A Few Quick Notes - 629

-Despite a light dusting of snow late yesterday afternoon/evening, the winter continues to be unseasonably warm.  Again today we're expecting temperatures close to five degrees above freezing and I'm not sure if it's even gone down to -20 at any point this month.  It's just bizarre.

-A few months ago I noticed that our oven didn't seem to be heating evenly.  Of course, because it did eventually heat up it took me a while to identify the problem.  That the element in the oven continued to operate as normal made the problem even more baffling.

Finally, after months of procrastination we finally called an appliance service company last week and arranged for a visit by a repairman.  After quickly describing the problem, the service technician got down to work and began disassembling our oven.

Before long panels were off and he was deep in the gut of the thing, where he found that the oven's second element - which was hidden in the side of the oven away from site - was shot.  Fortunately, he had a replacement element on hand and he was able to have the oven back in proper working order in less than an hour.

While we were more than satisfied with the quality of the service call, it seems like a bit of a design weakness to place a replaceable element in a location that requires the oven to be torn apart to reach.  That the first element lasted about fifteen years will hopefully mean that this won't be a service call we will need to make again.

-With our newly functioning oven we've both already completed baking projects.  Yesterday I made a loaf of bread and Jeannette made a small batch of coconut cookies.

-In addition to regular Sunday cleaning and errands, we'll likely have to make a trip to the grocery store later today.  Hurrah!

Cameron - 10
Neil - 0

Breakfast of champions

For better or worse, it seems that I start most weekend mornings by finishing the dishes that magically appear overnight.  And it seems that no matter what I do the day before, there are always at least a few dishes waiting for me in the morning.

[Embedded video]

Fortunately, in recent weeks, thanks to a great segment on the Going Deep with David Rees TV show, I've improved my dishes game a fair bit.  Not only are we using much less detergent and water than we were before, but we're also washing dishes much more quickly.  

Cameron - 9

Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes - 628

-Despite technically warmer temperatures on Saturday, both yesterday and today have felt a fair bit warmer.  Sadly, neither of these days has been accompanied by the sunnier skies of Saturday.

-Yesterday was Family Day in Saskatchewan.  Though I tried talking Jeannette into a day trip to Montana and North Dakota (Plentywood and Williston in particular), we spent most of the holiday cleaning the house.  Despite being a little disappointed that we didn't manage an international adventure, I'm quite happy that we did some long-overdue deep cleaning.

-One task I didn't finish yesterday is folding all of the laundry that I did.  Guess I should get down to that shortly (and because I've also changed the sheets since then theres even more to fold).

-In most cases I feel as though if I'm not completely unreceptive to ads, I'm relatively unreceptive to ads.  There are many companies whose ads I know I've heard thousands of time (if you listen to podcasts you know which companies I'm talking about) that I have no interest in patronizing.

One product, despite the low production qualities of most of its ads, I've long been tempted by is CLR - a product that promises to de-calcify household objects.  Even as a child I found this product tempting, though because St. John's has relatively soft water how or when this liquid would be used was never entirely clear.

Since we've lived in Regina the uses for a product that might de-calcify a household objects have become a little clearer.

Since first buying some CLR for Jeannette (so that I could clean our kettle) I've had the pleasure of using this product and observing that it works as advertised and did exactly what I wanted it to do.  It was strangely satisfying to finally buy this product after so many years of ads and then find that it works as advertised.

Oddly, I'm not sure that I have similar feelings about many of the other products I've seen ads for on a regular/daily basis for the past 15 years.

Cameron - 6
Neil - 0

Cats

For approximately the past 2 years we've had cats.  First came Marie and then a few months later she was joined by Pierre.

Though I've basically gotten used to their presence, there are still moments when they surprise me.

Then there are moments when I forget about them trying to climb into drawers or knock things off of ledges to get our attention.

Of course, it's still hard to come to terms with the idea of having several animals loose in our house.  It still just seems a little weird.

A consequence of their arrival, to which I hope I never become accustomed, is the presence of their hair on just about everything.  It's incredible how much of this stuff exists just about everywhere.  Maybe even more infuriating is that whenever clean up attempts are made hair can be found in the cleaned areas just moments later.

In an attempt to combat this longstanding frustration about two weeks ago we purchased a pet Roomba to somewhat passively and regularly clean the main floor of our house.

