My computer has ants.
I opened my laptop and 15 ants scurried to safety under the jkl; and the asdf. My first instinct was to brush them off, but they were too fast for me. My second instinct was to type on the keys really hard and kill them in their hiding places.
I now realize that only means I'll have 15 dead ants in my computer forever. I'm just waiting for the ants to eat all my files and chew my photos to shreds. Tomorrow I'll wake up and they'll be making a colorful anthill next to my dead laptop. In matte finish.
My car had ants once. That was not a good day.
In other news, I am beginning to discover the uselessness of my procrastination. For example, I abhor putting the wet clothes from the washer into the dryer. It is a foul chore. I always have to pull really hard to loosen the jeans from their wet, heavy grip and then I end up banging up my knuckles in the process.
I hate this chore so much, I often put it off too long and have to re-wash the clothes to get the moldy smell off. It puts me in a bad mood, those wet clothes. They make my laundry room smell and my knuckles bleed. But it has to be done. So I decided to time myself to see how long this horrible, awful, back-breaking task actually takes.
28 seconds.
That's right, I spend hours (sometimes even days) putting off this most despised chore. All to avoid 28 seconds of work. Granted, the work is grueling. But it could be worse: I could not have a washer at all. Or a dryer. Or clothes.
What dreaded task are you putting off? I dare you to time yourself. What have you got to lose? Even if it ends up taking longer than you think, at least it's done.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
marching ants and moldy clothes
Todays topic:
a mess
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74 comments:
I despise that part of doing laundry too!!! :( But I mostly put off cleaning the bathroom...sooooo not fun.
we have been invaded by ants too. i think it's all the rain. but not in the computer yet!
i hate that job too. that's why i make milo do it. we have the front loaders though which make it easier for him to reach. and guess what, he thinks it's fun!
"Or clothes." Ha! Yes, much to be thankful for. I don't mind the laundering part of laundry, it's the putting away that does me in. About once a week I try to go around the house and collect all the folded piles and put them in their rightful place. It's awful going, "Now where is that shirt?" and having to remember where I last folded it. So BAD!
I am currently putting off...going to bed.
Laundry - yuck! My least favorite chore.... But yet, I am thankful for a washing machine and dryer - that is for sure!
I dread putting away the laundry. We have nice, neat folded little piles all over the bedroom. It takes me walking in the room and feeling disgusted enough to put them away. But then again at my house, my arms are the only ones that work, someone else's (who will remain nameless) just remain broken!
Laura :)
Oh yes, laundry is tough, but for me the "putting away" is the worst part. SO, I have taken a big short cut that works like a charm. Unless it's towels, sheets, underwear, or socks, EVERYTHING else gets hung up. I hang t-shirts, shorts, anything that can possibley go on a hanger! It is so much easier to "hang" clothes rather than to "fold" clothes!
Now, my least favorite chore of all is grocery shopping! All the list making, deciding what to make for dinner each night, shopping for the food, carrying it all inside, putting it all away...it is enough to warrant a nap!
But, in the end, I am BLESSED to have these chores to do, and after my mom's diagnosis, I don't take any of it for granted!
My computer has had ants too! On two different occasions when we were visiting family, I laid my laptop in the floor next to the bed, and even when I haven't seen a SINGLE ant around, they somehow come out of the woodwork, literally, and are attracted to my computer like a magnet. For hours afterward, I'd be typing and they'd crawl out from under my keys! I'd try as fast as I could to pluck them off from between my keys before they crawled back into the inner workings. It's a bit freaky. I've learned my lesson...I never put my laptop in the floor when we are visiting!
Why the heck would ants be in your computer!?! As Maile would say...that's deesgusteeng.
Sounds like you need an ant trap...hop to it.
The chore I hate is putting laundry away...I bet it takes about five minutes to put a load of clothes in their respective spots.
I'm lazy.
First I have to tell you that I have survived a year with no washer & dryer, we've had to use the laundromat. And it SUCKED! But it's almost over.
