Not only is this annoying habit of using one's wrist as a wrench frugal because liquid won't evaporate, but carefully securing all household items in their appointed spot has the added benefit avoiding said object falling and hitting the floor. At times, an object falling and hitting the the deck somewhere below the surface of the water and acknowledged unclassified test depth can be dangerous. Especially outside of international waters. As I've been told many times, an improperly stowed coffee that falls can be heard for miles underwater. Or feet. Or fathoms. Or knots. Or whatever it is.
As madcap and devil-may-care as you know me to be, I continue to do things my own slapdash way and did I pay for it this week. I had the biggest, nearly full, container of liquid Tide on top of the washer. The lid was on fairly tightly, but not all the way hermetically sealed if you know what I mean. I was working on the computer and heard a thud. I attributed the sound only to the wash being a little unbalanced. Or maybe I'm the unbalanced one. One of those. The sound stopped after one thud, so I did nothing.
I wish I'd thought to take a pic, but I wanted to cry when I went into the laundry room. The Tide had flown off the washer, I guess from the vibration, and the top flew off when it hit wall. There was detergent down the wall, all over the floor, inside the radiator, down the front of the washer...you get the picture.
I had a good idea, though. Okay the really good idea would be to store the Tide in the sink area and put the top on tight. But I was in critical incident management mode. Anyway, I scooped up a lot of the mess in my bare hands and put it back in the container. This worked surprisingly well. Then I got the clean rags I use for household stuff and sopped up the remainder on about a dozen rags, enough on each for a wash. I put them in some zip locks (I reuse zip locks over and over), and have used them all week to wash clothes. Put a rag with the Tide in the wash, throw in the zip lock to clean it off, and turn the machine on.
So, kids, what have we learned? Close containers all the way, whether the shampoo bottle, or the pickle jar, or the Tide. You never know how you might figure out to knock them over. And think creatively when you have a mini-disaster. There will be a test on this later.
FINEX, FINEX, FINEX....Mark FINEX (only submariners get this)