When we first ran it we were disgusted to see how much hair and dust we picked up - the hopper was completely full.  Since we've had the device we've run it at least once a day - sometimes twice - and we're always amazed to see how much cat hair we manage to collect.  While the hopper is no longer packed after each session, it's still regularly about 50% full.

So anyway - cats...

A Few Quick Notes 610

-Yesterday evening snow started falling quite heavily.  Fortunately, after a few hours it seemed that the snow had stopped falling.  When we woke up this morning to about 5 cm of sticky snow we realized that we'd been wrong to think that the snow had ever stopped.  Amazingly, after a day of thawing it seems to have started snowing again (though hopefully we won't again wake up to 5 cm of snow).

-Oh man, I'm super tired and it's not even 8:15.

-Much to my surprise, on Saturday I started to install our recently acquired anti-pigeon spikes.

Initially I only installed a two foot section, hoping that I might get some sense if were indeed a functional pigeon deterrent.  Fortunately or unfortunately, by the time we returned from an afternoon there were fresh pigeon droppings on the other side of the porch - indicating that the spikes were working.

By the end of the weekend I'd installed all $100 worth of the stuff (aka 10 feet).  The only bummer is that we'll have to buy another 10 feet or so for next weekend/later this week.

-On Saturday Pierre we being particularly cuddly.  At one point he even took a rather long afternoon nap in my arms.

By that night and several hours of this excessively sedate behaviour we were starting to worry that something was up.

At about 2:00 AM Pierre confirmed that something had been up by puking up part of a rubber glove and some other garbage that he'd recently scarfed down behind our backs.  For a small cat he really managed to save up a fair bit of puke for the event.

Unfortunately for Jeannette, I found the smell so upsetting that I had to leave the room to avoid adding to the mess.  Fortunately, by the next day Pierre seemed to be back to normal (AKA the kind of cat that would sneak around trash cans to hunt for discarded rubber gloves to eat).

A Few Quick Notes 589

-It looks as though it is going to be a beautiful Labour Day in Ottawa this year, though maybe a few degrees warmer than ideal.

-Because we don't have the same morning rush to readiness today I'm hoping to crank out a batch of raspberry muffins for breakfast.

-Last night, based on a recommendation from my father, I sprayed our balcony plants with cayenne pepper water.  The idea is that this will deter the squirrel from visiting the plants.  I'm a little curious to see if it worked, or if the squirrel responded vindictively to the new flavour.

-Yesterday Jeannette and I engaged in a multi-hour cleaning and organizing event.  Is there any better way to spend a beautiful Sunday?

-Actually, because it's move-in weekend at the local universities (and one of these universities is only a few blocks away) it was nice not to be outside and in the midst of that craziness.

A Few Quick Notes 560

-We've seen a sudden turnaround in the temperature today.  When I woke up this morning it was about -8 but by the time I was finishing lunch the temperature was up to 3.  So far this temperature change has not been accompanied by snow or any other form of precipitation.

-I'm in the midst of drinking quite a lot of coffee today.  I am hoping that the this consumption will have a positive affect on my productivity today.

-Actually, so far I don't feel so bad about my productivity.  Not only have I been able to do some school work, but I have also done some cleaning and housekeeping.  I'm even hoping that I've done enough cleaning that Jeannette will be able to notice it when she returns home from work.

-Yesterday seemed to magically become laundry day.  I think by the end of the day we had completed four loads of laundry.  I am still a little unsure why so much washing was required.

-I think I may have to make a quick loaf of bread this afternoon, and maybe something for dinner.

-For the past few days/weeks I have been hearing suggestions that former Liberal MP Mike Savage would be contesting the next mayoral contest in Halifax.  It seems that today Savage made the run official.      I am not entirely convinced that the current mayor is particularly popular, so this could end up being something of a race.

Cameron: 10
Neil: 0

Easter Update

This morning we all woke up to find that the Easter Bunny did in fact manage to find us and provide us with unhealthy treats. So far I have only managed to eat a single Kinder egg, it definitely seems like more than enough candy for one day (I have no idea how I will manage to consume the treats still in my basket).

Shortly after examining our baskets and playing our Easter Bingo scratch cards we moved to our holiday morning breakfast, which seems to have been enjoyed by all.

Almost immediately after breakfast I started preparing food for tonight's meal/feast. Part way through the process I realized that I was missing a key ingredient. Fortunately we were able to get the missing ingredient from a friend/neighbour/guest so everything should be as expected for the meal.

