Because Sometimes You Just Have to Make Things Better

When I moved to Washington in December, I was blessed by my friend Justin who was able to get me into a place right away. The rent for the rest of December and all of January would be covered. That gave me some time to find a job so I could pay for rent … but that's a different story.

I spent the first couple of months sleeping on the linoleum floor which covers my bedroom, which I like to term, “the closet”. Then I started becoming increasingly aware of the age and condition of this house.


Let me say, here and now, that I am in no way expressing any sort of ingratitude for the dry and warm living conditions which I truly am thankful for. I am merely making observations about my surroundings.

That being said, the house was built, I believe, in the 60s, as a growing military town, the residents of which tested and built nuclear weapons. So, my understanding is that there aren't many modern codes this house is meeting.

Today’s task: clean the shower-tub!! The bathroom I have access to is a mess. It's one of the room that should be burned to the ground and restarted. I wash my hands with anti-bacterial soap in the bathroom and then use hand cleaner when I get to my room just to counteract the process of letting myself out of the bathroom. Fun, right? I have no idea when it was that the shower-tub was last cleaned. The shower curtain looks rather similar to the Shroud of Turin based on the likeness of Saddam Hussein and the tub was yellowed and dusty in areas. Blech. I could stand it no longer and used a little bit of waning money I did have to purchase a scrubbing sponge and my favorite shower and tub cleaner, Kaboom®. Today was the day. I sprayed and let stand and sprayed again and let stand and then scrubbed the tiles and tub. To my amazement, the accent tiles actually seem shiny, something I did not expect to see. How did I celebrate? You bet, a shower in a moderately clean shower stall.

I am waiting for the gift of a decent shower curtain to replace the gross one still in there. I will also look next to doing a better job with the grout. But, I am proud, accomplished, and feel I was a good steward with the little bit I have been given. So score one for me today.