Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Prolly the mostest unChristmasy post in blogland!

I couldn't wait though. See.... I thought I had killed the dishwasher that I had just gotten replaced last May. I called the repairman and he was very nice when he told me "if you hold this button for 3 seconds the child lock goes off and it will work". Yes, all weekend spent handwashing dishes just for him to come out and politely tell me I am an idiot.

But....

I did get to pump him for info. I felt he owed the idiot that much with such an easy repair. We have well water. I am a city girl. I know nothing about well water. Hence, everything that we own that touches our water is orange. No matter how much freaking bleach you use, still comes out orange. I did find out about Works a few years ago and use that on just about everything. I have found out though that Works is not the answer to everything. Did you know it will melt a brillo pad? Yup it will....

So I showed him the inside of my dishwasher and my "I have to have white dishes that my water has turned orange". It's so bad that I have to use Works on my dishes about once every 2 weeks. I also showed him the 8,973rd product that I had bought and not tried yet that promised to get not only my dishes sparkling clean, but my dishwasher as well. He told me that it would help. Help?! I don't want it to "help", I want it to do the work for me so I can sit on the couch eating chocolate covered cherries watching Christmas shows. He told me how to use it and I paid as close attention to him as I could inbetween munching on candy canes. The instructions are on the bottle.

So let us fast forward to after I followed the directions and opened the dishwasher.... Holy Crap! That stuff really works! I almost dropped my ginormous gingerbread man I was decapitating. It was sparkling clean! So sparkling clean that I actually cleaned all the dishes, even the good ones we never use.

Thankfully, they were nice enough to call back the next day to make sure the idiot was pleased. I told her how wonderful he was to suggest Lemon Shine even though I had gotten it 3 days before he came out. I gave him the credit cause who would believe the idiot who didn't know the child lock was engaged on her dishwasher and spent all weekend hand washing dishes. I asked her what to do about my white laundry that is orange now.

She told me to use Iron out and soak them overnight in it and then wash. Okay, soak I can do. As long as there is no hand washing involved. She also told me to not use bleach since that will not help with rust, but to get some Borax for stains. I was even still on the phone with her when I jumped in my car to go to the store to get Iron Out and Borax. You know what?! That stuff works too! Our clothes actually look like I did wash them. No more orange clothes for us!

So now I am off to the store in my pearly white whites to fetch some vittles to put on my super clean white dishes. I am trying to figure out a reason to call them back to find out how to get stains out of my living room carpet.

Wish me luck!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Memories of Eddie

I come from a large family even though I only have one sister. My grandparents had 8 kids, three girls and 5 boys. My dad grew up during the depression. He has told us stories of growing up and their family was close and pulled together. My grandfather bought a pony and would take it around the neighborhood taking pics of kids on it on the weekends.

They went on to give them 31 grandkids. We were just as close growing up also. I remember spending lots of time with my cousins. Spending the night at each others houses too. I was the 8th oldest out of the bunch. My cousin Julie was my best friend growing up since we were only a few weeks apart in age. Her oldest brother, Rich, has always been my hero. Julie and I were playing at the top of the stairs at my grandmothers house with her new puppy. Needless to say, I tripped over it's leash and took a header down the stairs. Rich was the one who carried me into the house all bloody. Eddie and his brother Bill heralded our arrival with "we didn't do anything grandma!"

Eddie was always there. The oldest of the grandkids. Our leader. I always thought he was so much older than me, but it was only by 6 years. It was always fun to be around him when I was younger. He was honest and said what was on his mind. He was strong and yet gentle. He joined the Marines after high school and loved it.

While he was in the Marines he had a breakdown. It ended up that he was discharged from the Marine Corps that he loved so much. He was diagnosed as being schizophrenic. Here was a wonderful person, a brother, a son, a cousin, a grandson trapped in a world that wasn't his. His mind stole so much from him, but worst of all it stole his future. It also weakened his body. The medications designed to help him weakened him. His heart, which was always strong, gave out. The body trapped by his mind could not take no more. He was 54 and now 6 years does not seem like such a big difference.

I still mourn for the life that was lost. The life that should of loved and been loved. The life that should of influenced the world through children of his own. He deserved so much and received so little. He was the first of the grandchildren to bring joy and tears. It will be a sad reminder of how the diseases of the mind can rob a life.

It is also a lesson on how strong a family is. It was comforting to be surrounded by family during this sad time. Even though the structure has fallen apart since my grandmother died, it was comforting to have cousins supporting cousins. The holidays may be overshadowed by his passing, but the spirit is alive with the support of family.

I have and always will love you Eddie.