The part I hate is folding the clothees & putting them away. Blah!
WOW! I'm not alone. And I thought I was the only one who left piles of clean, folded washing all over the house. I hate hanging it on the line, especially all the little things like socks and undies. So I have to admit that more than once since we've gotten out new dryer, that's where the wet clothes go...just because I'm feeling lazy. I know...not environmentally friendly. I don't do it too much and I do like the smell of washing that's been sun dried. One thing that I do is fold the washing as I take it off the line, so then all I have to do is put it in it's piles and if I don't do that, then at least it doesn't get all crinkly from being dumped in a basket all week.
I put off everything that I wish I had servants to do it for me. Like cleaning the house (and car) and folding the laundry and doing our finances and nannying the kids and preparing meals and dejunking all. my. crap. Oh, I guess that's my own job.
I think I'm just really, really lazy. And addicted to blogging.
See, I love the laundry. Adore it even. I relish gathering the soiled garments and making them magically clean again. I love to fold it all in little piles on the king sized bed.
What do I hate? Doing dishes. There is a stack in the sink right now which I should really just go wash. The speech therapist will wash her hands in my sink this afternoon, and I'll get home about 4.3 seconds before her arrival. Apparently some magical dish-washing fairy will do them sometime today while I'm at work.
I do love the timer though.
I put off putting back my bathroom rugs for two weeks. I walked past them at least thirty times, as they were on the dryer, just waiting for me. Then, when I finally put them back, I thought to myself, "why don't you just do it when you see it?" I answered self, "that would be way too easy!"
Laundry is no fun. I especially dislike folding it all. I can put it in the dryer and put the folded laundry away, but I don't like folding it!
What I really don't like is emptying the dishwasher. But then dirty dishes pile up in the sink and nothing bugs me more than a sink full of dirty dishes. Sad that a pet peeve is connected to something I dread doing...
oh the ants!
it takes me 4 minutes to dry my hair and many days {yesterday} I put off taking a shower so I can avoid the dreaded huge task of drying my hair.
4 minutes people--it's so worth it, why don't I just do it?
oh, because I'm reading your blog instead.
I'm a new reader. Love your blog - love your sista's blog. Love that you two blog about each other - how fun.
I put off cleaning my bathroom - it takes about 7 minutes - unless I mop. 7 minutes. I waste 7 minutes staring in the fridge everyday.
Amber! Now I feel so much better because your laptop had ants once too. Same thing: I put it on the floor overnight. Unfortunately I wasn't "visiting" as you say. Unless you count my living room as visiting? But there are no ants anywhere. Except in the computer. Nice.
Dude, the putting away of the laundry, especially hanging up the clothes, almost makes me want to cry. My remedy? Not to time it and realize my silliness; I just get my husband to do it when he comes home. :)
I thought I was the only one that got bloody knuckles from banging my hand into the fabric softener cup at the top of the washing cylinder. Those stupid wet clothes just get so tangled in there. Towels and jeans ARE the worst. I HATE that chore. I think I have a washer full of moldy clothes as we speak. I supposed you have inspired me. I suppose I'll go rewash the clothes now...but I can't promise I'll actually move them to the dryer.
I hate cleaning the mirrors in the bathrooms. First of all, there are ALWAYS spots all over it, and I have no idea whether it's toothpaste spatter, hairspray, water spots, or some unknown dried-on plague-like substance. When I spray on the Windex, it becomes evident which spots are hairspray because they don't come off. I literally have to scrape those off with my finger nails, which is nasty. There are always too many of them and I quit and get fed up before they're all off. Even when the mirror looks clean, it's still not, and those left-over hairspray spots stand out even more. I DREAD this task.
This post made me laugh...I have banged many of knuckles on wet jeans. I dislike putting the laundry away..I can wash and dry..but make me fold and put away..ugh!
