esrosedotblog

Yesterday was a more than full day. It began with shopping, an unusual step as I didn't shop Tuesday because I went to an extra Meeting and…….so on. Then, the guys were all over the outside of the condo, full force, finishing the trim and cleaning up. They are meticulous. A demonstration of why I do not paint. All the prep. All the careful use of tools, brush, roller, spray. All the attention to detail. There are two colors, stucco tan and trim more of a chocolate and it is amazing how many places the two colors meet. Mindfulness. The other thing about these guys is that they are not only pros at their work they are attentive to the owners in a way that I don't think is required of the work or the contract. They are happy to accept certain quirks like working around my immovable monster cactus or carefully painting over the plaques behind the fountain (which we did not put there) and being careful to not break anything. I was amazed at how much we have out there, plants, sculptures and so on. All in the way if you are going to do a good job painting. If we didn't trim enough of put a table far away from the work they seemed happy to accommodate and do it themselves. They always volunteered their schedule. Working on the tan stucco the would say when they would be back for the trim, then the garage doors. A surprise, they had to go on the roof to do some work. Booker freaked out. Thunder! We got through that OK but it took a while. The facts and even showing him what was happening didn't overcome the anxiety of unwanted thumping.

The timing of it all was impeccable. And accidental. Universal karmic flow. They got done with the front courtyard in time for me to put back my cactus tables, rearrange the cactus, repot a couple plants that had outgrown their home, plant one that was now unportable always getting knocked over. I was able to get it all in place before the house cleaners came and, voila, just at that time, the guys were done in the back and I was able to place the table and chairs as they should be, with a few tweaks here and there, in time for the cleaners to do the chairs and the deck front and back. Nice timing.

The new house cleaners are doing a great job. There is a different arrangement than we are used to over the years. One man in charge, it is his business, and three other people, one man, two women. They go to work in concert. Some days they have been all four at one time, one gets there early for the rough stuff, one stays late to do the last step mopping and the four here for the middle. It only takes two hours. They do have a routine but I am asked to have some specific chores to fill in. Amazing that I have found something for every bi-weekly visit. Is bi-weekly the same as every other week? I have had them clean the garage floor, sweep and scrub. Another time we have the glass to do. Yesterday was the post painting cleanup and a rug shampoo. He has a big commercial machine that gets down into it and really does a thorough job. Next time, I need the air vents cleaned out. Yesterday it was two men. Period. There is a difference in the qualities of the cleaning, male and female. The women are meticulous, clean every can and bottle in the refrigerator for example. The men, not so much but they do the heavier duty jobs which women will not. There are some sloppy spots to the men's work. A very shiny wood table, nicely done, with a few sticky spots that didn't get cleaned off before the polish. But the toilets? Immaculate. Otherwise it is the same. As usual with desert service work, I do not think that they make enough money but that is up to them. I do tip generously.

That shut out the movie of the day but it did leave time for me to finish one book and start another. There is a lot of dead time while the cleaning is going on even if I had chores to get ready that overlapped with the guys. The completed book is Someone by Alice Mcdermott. Thought by many to be a catholic writer, McDermott writes about family life and home. In this one, the most successful so far, I think, she tells about a family that lives from the twenties until the sixties. The sections are episodic, the memories of a mother from her time as a little girl to her time as an older mom. The stories are filled with wise and happy reflections and a lot of experience of the time periods involved. She would be the age of my mother. It was fun to see my Mom in this situations. Beyond that, since I am one of the kids, it is less involving for me as the kids are not much fleshed out. When they are little they are little and when we come to the time where the kids are adult, they are away doing work. There is a brother with whom we grow up and watch become a priest, then a failed priest who lives alone, has a nervous breakdown and then comes to live with the family. He is gay, a fact which dawns on the reader slowly but a lot sooner than the family catches on. This at a time when the closet was the only place to be for a lot of men, particularly catholic men. This is deftly handled as well. McDermott is a skillful writer first and foremost. A pleasure to read.

My goal for today is to do nothing. Well, not nothing. I have already washed my jeans which is a special, by me only, job. I wash them, then shake out the wrinkles while they are wet, slapping them against me knees like a rug. Then into the drier. Mostly alone as other clothes fuck up the system and the jeans come out with pleats. Mine are smooth. But, an exception today. I put my gym shorts in with them. Soft, pliable shorts. Nylon. Not something that will affect the jeans and might even gently support their nice completion. Later there will be stuff for sure and a movie but I will let that be for a separate item.

Labels: books, condo, gender