Thursday, February 10, 2005

Liquid guilt

It's raining.

Again.

In Palm Springs.

This is definitely the wettest winter I've spent here, and this is the sixth one in the Coachella Valley for me. Although it does remind me of another wet El NiƱo year I spent up in the high desert.


But I'm tired of the rain this year, in spite of how green the hills and mountains are and the explosion of wildflowers that is beginning here.

The rain makes me feel guilty.

My roof leaks when it rains. Right near one of the fire sprinkler outlets in the hall outside my bedroom. I need to tell the landlord about the leak, but (and here is where the guilt comes in) my apartment is, um, well, it's a mess. And I would be embarrassed for the manager or maintenance guy or whomever to see that. So I need to clean before I call the manager.

I'm a terrible housekeeper. I have a high tolerance for clutter and a lack of skills, and interest, in household chores. Every time I start to clean I get distracted. I stop part way through. My attention wanes. I find something else to occupy my time and my mind. I procrastinate.

It might explain why I'm still single. Can't invite hot chicks over to the swinging bachelor pad with piles of newspapers scattered about. Stacks of mail cluttering the counters.

Yuck.

OK, maybe I'll tidy up a bit before bed. But I feel a cold coming on. Maybe it's best to rest now and clean in the morning. Yea, that's the ticket. And I'll have more energy too.

Unless I'm sicker tomorrow.



2 comments:

MJ said...

ARG! I am so sick of this rain - and it's not over yet. A few days of reprive, then another storm. I know, bitch and moan, bitch and moan...

As for your leak, get it fixed. Those maintenance guys have seen far worse - trust me. But if will make you feel better, here's a tip. Get a garbage bag and start looking around for trash. Be brutal. Don't get hung up on recycling, garbage is garbage - get rid of it. Your goal is to throw away exactly 27 items, no more, no less. When you hit 27, tie up the bag and throw it away.

Ready? Now GO!

The G-man said...

An update. I followed your advice MJ and tossed out some stuff, greatly reducing the level of clutter. I didn't count, but there were more than 27 things.

Now I've been trying for 3 days to report the problem to my manager, but the office is always closed when I stop by. I finally called the office today (Wednesday) and of course got no answer, so I left a message on the answering machine.

Is it always so hard to do the right thing?

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