-Sandy toes
At least it wasn't spiders...*shudder*
I have the same 28 second problem. But mine is more than likely caused by not having any room in the dryer because there's no room in the basket, and so on, and so on... : )
It's all about perspective and I have to say you have put it in perspective for me.LOL
I don't detest laundry. I hate to say, I rather like laundry. I hate doing the bathrooms. It's just so gross to me!!
my laundry is my dreaded task, but its the whole shebang... from sorting to putting away. i did 7 loads this weekend to get close to being caught up (we're in that dreaded switch between spring/summer- to -fall/winter when you have to put the out of season clothes away and get the next season out and everything needs to be washed. blah.)... i think it took longer than 28 seconds though.
oh, you should try some canned air for your keyboard. i think it will freeze them, at the very least it will blow them out of the keyboard. hope they aren't in the rest of your computer.
I dread scrubbing the kitchen floor to get all of the food off of it that my toddler "accidently" drops from his chair. Yucky stuff.
The reason I often put off putting the clothes in the dryer is knowing I'll just have to fold/hang them shortly after. I too have waisted oceans of water rewashing my moldy smelling clothes, glad to know I'm not alone. :) Other tasks I despise... washing the counters, cleaning the bathroom and sweeping the floors.
I hate cleaning the bathroom. I don't mind the toilet bowl, but I hate the rest of it, and the shower, tub, mirrors, and sinks. Thankfully, that's one area my husband happily takes care of!
I used to leave the laundry in the washer until we got our new ones. They are front load and they make that horrible task much easier. They are easy to access, sin the clothes so dry that my jeans aren't heavy. Plus if you leave them in the washer it makes the clothes and the washer stink... so I just turn up the washer to a "heavy spin" and let it do the work. Then my jeans and knuckles feel better... now if only the dryer would put up the clothes that would be great!
I hate cleaning the bathroom. I don't mind the toilet bowl, but I hate the rest of it, and the shower, tub, mirrors, and sinks. Thankfully, that's one area my husband happily takes care of!
I used to leave the laundry in the washer until we got our new ones. They are front load and they make that horrible task much easier. They are easy to access, sin the clothes so dry that my jeans aren't heavy. Plus if you leave them in the washer it makes the clothes and the washer stink... so I just turn up the washer to a "heavy spin" and let it do the work. Then my jeans and knuckles feel better... now if only the dryer would put up the clothes that would be great!
I despise cleaning my baseboards. I suppose if the dusty mess came off easily it would be ok, but our baseboards are not smooth...they are bumpy and the dust sticks to them. Worse, it I swipe at it with a damp cloth, it just turns black. So I actually have to get a bucket of hot water, my favorite Mr. Clean, a sponge and scoot my butt all around the house washing those ding dang things. YUCK and double YUCK.
I also, too as well, do not enjoy the knuckle scraping that comes with pulling the dreaded jeans fromt he washer. So now I mix only 2 pair of jeans into a load of wash. Yes, it takes forever to get everyone's jeans clean, but my knuckles are happy. And yes, I have to rewash loads after they've sat too long. Towels seem to be the ones to get the shaft around here. Or sometimes I will start the washer, put soap in and go to get a load. Then I forget what I was doing and I'll go back a day later to find a full of water but void of clothing washer. What can I say...it aint easy being over 40! This memory thing....wait...what was I saying?
Oh I hate that last load of laundry in the dryer. I always seem to "forget" it and it stays in there having to be reheated for wrinkles anytime one of us needs something. Usually I take them out a week later when I'm ready to start the next round of laundry. It's a vicious cycle that will never end.
Hugs...Summer
UGH. Cleaning floors. I do it. I hate it. I loathe it. I curse the floors.
That and cleaning out the fridge.
Incidentily, these are both on my list of things to do today.
bleh.
