Sunday, January 9, 2011

There's Dirt and Then . . .

Greetings from the Iceberg crew! That's what Tom is calling the building after failing yet another gas company inspection. I can't imagine how much this would all cost if we didn't have Tom's expertise and had to hire it all out but I'm sure grateful we don't! Rumor has it the inspection this week might fare a bit better although if successful it still won't bring all the furnaces online. The back apartment equipment has been 'red tagged' meaning it's unsafe and can not be hooked up without more repairs but we might see gas in the store area and upstairs apartments. I'm being careful to separate gas from heat as there's no actual guarantee the furnaces will fire up. Of course there's no reason to jinx things and think they won't but still, lets be realistic here LOL

Like most bad news the continuing gas line troubles have had their own silver lining. Tom discovered last week that many of the water pipes are broken or even missing and saved us from a not so happy flood. Of course given the cold weather we'd likely have had more ice than water making it even more of a blessing he discovered it. We expected a few leaks, some even major, but not the current condition. It looks like the plumbing was in the process of repair, stopped half way through and then the effects of time and abandonment took over. Our current wish list now reads: gas, heat, cold water and someday far on the horizon, hot water. Given the supply problems this could be the longest cleaning project ever LO

On the plus side the 'cleaning crew' made short work of the built up stuff and trash last Wednesday. Sorry not to have any pictures to share but it was just too cold! Even had the camera lens not frosted up my fingers were way too stiff to push the button LOL Brandie, her brother DJ and I gathered in the early morning chill and started hauling anything left in the building out to the back workshop. I didn't keep track of the number of trips but we worked steadily for almost 2 hours marching like ants back and forth between back room and workshop. It wasn't heavy work for the most part, just lots of little things that had to be carried individually. I'd actually thought it would take much longer but by lunchtime the storefront rooms were completely clear of trash, stereos and other electronics. The temperature inside was hoovering around 19 degrees so I skipped the sweeping and took the crew out for a steak lunch. I'd already had one experience with the cleaning and wasn't in a hurry for a second LOL

I mentioned in the last post that I was buying a vacuum for the place and I did. It's a really nice one too! Big, lots of power, bag-less and with a separate filter. Good thing too! I headed down bright and early one morning hoping to get the piles of dust knocked down and came face-to-face with the sheer amount of dirt in the place. Not even dirt but bales of pet hair and dust so thick you make one pass with a Swiffer and it's useless LOL I'll admit too that I'm a bit blond. One of my tasks last week was to take down all the globes from the overhead fan lights in the store, wash them and clean the fan blades. First off our ladders are way too short so that I had to stand on tip toes to even reach the lights. Visions of Tom finding me days later frozen to the floor after falling off the ladder convinced me to wait on the job but not before I had tried to clean one fan. No lie at all, a brand new Swiffer couldn't cut even one fan blade! The job is going to require goggles and a mask there's so much dust built up. I turned my attention to the carpet and started the vacuum up but almost immediately the filter clogged. I could do maybe a 4x4 foot section and I'd have to empty the thing and bang the dust out of the filter! I don't think the men will get this so much as the women but when you're vacuuming and empty the cup or bag you've got bits and pieces and then this soft, fine stuff. Like powdered dirt. I have one-third of a large black trash bag full of that fine dust just from one room! I took dirt cup and filter home to wash and 15 minutes under running water later it was reasonably clean. I'm figuring it will take at least two more sessions with a vacuum in that room before we quit sneezing LOL

The day after we hauled the stuff out I got a bit smarter and swept the place down with a broom first. The shop area was full of bits of wires, screws and other metal pieces all hidden under rolls of what I thought was carpet fuzz. Turns out it's dog hair. Either that or the owners had a very, very large cat LOL The back workshop has a dog door though so I'm guessing a rather large and obviously very hair mutt. I love dogs, used to share my home with several, but geesh this place couldn't have been vacuumed or swept for years given the amount of hair! The building was empty for two years but not abandon, it had windows and doors and was secure and all that so it's not like wild animals have been nesting in it. You'd never know the difference though with all the sweeping I've been doing LOL After three days of cleaning I had to wash my coat. Not wanted to, which I did, but literally had to it was that full of dust. Poor Pouncer, my cat with allergies, sneezes himself silly when I walk in the door from working over at the cauldron and no amount of water or cola washes away that dirt taste in my mouth. I suggested to Tom that we use a pressure washer on the back rooms - heated! - and he thinks I'm crazy. Really though, this is some serious dirt now! LOL Think scoop shovel rather than dust pan ; )

For me the next week brings a lull as there's little more I can do without heat and at least cold water. Tom's tired and tired of being cold as well as wanting to move on to a new puzzle but he's in a good mood about it all and enjoying the challenge still. I'm completely enjoying working there and nudging the place back to life and while I haven't yet learned too much about the renovation business I've found a lot of blessings there. It's a good building that deserves a new life and our hopes for it are good. And each day when I'm working there shivering in the cold I'm reminded to be very grateful that I'm just working there and have a nice warm home to go to when I leave. Not all of us have that and I like having that blessing pointed out to me. It's very easy sometimes to think we have it bad or have problems and we sometimes get so caught up in our own small world that we forget all the very good things we have. Not a bad start to the lessons I'll learn from the cauldron, huh?

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