A Day’s Work
We all have habits, honed over years of trial and error, mundane routines which keep us centred. Mine largely involve buckets, plastic boxes and canisters, each arranged according to task: I have a collection for kitchens (scouring cream, disinfecting floor wash, a brush and a pack of cloths), for bathrooms (limescale remover, bleach, scouring cream, brushes, wipes and an old toothbrush), for upstairs and downstairs (polish and a cloth, brass cleaner, silver dip). Each I will take, do the job and carefully put everything back, ready to move on to the next.
You may notice a repeated bottle of scouring cream, this is not a mistake. I learned long ago how much easier it was to have multiple products, rather than trying to keep tabs on where I last used the glass cleaner, say, or the hard brush. Each container relates to the room I am in, creating a collection of memorable moments (however mundane) - as I scan the aisles of the supermarket later, I can remember what needs topping up, restocking or replacing. I know it sounds anal, but over the years I have learned this approach requires the least thought, and is least likely to result in - disaster! - the discovery of something missing half way through doing a room. While I have dared to filch a brush from another box on occasion, a lingering feeling of doubt remains until order is restored.
Or worse, a long trip back to the van. Some of my houses are huge, so ten minutes there and back can put me on the back foot for the rest of the day. Such incidents are rare, fortunately. I’ve been cleaning them for long enough to know what to expect, what rooms will need more work than others, where to allow a little extra time. Habits, again.
Right now I’m At Mr Sharif’s house. I don’t suppose he would call it that, it’s more of a mansion. A residence, maybe. Or a pad - “Come over to my pad.” It takes a while to get up the drive. Not the main drive, you understand - I was quickly and politely informed of the second entrance, the driveway which meanders past outbuildings before emerging onto a side road. Mr Sharif uses the same route as well, more often than not; the main, tree-lined, carefully trimmed drive is mostly for visitors, it seems.