Almost as soon as I started working on the food Neil undertook an apartment-wide cleaning mission assigned to him by Rebecca. I have to say, things are looking pretty good a few hours in.

Now that most of the good is ready and the apartment cleaning almost complete I finally have the chance to sit down and use my computer for an extended period (meaning long enough to make this post). What I should probably be doing with this time instead of posting is studying, so I guess that is what I will do as soon as I complete this post.

On its way to gone

A few days ago I post a photo of some new graffiti at Dal and wonder how long it would last.

The answer, it seems, was today.

As I was walking to school today I noticed that a graffiti removal company employee was just starting to remove the offending graffiti on the side of the computer science building.



A tidy environment for more effective learning.

A Few Quick Notes 472

-Though it was somewhat chilly today, it was nice to finally have a day that wasn't overcast and rainy.

-I took advantage of the improved weather to conduct a major cleaning operation on our balcony. In addition to sweeping up a number of leaves and twigs I also washed quite a number of my pots and disposed of my frost-killed plants. Though I can't say that the experience was particularly fun, I am glad to have taken care of the mess that was beginning to be a little embarrassing.

-Our spike in blog traffic seems to be continuing. Strangely, the spike in traffic seems to be happening at the same time that we are having fewer people come to our site through search engine referrals. The whole thing still doesn't make too much sense to me.

-I spent a good chunk of the day reading, and then another chunk grading. Hopefully I will be able to devote several good chunks of tomorrow to similar pursuits.

-I'm beat.

A Day of Domesticity

Contrary to my habits, I woke up early this morning (well, not that early). This decision seems to have set me on a course of domestic productivity for the day.

I started things off by heading to the grocery store to pick up a few things on the student discount day (which is still ongoing, at least at Atlantic Superstore). I was particularly pleased to couple a cracker sale with a coupon (and the discount) to buy three packages of crackers for about $1.35 each. Amazingly, by about 9:30 AM I was in the checkout and ready to go.

Once I returned home from the store I started some laundry and plant related activities.

The big plant development is that all of the tobacco has now been moved to our balcony. To replace the tobacco on the plant shelves throughout our apartment I planted new seeds (primarily herbs, peas, and beans). I am hoping to get these plants to sprout before eventually moving them outdoors and starting the process over again.

At several points throughout the day I recall looking at the clock and being somewhat surprised that it was either still morning or early afternoon and that not only had I been working for several hours but also that it was still only early afternoon or late morning. Maybe I should consider getting up before 10:30 in the future, because if this is what it means for my productivity I may need to give it a shot.

Seems a touch impossible to me

For quite a number of years Neil and I have been regular (though not continual) users or Ivory soap (sometimes we switch to cheaper generic brands or whatever is available). For more years than I have been a somewhat regular user of this product, which might be about 10 years, I have seen ads and marketing campaigns for Ivory soap that stress, even belabor, the claim that the product is 99.44% pure. Actually, I don't recall ever seeing a marketing campaign for this product that didn't feature this claim, it seems to be the backbone of all of their marketing efforts.

Though I can't say that our (and certainly my) use this product is because of the claims it makes about its purity. Nonetheless, I am certainly aware of these claims and would probably feel a bit cheated if they started releasing a version of the product about which they could no longer make such claims. How can one bring oneself to use an inferior version of a product (which presumably costs the same amount of money)?

I raise this issue because Neil recently purchased two ten packs of "Simply Ivory Aloe." When I looked at the packaging I was at first relieved to see that the same claim about purity was being made about the product. Once I stopped to think about it for a minute and realized that aloe is not soap. Once this thought started float around I started to become a little more unsettled. Has the value of the claim been diminished? Have they found a substitute for aloe that is made of soap? Have the replaced a particular ingredient with exactly the same amount of aloe? What is going on? (It turns out that Neil has been asking himself the same questions.)

This discovery has been somewhat alarming. If it turns out that the claim is untrue I fear that my faith in major multi-national corporations to tell me the truth about their products may be called into question. If this happens I don't know what I will do with myself or how I will make decisions about what to buy.

It's all gone to pots

A few days ago I mentioned that I had emptied most of my container garden and was, as a result of these actions, left with quite a number of dirty plant pots on our balcony.



