Dust

I remember dust, never thought I'd miss it. I live in arid southern Colorado. If I have dust I don't notice because it's tucked away under layers of dirt.

Here exposed dirt gets churned around by the wind until it's as fine as moon dust. The wind blows constantly so dirt/sand is everywhere. Living on a gravel road makes it worse. Every time the road's graded we're left in a cloud of dirt.

I cuss when I see the grader operator. I love him in winter but he really needs to go away come summer. There's no getting rid of the washboard, it comes back as soon as he scrapes it but he's obsessed with it.

Gravel roads near town/the interstate are sprayed with oil. Blowing dirt is as blinding as fog or a white out blizzard. We're way out in the county so no oil for our road.

I wipe the worst of it but by evening it's back. My dream home is tile walls/floor/ceiling with a huge floor drain and a fire hose. I'd spray that sucker down. Patio furniture would stand up to hosing. If I could protect the electronics, I'd be good to go. My hubby rolls his eyes when I get on that tirade. I can't roll mine because they're too full of dirt.

It amazes me how intrusive the dirt really is. We have a water bed, I make the bed everyday, there's a mattress pad, two sheets and a light blanket. When I strip the bed I wipe the bladder and the cloth's covered in dirt. How the hell does it get in there?

I told my hubby our house would look like the sand dunes, which is on the other side of the pass, if I didn't shovel it out everyday.

After summer we close up the windows and put up with ash/soot/wood chips and bark from the wood stove. We might as well live in a cave or a dirt floor shack for all the good cleaning does. I'm ready to do just that because tile is so damn expensive. Not to mention it'd be a huge waste of water hosing down the interior of my home every day.

Good luck with your dust but if you lived where I do you'd run away screaming or lose your mind. Even when it rains the first drops send up a poof of fine dirt dust. Flash floods deposit silt, we dig ditches to divert it or we shovel/haul it away. Mother nature is trying to reclaim our house and she's winning. Sorry to jump in on your rant but I feel your pain in a big way.

Oh dust ! I've spent more time wondering where it comes from than doing anything about it. I'm extremely tidy, but dusting just defeats me. And, it has to be quite thick before I even notice it.

I used to rely on my pet rodents to leave footprints in it so then I'd know it was time to do something about it. Plus I think I'm allergic to the bloody stuff.

I'd like to take the Quentin Crisp approach, he always says it doesn't get any worse after the first four years BUT... I suppose I don't want visitors to think I'm a completely lost cause.

I prefer to vacuum it up even though it takes longer than whipping round with a duster - I mean, who wants to shake out one of those things? Urrgggghhh - I don't want it going all over me.

What I'd like is for someone to invent a device that you can put in the middle of the room, switch on and it sits there on the spot and powerfully sucks up all the dust - even from every last little nook and cranny - in that room.

Here's a handy tip - just to prove I'm not too undomesticated. A little while ago I spilled some sauce from a tin of baked beans onto the kitchen counter. I didn't notice until the next day, when I wiped it up with a soapy sponge. Guess what? It lifted some tea stains, and did a far better job than the cleaning materials that had so far failed to accomplish just that. So, whenever it's beans on toast for dinner I smear some sauce over the counter, leave it overnight and it comes up a treat

a reply to: berenike

ever leave pans with copper bottoms in bacteria laden water because you are just a dirty college kid??
Well damn when I took those puppies out the copper was sparkling, and it was dark brown almost black before hand..

LOL..

I swear I'm not as dirty as I sound..

Dust

Agatha Morley
All her life
Grumbled at dust
Like a good wife.

Dust on a table,
Dust on a chair,
Dust on a mantel
She couldn’t bear.

She forgave faults
In man and child
But a dusty shelf
Would set her wild.

She bore with sin
Without protest,
But dust thoughts preyed
Upon her rest.

Agatha Morley
Is sleeping sound
Six feet under
The mouldy ground.

Six feet under
The earth she lies
With dust at her feet
And dust in her eyes.

-Sydney King Russell

originally posted by: Reverbs

originally posted by: valiant
a reply to: Reverbs

Your parents are Hippies?

I'd never tell another how to live!

I rarely get sick either, well physically!

I think for their honeymoon after eloping they hitchhiked across the country with $0 and camped in state parks.. Met up with someone in california with some stuff.. So.. Lol.. I didn't figure it out because all their friends were vegetarian organic lesbian farmers... So..

To this day if I sense someone is too normal I am a bit put off. Of course even with your incessant dusting, you are far from "normal"

I am glad you qualified your last statement. Cause I was about to call you out..

That's cool!

Vegetarian organic lesbian farmers ..... Now that is something you don't hear of everyday! lol

Now I never grew up a hippy or owt, but I definitely am put off by normal, gimme that weirdness all day long!

I am VERY far from normal, couldn't hide that even if I wanted to!

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: valiant

Be a fella and it is proven we don't notice it as much.
Problem solved.
Ignore it.
Lol

Errm Boymonkey, are you suggesting am not a fella? lol

a reply to: Morningglory

I enjoyed reading that, now I know to stay clear of Colorado

Don't apologize, I enjoy as much dust hate as possible!

a reply to: berenike

Vacuum gets on my nerves, I use it to be thorough though on the flat areas etc, plus I have carpets down and those things are frigging magnets!

a reply to: OuttaHere

Brilliant!

a reply to: Reverbs

I don't think I'm as dirty as I sound either, although on the rare occasions my friend comes to visit he runs his eye over the place and then cleans up after me. I swear that one day he followed me round with a cloth

Valiant - I don't know why carpets don't get outlawed. I've only noticed one advantage to them which is that if you drop something on them it's less likely to break.

a reply to: valiant

Seal the house off. Put yourself and others in the house in containment suits so no dead skin cells drift out then, you have fibers from floor coverings. Seal them in plastic. Job done but then what? You can't go out with the house sealed. You've got these suits on and the floors are covered in plastic. Is that any better?

Sorry to tweak your nose like that. Here:

After all, all we are is dust in the wind.

Come and clean mine. Its getting turning into a forest on my dresser and table tops. urgghhh.

a reply to: zazzafrazz

Hmm second thoughts, dunno how that sounded lol

Hire me!

a reply to: berenike

So, whenever it's beans on toast for dinner I smear some sauce over the counter, leave it overnight and it comes up a treat

You know I love you, but this is eccentricity gone too far. Lol!

_______________

If I had all the dust I've removed in my lifetime in one place, it would measure in tons. It might put a thin veil over the entire Earth. If we made clothes out of dog hair, I could clothe the entire naked population.

originally posted by: berenike

What I'd like is for someone to invent a device that you can put in the middle of the room, switch on and it sits there on the spot and powerfully sucks up all the dust - even from every last little nook and cranny - in that room.

I heard static electricity can attract dust particles, so I found this for you.

Not sure if it's available just yet though...

electroluxdesignlab.com...

a reply to: DAZ21

Whoa... gimme

Thank you - there's someone thinking after my own heart. I'd snap that up like shot.

I wonder if they want any guinea pigs to test it out for them? I'd better let my place get good and dusty so I can really put it through its paces.

Hmmm... I'll have to arrange for a mass exodus of the spiders, though.