My Very Worst Moment At Work happened not in the office but at a Japanese restaurant where our senior manager took us for a departmental lunch. I was all set for the sushi. What I wasn't prepared for was the sunken tables that required everyone to take off their shoes. In my book, folks, shoes are a requirement in a public setting; everything else is pretty much optional, depending on weather conditions and local ordinances. But shoes! Please!
I tried explaining that my superpowers can only be accessed in heels, to no avail. And so there I was, a stately 5'8, suddenly transformed into a measly 5'4 in stocking feet. And my Quester co-worker who goes by the inscrutable name of JustChewy here on the Quest, took one long look down and just laughed and laughed.
At home, where my superpowers don't require heels, I'm content to be vertically challenged. Recently, though, I happened to look up and--holy smokes! Was it dirty up there! And so I thought I'd get busy on my spring cleaning extravaganza and decided to--yes!--clean every blessed thing within two feet of the ceiling.
I decided to start with the master bath, which is to say, the smallest room in the place. Tiny. Five-feet square. Can't get much smaller than that, which I immediately translated to: can't get much easier than that! Turns out I miscalculated just how much filth can accumulate on the tops of door frames, on the tops of the doors themselves, on the shower curtain rod, the shower head, the ceiling-mounted lamp, around air vents, and--most hatefully--on the ledge of ceramic molding surrounding the shower.
Above: Before. Yes, that's grime.
That ledge darn near killed me, folks, I'm not kidding. It's only by the grace of God that you're reading this post instead of my obituary right now. Olympic athletes don't break the sweat I did scrubbing that surround, nevermind the whole business took little more than a half hour. It felt like an eternity, and I'm giving myself 5 time clocks accordingly. But if you're really in that spring clean groove, try giving the near-ceiling area some undivided attention. It's amazing how much of a difference that extra cleaning made. I'm just going to take it one room at a time.
Above: After. Shiny clean!
