Oh magical mistresses of clean how badly my brother and his girlfriend need you!
My brother and his girlfriend recently rented a house in Santa Ana, CA. The house is small, fine for two people (and two dogs), though their kids when they visit will have to sleep in the living room.
The biggest problem is – the former tenants were PIGS!!!!
Apparently it was a mom and her son and they NEVER cleaned.
Not only was there great big hunking gobs of hair in the air/heat vents, but the window sills were encrusted with grime – the majority of the windows PAINTED SHUT I might add, the drawers disgusting.
But worse of all – MOUSE POOP!
They obviously knew about the mice because there were empty containers of DCon around, but they never made an effort to clean up the droppings. No, that’s what I did today.
We all pitched in but there’s still a long way to go. Mouse holes to plug. More shelves to clean and paint. The carpets need to be shampooed. The paint on the windows removed so they can actually be opened. Window frames repaired due to termite damage. Major flea infestation to be dealt with. Many, MANY large holes to patch in the fence, under the sink, etc. The entire bathroom needs to be retitled, floor and walls combined.
Oh, and one other thing. The son had a large dog that was hit by a car and killed. Instead of having the dog cremated he buried the dog in the backyard. Right where Paul wants to put his garden. Then immediately afterwards moved out.
So there’s this dog, about a month dead, buried back there, and no one willing to dig it up and remove it. Even though I can’t help but think at the very least someone might think of the health hazard of having a dead animal buried in the backyard. Surely wild animals scavaging would want to dig up the remains to eat on it. They’d also seep into the groundwater supply and taint it, I’m sure. Animal control won’t touch it, claiming that people have the right to bury pets in their backyard. The thing is, it’s not the dog’s owner’s backyard anymore. It’s my brother’s. Anyway the guy left less then a month after the dog died. He obviously didn’t care much for it. Otherwise he would’ve done what I did first with Bitty and then with Audrey when they died – have their remains cremated so I can always have them wherever I live.
Really, the house is an absolute sty. It’s too bad too because it’s a really old house. 1920s Craftsman I believe. The kind of place people need to keep up for historical reasons. It could be a showplace in the right hands.
Oh Kim and Aggie, leave your comfortable digs in England to come out and help prepare this place for my brother, his girlfriend, and their two dogs. Please! They want to move in by Sunday. So you have to leave like – right now – so you can at least be there to help finishing up all the cleaning by Saturday night.
Pretty please?
Tags: Aggie MacKenzie, How Clean Is Your House?, Kim Woodburn, moving, pigs, rental
July 7, 2009 at 7:49 pm |
Perfect!