I don't seem to have time to do much else these days and have missed several events and invitations this summer.

Borrow a library book and you have to renew it or return it after three weeks and if you keep renewing it you eventually have to return it.

Prepare something to eat at home and you have to do the washing up and clearing up and then the cloths need to be cleaned too.

Go out on your bicycle and it accumulates dirt on the chain which needs to be removed and the chain oiled again. Brake blocks wear out and need to be replaced. The same goes for walking as shoe soles get worn and heels need to be repaired.

Buy a newspaper or magazine or pick up free newspapers, magazines and leaflets to read and they have to be thrown out for recycling but only once staples are removed.

Send and receive e-mails and every now and then you need to delete e-mails in your in-box and sort the rest into folders.

Every time you decide to do something not only do you have to consider the financial expense, time and energy but also factor in the cost and time involved in the clearing up process.

<guides lemsip to a comfy chair> You worry too much...what about young Abdul in his rags scuttling about the debris in Kabul as all he can think about is where his next halal burger is coming from...*puts kettle on*...Cup of tea? War expenditure/appropriation, commodities, currencies, interest rates, employment figures,inflation etc. These are the the words that have come to represent what is most important to us a vile rabble of avaricious grubs...

Actually cleaning and tidying up serves and idler purpose. While engaged in doing so you're not looking for work, fundraising or volunteering for charidee or hanging out in town with people you don't really like. It's an acceptable and constructive excuse for getting out of things.

True, but who needs an excuse? A clean abode is preferable to squalor, no?...I used to be a bit of an obsessive compulsive about cleanliness, but having a wife and bairns has cured me of that! I'm still fussier than Mrs.W about dirty dishes and what not, but nowhere as bad as I used to be...*smirks*...um, next time that you're bored have a cam conference with one of your idle buddies here...

I used to be obsessive as a child because we were moving around a lot but my parents were shocked at how untidy I had become as I got older. Too much stuff is the reason why and not much space to store it as well as being afraid I'd lose something if I put it away.

I still have clutter around me and keep odds and ends such as jars full of pens and pencils, calculators, torches, scissors and staplers on the bookshelves so that they are in easy reach only the bookshelves are crammed full of books so the odds and ends are placed in front of the books.

Having eco cleaners means that job of cleaning isn't so vile anymore as it takes less rinsing off of the cleaning product as well as being nicer to use. They aren't so good at shifting in grained dirt and deep stains so you need to clean more often before the dirt is ingrained or in the case of ovens and hobs burnt on.

Worst of all is having to clean the chain on my bicycle as an oiled chain attracts dirt in a polluted city even though I haven't used it much. I end up oiling it again and this attracts even more dirt and eventually takes hours to clean even if an acid based cycle chain cleaner. I keep meaning to do it more often so that it doesn't take so long but cannot face it in winter.

Use a teflon chain lube instead of oil. It`s cleaner.

I think I have one but I have been using alternatively with oil.

Lemsip wrote:


You don't wanna do that!

Daisy's absolutely correct. Get the chain clean and then use regular applications of teflon-based lube. Just a quick spray is all you need, and it'll remain dirt free for much longer. Dirt sticks to oil, which is why you're having to clean the chain so often.

Come the winter, take your chain off, buy the cheapest one possible, and smear it thickly with engine grease then take a cloth between your fingertips and run the chain through it to remove as much excess grease as possible. Then reapply grease about every month or so.

The reason for the different regimes is that in the winter, teflon lube, or even light oil, will quickly be washed off the chain, especially inside the links where it's hardest to reach. Once they start salting the roads, any exposed metal will be eaten very fast by the salt water that sprays round your chain, so a thick layer of grease keeps the water out and everything in there working properly. But it does tend to catch a bit of dirt, which will grind at the chain, which is why you keep your good one for the summer!

Lemsip wrote:


I love this !!