The Cleaning Authority was at work today while I sat idly by and kept the pups out of their way. It always feels awkward being retired and watching other people work. I honestly tried my best to do the cleaning work these past couple of years, but apparently it wasn’t up to my wife’s standards. Hopefully, I’ll learn a few new tricks as I observe. Right now, I’ve got them scheduled for once a month, but once my wife does her inspection, it will probably expand to every other week. 

Today, they did a detailed clean of the kitchen, our three bathrooms, and a general freshening of the living areas, including baseboards and shutters. The next visit will entail deeper cleaning of the living and sleeping areas. along with the bathrooms and kitchen.  It seems to smell better when someone else does the cleaning, and hope the scent continues to linger until my wife gets home from the office. 

I just finished Michael Connelly’s Dark Sacred Night, involving a different kind of cleaning service. These were the people that serviced the homes where dead bodies were found. After a few days of ripening, the air apparently didn’t have the smell of fresh pine. Plus, blood stains are really hard to get-up, especially once it has dried.  I doubt that The Cleaning Authority does this kind of OSHA regulated work, but there are area options for trauma scene and bio-hazard cleaning. They wear space suits!

I’m headed down to Eugene tomorrow for the University of Oregon basketball game, about a 2-hour drive with a couple of friends. It’s the only mid-afternoon game of the year, suitable for us retirees. As is the case with most senior adventures, it includes a stop at the Salem hospital for a blood test.  I also need to pick-up a Christmas present downtown. We’ll then have some lunch, do some guitar shopping, and grab a front row seat since nobody else will probably be there. The students will be gone for the holidays so it really makes no logical sense why they scheduled this odd time of day. I guess we’ll find out why tomorrow, after the cleaning fluid smells have lost their presence in the air.