I too do not like doing laundry. Especially the folding of said laundry. It makes me shiver just to think about it!
there are so many to choose from:
mopping
loading/unloading the dishwasher
cleaning out my car...
i timed the mopping. having tile throughout my house, it actually took me an hour. (mainly b/c my OCD makes me change the mop water as soon as it looks icky)
as for the dishwasher, sometimes I have to hunt for a clean utensil in the dishwasher b/c i have yet to unload it.
don't get me started on the car. a family of four could live for a month on the stale cheerios in my daughter's carseat!
thanks for giving me another reason to procrastinate...reading your bloggy!
I will start new loads and switch loads all day...please dont make me fold any clothes!! I hate folding clothes. These people who love it are crazy. They tell me the get a sense of satisfaction seeing the pile shrink; I just think we have too many clothes and how can they all get dirty so fast!
Worse then that I hate doing the dishes! I will ignore them for days. The funny thing is that I love to bake. So as soon as I do the dishes I start baking! So really the only way to diet is to ignore the dishes!
By the way, I love your blog. It is so inspiring. Thanks!
The only reason I can stand doing the laundry (every two days in our house) is, here's my secret, I have my teenager put them away. So if you don't have one, get one. :)
(Warning: they consume inordinate amounts of food, though, so you better love grocery shopping.)
The task I hate: bathrooms. Dishes. Ironing. Ugh.
For me, it's the putting away of the laundry. I don't mind washing it and folding it, but then it will sit for days in the laundry basket in my bedroom until I need the basket again for the next load of dirty clothes. Timing yourself was actually really helpful...I should try that sometime!
Carrie
I thought I was the only one that hated this part of laundry, well I hate doing all parts of laundry, but really this part. I have wasted so much water, detergeant, and really time just because I have to rewash the clothes. I love the smell of nice clean clothes, though. By the way I am from NC as well and have one of those lovely Starbucks in my local Target, who knows maybe we are shopping at the same one.
The chore I put off....the WHOLE cleaning thing in general. My fondest wish is to someday have a maid...and not the little French tart maid my hubby keeps telling me I can get.....no no no...a big burly kick ass maid who blows through my house and leaves everything in her wake all sparkly and fresh!
I have several....
folding laundry - hate it.
vacuuming - can't stand it
any kind of floor care - despise it.
Am I really suited for this stay-at-home job that I have.....
I guess I do enough to get by.
My dreaded chore is unloading/re-loading the dishwasher, all of which took me about 2 minutes last time I timed myself (for the very same reasons you described in your post)!
Oh! Try some of that canned/compressed air stuff and see if you can BLOW the ants out!
I've been putting off writing up a preliminary retention plan for our college students here at work for about 3 weeks now. Originally I had being “too busy” as my respectable excuse, but now things have slowed down and I just keep moving it to the next day to start. Bad Joy!
ahhh...with 7 people to do laundry for, 6 of which are girls, so that actally means we have the amount of laundry for 13 people, because we all know that girls go through AT LEAST twice as many clothes as boys, and so....I shall admit, that I have to rewash at least 2 to 3 loads of laundry a week. If I put a load in to wash overnight, it WILL sit there until at least the next evening, if not the next. So, why do I keep trying to wash clothes overnight? I have high hopes for myself, I suppose. Though I will say that what I hate even more is putting the clothes away....I refuse not to do it because putting away more than 2loads of laundry for 7, I mean 13 people is pure hell. Hell, I tell you. And, as for the dishes...I HATE putting them away after the dishwasher is done. So, I am glad to have a 12 year old that can reach all the cabinets. I have tricked her into thinking she has the easy part of the dishes!!hehe...I load, she puts away....little does she know!
ps. sorry for the long comment! Good subject and I can make myself stop!
I do the exact same thing. I hate doing laundry and ironing. My husband always asks me why it takes me days to do the laundry. I just don't know why. The other day I stopped to think how much extra water and detergent I waste by having to rewash the clothes that I failed to put into the dryer simply because I was lazy. Too much. Then I thought about the awful smell that sometimes take several washes to get out. Needless to say, I am trying to get better about this.
