Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Yet again.....

Huddled in the corner she sat, drenched in sweat
A lone bird on a leafless bark she saw outside
Her heart engulfed her as the lock turned ,
She detected movement, ceasing to exist momentarily
Bird outside scrambled to safety, and she turned
Her nightmare stared her in the face, yet again....

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Aaaarrrhh, Hmrrrrph!

The steam cleaners suggested by a good friend of ours were due to arrive any moment. I had called the main guy earlier, worked out the details and we geared up to meet up that afternoon at 3PM. Probably the only downslide to the intended job was this: they wouldn't move furniture.
Wouldn't move furniture? What did it imply?? Does that mean I will have to move apartments or worse hoard all my stuff on the street until they finished cleaning my apartment? What an insane statement?? Practically left with no choice, I agreed. Resigning to my fate, I started moving stuff around the house in ernest, of course with a few arghhhh and ooooo vocal subtleties to go alongwith!


The bathroom became the sole store-room for most stuff. Big boxes, a small stool, lights, school stuff, loose papers, this and that..... Laptops and camera were probably the only few which found an otherwise respectable place on the office table. Everything else was marked to be shoved into the only floored area of the apartment, the loos.

This being meticulously planned out,
the preparations for the great carpet cleaning began and I worked like a queen bee, relentlessly. Finally they arrived, and started with the office room. I took a close look and was delighted to find my carpet's shade lightening. I made sure nothing was in the way of their water tubes lest I spark 'its' anger. As he finished with one room, his eyes fell on the other bedroom. GULP GULP!!! I had set high hopes for this room: move the bed to one side all by myself! Now the time had come to show my mettle, and my muscles. I started inching the heavy wooden plank from side to side and managed to push it all the way to one side. I looked at him eagerly, but a stone face greeted me regrettably with not even the faintest intention of moving even his pinkie. He smiled at me. OK, my face brightened-- the offer for help should be on its way... I longed to hear his offer to rescue! Obscurity at its peak, finally his nod of approval came as a welcome break. I let the bed frame go, sending it crashing to the carpet while I remained rooted to the spot. The steamer was still sans reaction. Another display of the same caliber was performed soon and I strangely comprehended the real essence of what "not moving stuff " actually meant!

Allaying the fear of having to move really heavy stuff, I moved on in life-- understandably to the living room. This room in comparison had far lighter furniture compared to our sleeping habitat. As I started moving around in circles envisaging where to move what, the main 'steamer' offered to help me. Thank U, Thank U, my soul almost screamed.... mentally I uumpaa-d uumpaa-d him like one of the tribals, short of kissing his feet. I gave him a wide smile, making sure he knew how much I appreciated his gesture while my rather 'cold shoulder' directly pointed at the stone-faced steamer. We shifted the dining table, quickly followed by the sofa and the loveseat. A little help with the big bed would have been a welcome blessing but yeah... he helped ultimately right? What more could I ask for??

Probably his heart melted thinking the hardships the female clan goes through & decided to pitch in. Well-- that my friend is really sweet of you, but I still lifted the heaviest piece of furniture myself... alone!

Talk about Woman Power--literally and figuratively!