I allowed these pots to sit on the balcony for a few days. The most significant reason why I didn't do anything with them was because of the time commitment that would have been required. Anyway, every day they were there they were eating away at me (even more because I knew how I was going to clean them when it came time).

This afternoon while dinner was in the oven I finally got around to cleaning the pots. I filled two buckets with hot water and added detergent to one of the buckets. As you might have guessed, one of the buckets was for washing and the other for rinsing. Amazingly, this system seemed to work pretty well and in not too long (and only one water change later) I was done with the washing part of the process.

After allowing the freshly washed pots to dry outside for a few hours I moved them inside to my bedroom to finish the final stages of drying.



A little while ago I was able to stack them up. My hope is that this is where they will stay for the winter and that I will be ready to go as soon as spring rolls around and I start my early planting.



For our more observant readers, I did have to store a few of the lids/trays and the planter in my closet. For a while I was hoping that I would be able to get everything in this stack.

A Few Quick Notes 353

-Today was a pretty nice day, as far as I recall. It seems that it was sunny and clear, and not too hot.

-As we enter September one of my academic programs is winding down and the other gearing up. In anticipation of the switch I have been asked to give up my library carrel as I will soon have access to an office (or access to an office). Hopefully I will get the keys and information about this office sometime tomorrow.

The other thing I was working on today was course selection for the fall semester. Unfortunately, it is turning out to be not quite as straight forward as I might have hoped. At the moment I think I have things pretty figured out, though there could be a few last minute changes depending scheduling issues. What is clear, even without a completely finalized schedule, is that it is going to be a rather busy fall, at least academically. Having to submit a SSHRC application isn't going to make things easier.

-The nice side benefit of heading into school today was that I got a chance to talk to a few people whom I hadn't seen in a while. I guess this might be a sign that I am not going in quite enough (I blame this on the fact that I don't have an office, so, presumably, my pattern will change in the very near future).

-I spent a little time cleaning in preparation for Neil and Rebecca's return. Fortunately, as I spent much of the time throwing myself a thesis party, I didn't really make that much of a mess in the rest of the apartment (my room with its stacks folders is another story). Though things were largely in order I did vacuum and apply some cleaner to the bathroom fixtures. Hopefully it meets Neil and Rebecca's exacting standards.

-A free t-shirt that I ordered from a cereal box a few weeks ago arrived today. We are expecting two more. I imagine that they will be arriving any day now.

-I made another batch of beans tonight. Fortunately, as Neil will be here, it isn't likely that they will last as long as the last batch.

-So it turns out that the discount corn chips that I mentioned yesterday are pretty stale. The good news is that they can be made edible by baking them for just a few minutes. Actually, once I did this they were some of the tastiest corn chips I have ever had.

-Oh yeah, and I came across this story from CBC. Apparently there is a school in Nova Scotia that has restricted hand sanitizer use because it might be flammable. No word yet on whether paper will be next, or maybe hair.

A Few Quick Notes 337

-Well we had some rain today, though as of yet we have not had the thundershowers that were also forecast. At the moment things seem to have calmed down, but as the skies haven't cleared I am not particularly convinced that we have seen all of today's inclement weather.

-A few days ago I finally got around to cleaning one of our living room shelving units. The reason for the cleaning was that it had been housing many of the spider mite infested plants, and presumably also housed a number of spider mite eggs. I am hoping that now that the that the entire thing has been cleaned the spider mite remnants have been removed and it will be safe for me to re-introduce plants to that part of the living room. That I dealt with this cleaning job is important as our summer growing season will soon be winding down and I will need to find space for a number of my balcony garden plants indoors. I also hope that this once and for all ends our spider mite saga.

-A few days ago my bike finally arrived from Newfoundland. Unfortunately the rear wheels or brake seem to have been thrown out of alignment sometime between me last seeing the bike and the time that I received it a few days ago. As of yet I haven't been able to diagnose the problem myself so I think that I will likely bring it to a bike shop in the very near future, maybe tomorrow. I am really looking forward to actually having a functional bike in the very near future.

-As of a few days ago I noticed that a blonde woman, presumably from the neighbouring apartment building, is using the green space across from my window as a toilet area for her puppy. While I am not really a fan such things under the best of circumstances, particularly as the area being used is quite visible from where I sit at my desk, it seems that the the woman has decided not to clean up after her dog, making the whole thing much worse.