My shower, I hate cleaning it with a passion. I feel like I just about have to get into my swimsuit to do it, because by the time it's all said and done, I'm usually soaked. Is is bad that I'm almost getting used to ants. I really don't know how to kill them, everyday I vacume them up. It's not like I can put out Ant Killer with three kiddos. Hopefully they will go away with the cold weather.
Baseboards? We're supposed to clean those...hee hee...and relishing laundry - I need an infusion of her blood. I whole heartedly agree with the putting away part. It's so overwhelming...even with the kids help. And then it's entering into the dreaded room full of three teen/preteen boys full football uniforms. Have you ever smelled a teenage boy after 2 1/2 hours of practice in the hot, NC sun. I am sliding into smell depression as I type. I better go light some fragrant candles and head into the abyss.
folding them and putting them away!
ugh.
i would rather have a huge pile in the living room of clean clothes than put them away.
i'll go do it now.
I have wet clothes in the washer now! I know exactly what you mean about the dang jeans! You would think they had 8 octopus legs the way they get tangled with everything else! I have also been known to wash a load THREE times to get rid of the dank smell from leaving them in their too long! I also have clean clothes folded in piles on my living room floor 360 days a year... My kids don't even look in their drawers or closet, they just come to the living room rug every morning... *sigh* I do not like laundry!
I agree with putting clothes into the dryer. I actually just "fluff" some of my stuff and then hang dry it and that takes even longer. I also don't love emptying the dishwasher. Love to load it and get the dishes put in there, but not loving the unloading part.
I dread the ironing. It piles up on me when I procrastinate and takes for-ever. I timed myself yesterday and it took me 15 minutes to do 2 shirts and 1 1/2 pants.
I try to make it fun by watching The Office while ironing. I really need season 4. . .
My sympathies are with your poor, scraped knuckles. I have done that myself many times. Three boys and a husband combined with winter in Minnesota makes for many loads of wet, heavy jeans and often scraped knuckles. But at least it's over quickly! ;) And think how much more your knuckles would be scraped if you had to use a washboard instead of a washing machine! Now I'll be laughing to myself about that every time I switch a load of laundry.
So many things - definitely folding laundry. However my hubby does it during football season - I don't fuss about football if he fold clothes while he watches ("No honey its fine, watch the third game). It's a win-win.
I hate cleaning out clothes. I have a huge Goodwill stack that I need to "go through". Some of it is trying stuff on, but making the decision that I really won't use/need again can be maddening!
Unloading the dishwashers. And then all the dirty dishes just pile up!!
And it is ironic because I LOVE my dishwasher. I lived several months without one and I absolutely hated it!!
But I still don't like unloading the thing.
I hope your ants go away. You may want to spray bug killer because they were probably scout ants who will bring more back.
Oh Emily!
I laugh outloud. I seriously just sniffed a tablecloth and got a whiff of that telltale smell. As I reset the washer I contemplated the amount of $, x, and effort I waste just because I'm too darn lazy to move the stuff from one location to the next. Now I'll know how long it would actually take me and I'll have GUILT added to that equation. I don't imagine it will bring about much change.
Oh, and I waited patiently for the punchline of your ant story until I read Amber's account and realized you must have been serious. And totally wigged out. Ants are seriously gross.
Seriously.
Yes, I said it again for dramatic effect.
ironing! I hate ironing! Oh wait! I don't! I take them to the local cleaners :)
My problem is not DOING the laundry, it is folding it and putting it away. Ughhh...
I'd have to say dishes are my downfall. My hubby likes to cook (bless his little heart), and he's a good cook. I just wish he didn't have to use EVERY pot, pan and plate in the house for every meal. It's like a carousel of dirty dishes around here. It used to take me 3 hours + to do dishes each day, but now that we've got a dishwasher, it takes me about 15 minutes per load (x about 3 loads every time he cooks). Thank heavens for small blessings!
