at it! I’m still working on the broiler pan and still need to do a little more rinsing, but I can say that I feel a real sense of accomplishment after getting this em-effer done. Late summer resolution: more frequent maintenance cleaning rather than one huge afternoon-long desperation cleaning!

For anyone who wonders why I haven’t cleaned the oven more often, all I can say is that cleaning the oven SUCKS. It is not even remotely close to a chore that you can kind of convince yourself that is a little bit fun. I hate to vacuum, too, but at least you can kind of dance around and be silly with the vacuum cleaner. Laundry isn’t too bad, because Sheeba likes to help with the laundry by jumping into the basket of warm clothes, and I can carry him around in the laundry basket.

Ain’t no dancin’ or cat-carryin’ going on when you’re cleaning the oven. You’re wearing rubber gloves, kneeling down and sticking your head in an oven, and cleaning off all this nasty, greasy goo. To hell with that noise! But I realize that if I do a little more maintenance cleaning, it won’t be this bad next time. Next time we buy an oven, though, it’s going to be a self-cleaning one, I guarantee!

I had a really nice lunch with my friend Dan yesterday! It was nice enough that we were able to sit outside and enjoy a late summer day. Since it was us, we spent quite a bit of time talking about politics, local, state, and national. We didn’t solve anything, but we both agreed that South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is a political rock star destined for national politics (fairly soon, too), and that Hillary is probably going to run in ‘16. Dan is almost certain of her candidacy, and I said that I’m about 85% certain.

As always, it was great to see him and get caught up, and I hope a larger group of us can get out soon! In this current absurd political atmosphere, it’s important to have a few laughs about it. It’s either laugh or punch someone in the face, you know?

I occupied myself last evening by finishing the miniseries version of “It,” then watched “Psycho” for good measure. I’m not quite sure yet what tonight will be. Maybe “The Runaways,” or “Sid and Nancy.” I’m feeling a little rock and roll tonight. Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be a pleasant evening, and I wish you the same!