Not The Kind Of Day I Look Forward To Or Enjoy…

I had been dreading today for weeks now (i.e. procrastinating) and I have, unfortunately, done everything that I could to postpone, delay, and generally ignore the issue for too long. Of course, every time I did that things got a little worse with a little more dust collecting in the corners. Today, like many times before, we finally took the time to clean the apartment. Well, at least most of it as there is still about twenty five square feet that is still unusable as a result of the delays in getting the leak ‘fixed’. It’s only been about six weeks (or more).

Anyway, even with that section of the apartment out of commission, there was still plenty of areas that needed to be addressed and sorting projects that needed to be checked off the list. What was a little different this time was that we were both finally ready to get a handle on the problem so we were able to go back and forth getting small things done one after the other. Of course, I made sure that my wife had a few projects to do where she could sit at the dining table which was were much of the sorting took place.

As a result of this deep dive into the dust and unsorted mess, we found a number of things that we had both forgotten about as they were set aside for one reason or another to be dealt with at a later time. From books, to papers, to cloths, we had a variety of such discoveries and now they have been put back where they are supposed to be and where they are readily accessible. However, one of the things that is all too common is the realization of how much crap you have accumulated and how many things should have been thrown away but, for some reason, weren’t.

Between cleaning and sorting out the crap, I hauled nine trash bags to the dumpster throughout the day. Also, as is a natural result of our deep cleanings, we set aside a few bags of things that we will be giving away and a few items that we will be selling (mostly books and DVD’s). It was just one of those times when we realized that we hadn’t been missing them and haven’t taken them off the shelf for such a long time that it wasn’t worth the limited space to keep them. I am sure there will be more stuff once we are able to complete the cleaning and sorting (see roadblock above).

So now, after some sweeping, vacuuming, and dusting, I am finally taking the time to relax for the day knowing that this project is far from over. In addition to the things that we need to take care of in the main living space we still have piles of laundry to do and an entire office to sort. But, we made progress and the apartment does feel a lot better than when we got up this morning. Finally, there seems to be an end in sight.

Where Is The Sanity In Sanitation?

This past week I came across a quote that, unlike other times when I have read similar statements, got me thinking. West side artist Art Schmaltz, who turns trash donated by friends and strangers into sculptures, said the following:  "I’ll wake up in the morning and say, ‘Oh, look at that! There’s a bucket of junk. Let’s get to it!’" It is just one of those little tidbits that you stumble upon… I have no idea how I got to the site to read the quote but here it is.

We all know there are plenty of buckets of being pitched this week with the question of whether any of it can be salvaged and made into something useful or, at the very least, appealing. The ideas and perspectives have been a polarizing force in this nation and it makes one wonder if there is a middle ground, a meshing of the trash found on each side that can bring to fruition something that is palatable to the general public. At this point, I sincerely doubt it.

It is one thing to deal with junk like in a junkyard where bits and pieces can be culled from the heaps of rust and given new life. Sometimes you don’t need a new part to make a car run. Will it be as efficient as a new one, probably not but it is cheaper and there is a chance that it could work quite well. That is not what we are dealing with today.

Garbage even has its benefits. Allowing an idea to breakdown and serve as compost for future concepts is not necessarily a bad thing. However, you have to keep in mind that compost piles, like the federal government, contain a lot of crap.

Trash is essentially useless. It doesn’t offer anything of value in its present state nor will it break down and serve as fertilizer for future legislation. Trash is trash. It is a blight that effects us all and leads to such situations like the one we find ourselves in right now… too much trash in a landfill and you will have to cover it up as best you can and move on to someplace else.

Both the current legislation and the tactics being utilized by both parties are more harmful to the political environment than dumping barges of Styrofoam into the Chesapeake Bay. You can say it’s a good thing and that it would offer wildlife free floatation devices but at some point you have to call them on their bull burgers and then you have to deal with a massive clean up knowing that things will never return to 100%. Trash is trash and we no longer have enough sanitation workers to handle the problem.   

Disturbing Facebook Trash

Take your time and let that quote for this week sink in for a minute or two.

The above quote has been circulating for the last couple of weeks around the internet and has garnered a lot of well deserved negative attention because, while it is someone’s right to feel that way, it makes it no less an insult to the men and women who have fought to preserve that right. This little girl (I can’t disrespect all women by calling her a woman) is a shameful excuse for a human being and should consider herself lucky to have people who fight for her and the country that allows her to spew such hate.

However, the latest twist to this post is that the woman is claiming that someone posted it to her wall as a means of bullying her. I honestly hope that this is true and that she is a victim in this whole situation. Either way, I feel sorry for the woman from whose account this garbage originated. Either she is an uneducated piece of trash trying to back track and save face by being a lying, disrespectful, unappreciative, "attention whore" or she is someone who surrounds herself with people who would post such vial filth that goes beyond the bullying of one by dishonoring thousands.

Unfortunately, it is well known that the sentiments expressed in that Facebook post are not limited to one individual. Too many people hold such a sickening view of our soldiers while praising the politicians who send them to fight. Why are our soldiers viewed with such disdain and our politicians are seen as the ones “saving lives”? How does that make sense? Why can’t people think beyond the uniform?

Here’s a change in tactics. How about we find the person who posted this comment (whether it was the little girl or someone else) and charge them with a hate crime. There can be no doubt that there is pure hatred behind those words. How does that sound as a proper and balanced course of action? What are your thoughts?