Today, to make matters worse, I saw a man with the same dog exhibit the same behaviour pattern. This is all the more frustrating as I have not only seen children play in this area, but I have also seen others do renovation related work in the same area. Given the seeming universal human aversion to stepping in dog crap I am quite surprised that this continues to exist. If I was a little more of an outgoing person I might mention this to these people the next time I see it happen, but as that is not really who I am I will probably just continue to let it frustrate me and maybe occasionally blog about it.

-We are in the midst of a fruit fly population explosion. In the past few days things have really taken off. I think that yesterday there must have been hundreds of the things in the kitchen. It seems that, not surprisingly, the compost is an ideal breading ground for them. It would be nice if we could find a way to either control or eliminate them.

A Few Quick Notes 328

-Though much of today was somewhat overcast it was generally pleasant. The rain I expected to start at any time held off, though it may have lead to things being a little more humid that they would have been otherwise.

-I managed to get around to moving all of the plants from my windowsill. The area has now been cleaned and the plants sprayed with miticide. I also sprayed a few of the other plants that had been in my room. Over the next day or two I am hoping to spray most of the other house plants and completing a wash of one of the plant stands in the living room. Hopefully this more aggressive approach will be enough to take care of the spider mite problem for good (though I am hesitant to put too much hope in any of these solutions).

-I had roast potatoes and barbecued steaklets (small steaks) for dinner tonight. I really enjoyed the meal.

-This evening a friend came over and we played a few games of Monopoly Deal, a card game Neil purchased yesterday night while we were at the mall. Though the game allows for rather drastic swings from time to time, it was an overall pleasant experience and much faster than regular Monopoly. I think that we would all give it a thumbs up as a relatively relaxed multi-player game.

-Recently I have been talking about trying to grow some bean sprouts. At the moment I am in the midst of my first batch. So far things are going well. The only problem I have encountered so far is that the container I started with wasn't big enough so I had to move the operation to a larger container this evening. I am a little worried that this new container also won't be larger enough. Hopefully I will have a few pictures to post in a few days time, or whenever it is that I decide to harvest the sprouts.

A Few Quick Notes 289

-Today was incredibly beautiful. While Environment Canada was reporting a temperature of 5 degrees, I am pretty sure that it was actually warmer than that in town. Of course, the sun was also out, which really helped things.

-As some of you may have noticed, I have removed the web-call button from the side-bar. This wasn't getting much (read 'any') use. And since moving from GrandCentral to Google Voice it had begun to take up much more space. I guess if you really need to contact either of us and you don't have our contact information the best approach might be to use the comment section associated with each post (not that this is a problem that comes up all that frequently).

-Today while reading the Globe and Mail I came across a few stories of note.

Firstly, it seems that G.W. Bush has now given his first post-presidential for-hire speech. The strange part of the story is not that he has decided to do paid speeches, but that the speech was given in Calgary instead of somewhere in the United States.

Secondly, apparently both Stephen Harper and Danny Williams will be attending this evening's memorial service for those lost in the recent off-shore helicopter crash. Hopefully everyone will have enough tact to behave appropriately for a memorial service. (A related note is that my sister will be performing as part of the mass choir assembled for the event). Also, CBC should be streaming the service here for those of you who are interested.

Thirdly, I read that AIG will have $165 million, equal to the sum the company recently paid in bonuses, deducted from its $180 billion of bail-out money. I found two things particularly strange about this story. Firstly, how could a company that needs bailout money justify bonuses, the company clearly isn't doing all that well. I guess those handing out the bail-out money felt the same way. Secondly, and more importantly, if the bail-out money is based on need, how can $165 million just be cut from the package. This would suggest that the sum allocated to the company isn't really based on much at all and that a few hundred million here or there might not make all that much difference. For some reason I find this very troubling. Also, according to the story, the US government "now holds about an "80-per-cent stake" in the company. I really wonder how all of this is going to play out in the long run.

-Last night Neil and I made our way to Your Father's Moustache for their St. Patrick's day event. We made the trip because one of my classmates was one of the fiddlers performing. Overall I think we had a pretty good time.

The only bummer all evening was the twenty minutes that we had to blow trying to send a package at the postal outlet across the street. The employee was very unhelpful and slow. We both suspect that it likely cost us more than was necessary for us to send the package, though as we were provided with very little information it is hard for us to be certain about this.

-Earlier today I mentioned doing some spring cleaning. I forgot to mention that I also did a few loads of laundry.

