I can take rings off tubs just like that!

"Have no fear of that ring,"
Laughed the Cat in the Hat.
"Why, I can take cat rings 
Off tubs. Just like that!"

– The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr Seuss

Finally removing that ruddy ring of grime that never comes off the bath became my mission today. I went at it with all of the cleaning products I could find but it barely budged. Ugh.
I decided to consult the interweb and came across eHow, which listed a number of home remedies to clean that pesky ring around the bath tub.

I'm glad to say they didn't advise using Mother's white dress. The remedy that immediately stood out to me was, in fact - SHAMPOO! Who'd have thought?

Well, I got out the cheap Aldi shampoo and squirted a line of it around the bath. I scrubbed at the shampoo with a damp brush which made it form a bit of a paste, and then worked my way around the bath. I wiped it over with a wet cloth and, to my delight, was staring back at a shiny, white, spotless - no, RINGless! - bath!
The shampoo left it so silky and smooth. And it smelt great too!


I then had a thought. If shampoo works on the ring in the bath tub, would it work on the limescale on the shower door? I had tried everything on the glass of the shower door too but nothing worked. May as well give it a go!


Same method. Awesome results! Even though the photos are a bit blurry (it's hard to photograph glass), you can see the difference!

Now that you can actually see into the shower, I'd better get working on that hideous grout! I wonder if the shampoo will work on that too?

Ah, shampoo... my new must-have cleaning product.

nothing really matters... except for these things

I am still chipping away at organising each room of my house and am close to being able to reveal another completed room. (Yay!) While I have been doing this, I have also been pondering ideas about organisation, and how it (or the lack of it!), effects me.

I like to think that I'm a pretty easy going person when it comes to household matters. I don't really mind how things are done, as long as they do eventually happen. But, there are a few exceptions. Some things that I'm, for want of a better word, 'anal' about. My husband even believes that my genetic makeup contains a small percentage of obsessive compulsiveness! Here's what we've got:

1. The dishwasher
I am extremely particular about how things are stacked into the dishwasher. There is a certain place for things. That is where they must be. That is where they fit best. I have been known to restack the dishwasher on numerous occasions if things are not in the right place. I do appreciate it when people 'help' me by offering to put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. But I will just have to redo the job later. Unless my husband gets to it first and starts it washing before I see it!

2. The blinds
Vertical blinds have a front and a back. It is true, and you can tell. They have unslightly folds and joins which should never be seen. Never. It is the smooth side that should always be seen inside a room when the blinds are closed.

3. The toilet roll!
The free end of the toilet roll should always be coming over the top of the roll, never from underneath. It looks better and is much easier to roll, stop, and break when in this position. If I come to your house and your toilet roll is not on the holder correctly - I will fix it. I really will.

 

4. Books
The books on our bookshelves are always sitting in height order. I will chose which side the tallest books look best then taper the rest down from there. The only exception to this, is children's books that are really long and stick out too far. I can't have them sticking out in the middle of nowhere, so they get placed among the larger, taller books, so their weird length can be absorbed. (See Old MacDonald in the photo as an example.)

5. Power Points
Unless they are being used, they should be in the 'off' position. In stair wells and in other people's houses, if I see an unused powerpoint that is switched on, I have to turn it off. I also maintain that leaving them on must be some kind of safety hazard. As well as them being switched off, we have outlet protectors on all of our low and unused powerpoints.

6. Computer Files
As I mentioned in a previous blog, the computer files must be named and arranged in an orderly manner. In particular, my work files. I have naming and filing systems for these.

7. Pens
While not strictly a 'household' issue, I think this deserves a mention. If I start writing on anything with a pen, I must finish it with the same pen. Not merely the same colour, the exact same pen. The main things that pop into my mind are crosswords and official forms. I do remember an occasion when I was planning on spending a bit more time on a cryptic crossword I had started, but ended up doing something else because I couldn't find the right pen! Seriously, though, there are all kinds of shades of black and blue when it comes to pens. They even have different thicknesses when pressed to the paper. Some just 'write' differently. Not sure why this matters - but it really does. The satisfaction of having a lovely, neat, completed crossword... mmmm yeah.

I am happy to share another pen-related thing. I did give up on my need to arrange my children's pens and crayons in colour order a while ago. I realised quite quickly that if a child sees you packing something away, they want to play with it. Even if they haven't touched it for days. So, they are now shoved back into their packs as quickly as possible just so that they can be put away.

And there you have it - your suspicion that I am a strange person has been confirmed.

I'd be interested to hear about your obsessive ways too! If you are brave enough to share....

when nerds get organised

Hidden inside my computer is proof that it is actually possible for me to be organised. It was born out of necessity. Clients aren't happy if you can't update and reprint their brochure because you "can't find the original files". So, I have a system. A glorious system of naming and storing computer files and folders so that I always know where things are. And the nerd inside me always feels such accomplishment and satisfaction when I neatly "package" a completed job. If and when I go back to look at that job I can see the original InDesign file, the fonts, the linked images, the working files and the invoice.
So neat and orderly!

This is where the name for my blog sprang from. I really wish real life files and other objects could be dealt with as easily as the computer kind. Command+A (select all) then Comand+Delete (move to trash). All the junk is gone in an instant! If only everything was that easy.

In my bid to rid the house of clutter, I have turned to my trusty computer again. When I was told by the uber-organised Ronnie that there was a great task management program for Mac, I was excited. "This will help me be organised and keep lists without having a million single bits of paper floating around the house!" I looked up this program called 'Things' in the Apple store. The excitement quickly turned to dread when I saw that it cost 70 bucks!! I really couldn't justify that cost. A friend had mentioned that there was a cheaper and simpler version called iPronto - which is, sadly, only available for iPhones and iPads. (which is why I really need an iPhone! sigh.) And so my search continued into the realm of free task management software. A very unsatisfying place - most of it allowed you to write a list and that was it. No notes could be added. No time-frames set. hmmmm.

Anyway, I did find something eventually, called TaskPaper. It was quite simple, but allowed me to set up projects and notes with them. And it was free. This will do. I enthusiastically set up all my lists for getting sorty with categories, sub categories and notes. Sweet! Then upon startup one day, I got a rude message saying my free trial was due to end in a few days and that I had to pay to register the software!

Because I am a bit of a cheapskate and didn't want to pay $30 for a program that wasn't exactly what I needed, I went to visit ebay. And you'll never guess what I found! Things! For less than $30! I bought it and it is FABULOUS! I've got my 'life' to do's, my work to do's, my meal plans all in one place and not taking up an extra inch of space in the house!

I do delight in the one place that makes me feel like I'm on top of things.
(Except for the file named "SORT" on my desktop. We don't need to look in there.)