Cleaning the Aftermath: Update 1

Today we had what I guess you could call a cleaning party. There were supposed to be four of us, but one guy couldn't make it due to vehicle issues. So it was just myself, Steve, and Brendan--a friend of mine from high school who knows Steve from karate.

Brendan is a great guy, and we were so thankful to have his help. Especially since he gave us plenty of giggles and memorable quotes.

We managed to get another bedroom under control, though not perfected, today; by working all together. It was soooooo gross too because there were used condoms on the floor. I don't think I've ever been so disgusted. And I can never look at the person who left them the same way again. In fact, if I see said person I may have to slap them... because that is just plain raunchy. Thank god for latex gloves, and no latex allergy.

After we got that room under control, we split up. Steve started scrubbing the showers, I cleaned up all the hallways (with a little help here and there from Brendan or Steve to tackle the garbage), and Brendan was a brave soul who rather than help myself or Steve exclusively, volunteered to do the kitchen.

I think he might regret it. >_>;

Aside from the bathrooms, the kitchen is by far the WORST room in the house. I don't know how many different types of mold are growing in there, but the dishes have been sitting in that sink for at least five months now. Steve's tenants didn't believe in doing the dishes until they had none left... which is gross. Really, really gross. How do I know Steve didn't dirty them? Because he was at my house or the dojo almost all the time. He wasn't home long enough to dirty anything. So... Brendan was the brave soul.

There wasn't much he could do though, since the hot water heater won't be hooked up until tomorrow. The tenants who had the hot water heater they bought to replace the one that broke knocked off their back rent payments went ahead and sold it in anger and split the money. So, my parents had an old one in our basement that we took out when we renovated, and they gave it to Steve. Just has to be hooked up.

In the mean time though, Brendan organized all the dirty dishes and threw out the trash. So that did a lot, and it doesn't smell as much.

Steve and I also walked around looking to see if we could find the missing bed frames, and instead discovered a desecrated American flag, a huge mess upstairs, realized that Bob peed all over his bed before vacating the room, and that Steve's father's antique and practically priceless 60s Sears motorcycle is gone from the back shed. In fact, most of that shed has been cleaned out. You couldn't even really walk into it before, and now it's empty. So when we're able to get in touch with the officer who is handling this report tomorrow, he's going to be getting quite the earful.

In the mean time, we have to go to the town hall and see about a dump permit, because not much more cleaning can happen until we can get rid of the accumulated trash. We're running out of places to store it, and the shed's not an option because it's all the way across the yard. For you who live in the city, it's not a small square. We're talking a good 100 yards away, and in the back yard nonetheless. It's just not worth the effort to haul them all out back there, only to have to haul them back to toss them. So, gotta dispose of the trash we have before we can throw out more.

Like I said previously though, Brendan provided us with some humorous quotes, so I shall share them now.

"It's officially the House of 1000 Stenches!"
"That kitchen was a life-altering event."
"There was powdery green mold in a pot! POWDERY!"
"I've never seen a banana rot to that point! I didn't know they could do that!"
"I smelled smells in there that I will never be able to un-smell."

And yet he offered to come back and help more. Loyal friends like him are hard to come by. So Mom has asked him to help her, since she offered to wash the dishes and the fridge, although we are responsible for cleaning the fridge out.

Please don't worry, either. We bought masks to protect ourselves from the mold.

So this is what we have left to do:
-Chunk of the Kitchen
-Workout Room
-Three and a half Bedrooms

Once we get that done, we'll begin thinking about furniture repairs and the likes.