-In a few minutes dinner should be ready. We will be having pot roast. I can't wait.

Spring Cleaning

When I woke up this morning I realized that my room had started to get a little out of hand. I had papers and documents all over the place, some of which were stacked for filing, others that were not. My desk had all kinds of things on it that had outlived their usefulness. Things were just generally cluttered.

So as soon as my regular Wednesday morning batch of bread was rising I started working on my room. By taking care of my backed up filling, much of which was related to a few school projects that I recently completed, I was able to make significant progress. I also put away several items that have been sitting on my floor since early January.

One of the most satisfying aspects of the cleaning mission was to clear my desk and given a quick scrub. After a number of months of use there has been some dust build-up in some of the areas that tend to have clutter. By removing everything I was able to access, and remove, this dust, and some miscellaneous debris.

Though I don't have any proof of this, I feel that having an organized room will likely make me more productive in the coming days. I guess the main reason for thinking this is that I should be able to save time by not having to sort through piles of crap to find things that I am looking for. Also, I won't have to take care not to step on things as I make my way through the room. Hopefully I can keep on top of things for at least a few days.

A Few Quick Notes 270

-We had another pretty nice Winter's day today. It seems that it was at least a few degrees below zero all day with almost no wind or precipitation to make this unpleasant.

-A few days ago I decided that I would bake a few loaves of bread to day. As usual this was a pretty painless process.

As I have this new time-lapse video software I thought I might try to capture the changes that occur while a loaf of bread is baking. Without too much effort I was able to position my computer in front of the oven and capture the event. Once I reviewed the footage I noticed that the oven window was so dirty that it really obscured the view of the bread. So while I ended up getting pretty poor footage, as you can see below, I did end up cleaning the oven window, which I wouldn't have thought about doing otherwise.



[Embedded video]

-While the bread was rising and baking I took care of a few plant related issues. I removed some soil from some papyrus I am trying to grow and also planted a few seeds. Also, I finally got around to repotting a succulent that had outgrown its pot.

Most of the seeds I planted were scarlet runner beans, with the idea that they will be able to climb the rack on which they are growing. I also planted a few water melon seeds (which might be a bit of a stretch), some corn, and chives. While I realize that I am being somewhat over-ambitious for apartment farming, I do like that I am at least trying a few of these things, even if the plants don't end up producing edible fruit.

On a related note, the dill, thyme, and chives I planted a few days ago seem to have started to sprout. This this point they are at about the same point they were when they died in the fall, so I can't yet tell if these will be successful, or if they too will die for no apparent reason in a few days.


Blog-off
Cameron: 7
Neil:0

What a waste

So after a very pleasant evening with a few friends I decided to pick up a six-pack on my way home. My plan was to have a pleasant bear or two while sending an email or two, or maybe browsing the internet.

After braving the rain and the slick roads I made it back to the house-sitting house with my six-pack of Dominion in hand. As soon as I entered the house I began thinking about how I would drop off my coat and the beer so that I could let the dog out to urinate. Soon after entering the kitchen I began to execute the plan I had only moments ago formulated.

The jacket went on the counter, as did the beer. Unfortunately the beer did stay on the counter like the jacket, instead the beer and the box ended up on the ground. Almost as soon as the beer hit the floor glass and beer began seeping across the floor. Somehow the animals sense the severity of the situation and stayed out of my way as I made my way to the back hall to find the cleaning products.

Fortunately, because of several other mishaps, I was able to put my hands on the cleaning products and mop quite quickly. I was also able to locate a bucket, though I don't imagine that it is the same one that they use for mopping, and get the clean-up operation underway quite quickly.

Once I removed the four intact bottles from the wreckage I was able to pick up much of the broken glass just by discarding the beer box. The remaining large chunks I was able to pick up and place in another box. The final pieces of glass, mostly of the splinter size, I was able to wipe up with toilet paper (I still haven't been able to find the paper towel).

Soon after I had cleaned up the glass shards I decided that I might as well just mop the rest of the kitchen floor, which I did. I also took the opportunity to do some mopping in the adjoining rooms, which I had been meaning to do but had not had the motivation.

Anyway, as must as this was a waste of beer and a pain, it turned out to be manageable and not quite as bad as it could have been. Most importantly the cat and dog somehow sense that I really would not appreciate their presence in the mess area and then proceeded to stay away for the duration of the clean-up.