Ich bin Putzmann

  Cleaning day number Eins. One of the distinct advantages of a spartan apartment is that cleaning is a piece of small cake. How small is this place I'm talking about? I can essentially lie across the diagnol of my bathroom (shower stall included), and I can't really fit across my kitchen except when curled up almost to a ball. Thus, cleaning involves:
  a.) sweeping the tile and lino surfaces with a hand brush and dust-pan (< 10 mins)
  b.) hoovering the carpeted areas in the main room and down the hallway (15 mins tops)
  c.) mopping! (slowly and with love)

  I really do like mopping. Back at the homey pad in Santa Cruz, mopping was not our preferred (read 'not Mark's preferred') way to go since the mop was a pain to use, left a lot of water on the floor and needed a bucket. Instead, we paid our mop dues to the Swiffer® company, buying their WetJet® liquid, and patiently investing in their newest designs, which, of course, were rarely compatible with their older designs. I'm sure they had our best interest at heart.
  
  Mop technology is different here. Well, it still leaves a sheen of water on the floor, but that's nothing that a dry spell of 20 minutes won't fix. What got me was the fact that mops here are designed like Swiffers, with the swiveling pad and long ergonomic handle, but with nice, thick, mop-like, removable and washable pads that grab water and gunk gloriously like a mop should. The pad is large and can easily clean the un-carpeted surfaces of the entire apartment in one sitting. It is heavy, so it wipes off stains beautifully. And it's washable, and made to fit heads of different sizes. I say we have a winner.

  Also, there is space in the laundry room here to line dry ones clothes. Now, I'm a fan of this. Dryers are nice and all, but they are energy hogs and, why, line drying is being green and solar at its best. Plus, I like the smell of line-dried clothes myself. They smell crisper. So, yes, I will be drying my clothes on a line from now on, I do believe.

  Tomorrow, it's time for the Wiesn, so I'll call it an early night. I need to make sure my body is primed for all that beer. Cheers!