I thought of one more. Filling ice trays. 54 seconds (faster if I run the water faster - but that wastes water). I looked at these for two days and now I will have a warm soft drink or cool tap water for lunch.
I do the same thing with the wet laundry. My excuse is that it would be so much easier if our laundry room was up on the first floor (or even the second floor!)
I really don't like to empty the clean dishwasher. I almost always set the timer becasue I know it takes less than 5 minutes to finish the job. (if there are no distractions!)
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition! I am SO glad to hear I am in good company with all of you gals!
I timed myself today on my "put it off chore" of making the bed . . . 1 minute and 48 seconds later I was laughing and thanking you out loud for your post!
That's so funny...I guess that is a common gripe for many of us. I too have had to rewash a few loads to get that icky smell off of them after a day in the washer! We'll have to remember...it's just 28 seconds.
Cleaning the shower. I. hate. scrubbing. the. shower. door.
I hate it I hate it I hate it.
I haven't actually timed myself, but I have thought - ok this job will only take 2 minutes. Why on earth do I put it off? My least favorite thing to do in the house is vacuuming the stairs - though I don't know why.
I forget clothes in the washer way too much. To get rid of the mold smell, wash them again, but pour vinegar in the softener section. Works like a charm!
Mere
Oh, for Heaven's sake - I hate that chore too. I am a very bad procrastinator. It really ends up costing me more time. Now I sound like my mother who was always telling me that it took less time to do it right the first time.
Sigh...
we have dumb.stupid.ants too.
and I have I hate every step of laundry itis. specifically switching clothes. and I don't mind folding. but I hate putting them away.
also, apparently today, I can't be bothered with making and punctuating complete sentences.
but I'm happy to be catching up on your blog. I've missed you :)
I just found your blog. Its such a beautiful blog.
my biggest procrastinations are 1) making coffee (82 seconds) and 2)filing papers (one millenium).
my biggest I-hate-to-do-chore is cleaning out the cat boxes. Gross! That one doesn't get put off for too long or ELSE.
So true about timing the task!
I hate dishwashing and do NOT do it after every meal. No way, Jose.
I found out that I can do 15 minutes of steady dishwashing every night and keep the dishes from taking over my counters and table.
Plus, I listen to podcasts to make it more enjoyable.
We had ants in my daughter's closet and the kitchen about a month ago. They are persistent little bougars!
Laundry and ironing are actually my favorite household chores even though I have to actually go outside to a utility room in the freezing cold or scorching heat to do laundry. Does that make you feel better?
However, when it comes to cleaning a bathroom or mopping a floor (or sometimes even cooking) I could put those off forever- except of course for the scuzzyness it would create. I need to do the timer thing because in my mind they take years of time and Herculean strength to accomplish. I think I keep putting them off hoping that one day a maid will just drop onto my doorstep ready to tackle them for me forever. Or I have these crazy delusions that one of my teenagers will actually lift a finger to do something helpful that isn't on their chore list. Crazy thinking, I know!
OK, I didn't read all the comments, so forgive if this is a duplicate of anyone else. First of all, the chore I put off is putting away the clothes and cleaning out the kids' closets. Hate it!
Secondly, the answer for the ants is Terro. It is a little syrup made of corn syrup and Borax. You put a little puddle on a post-it note, leave it by your computer (or wherever you have the ants) and they will eat it and die. They share with their friends too. I like it because it is safe to have around and works pretty quickly. Look for a little orange and white package. Most stores carry it.
And lastly, I hated pulling my laundry out of the washer too until I got a front loader. Since it doesn't have that agitator in there, it doesn't hold onto the clothes and require tugging. They also don't get as tangled together. And you don't have to worry about the energy your dryer uses up because the drying time is usually cut by half or more. Yay!
Unloading the dishwasher. I don't know why I hate it but I do. Then loading it again. Like an endless loop of dirty dishes I can never escape.
oh I hear you sister!! too often I've had to rewash the load because of the delightful stench of being wet for days. oops!
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