1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,920 Thanks for joining me. In today's episode, I'm going to 2 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,360 talk you through cleaning your kitchen. 3 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:10,200 We're going to get those dishes done and get some other work 4 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:13,560 done in the kitchen. And I'm also going to give you 5 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:18,080 an update on something I talked about in an episode 5 years ago. 6 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:20,280 But don't worry, I'm going. To play the clip. 7 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,920 And catch you up to speed on what's going on. 8 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,920 Hi everyone. I'm Ronnie and you're listening 9 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,640 to Clean With Me, the podcast where I talk you through. 10 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:36,400 Cleaning your house. It's time to gear up for your 11 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,280 cleaning session. Maybe you need to freshen up a 12 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,440 little bit for the day. Get dressed, run a brush through 13 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,200 your hair, wash your face, whatever it takes for you to 14 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,920 feel presentable and ready for the day. 15 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,960 Or maybe you want to do a laundry switch. 16 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,160 Get that. Get that laundry from the washer 17 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,000 into the dryer. Hopefully you don't have a load 18 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,840 that you have to rewash because you forgot about it from the day 19 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:02,520 before. If so, no worries. 20 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,240 Put a little bit more laundry detergent and a little bit of 21 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,000 white vinegar in there. Rewash that. 22 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,520 Or maybe you're just starting a new load from scratch. 23 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,640 I like to get my machines running, and by that I mean my 24 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,760 washing machine and my dishwasher at the beginning of a 25 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,080 cleaning session. And of course, if you don't have 26 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,280 a dishwasher, the equivalent is just getting your dishes 27 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:28,200 started. Another thing you might want to 28 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:30,040 do to gear up for your cleaning session. 29 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,120 If you're like me, you might want to straighten up your 30 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,600 immediate front entrance area, whether that's a separate 31 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,280 entryway or it's just your front room. 32 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,320 Wherever people enter your house, you want to get that 33 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:44,480 first impression area quickly straightened up. 34 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:46,640 But this isn't a deep clean or anything because this is a 35 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,840 kitchen episode. But I like to get myself feeling 36 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,480 presentable, the entrance of my house feeling presentable. 37 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,200 And then I like to get my house smelling good because I'm going 38 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,080 to be throwing away things as I clean the kitchen anyway. 39 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:01,360 So I'll take out that kitchen trash. 40 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:05,160 That way I'm walking outside, getting some sunshine and fresh 41 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,720 air, getting some exercise, getting my blood pumping, doing 42 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:13,080 a little bit of grounding as far as my feet touching the outside 43 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:15,520 world, which I like. Going barefoot. 44 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,920 I know it's the dead of winter, but it's not that cold today and 45 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:20,360 I've already been outside barefoot. 46 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,880 And yes, it felt good. And sometimes getting the house 47 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,560 smelling good involves starting a wax warmer or lighting a 48 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:29,840 candle. And another thing that I'm 49 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:34,080 really big on lately is opening up the blinds or curtains and 50 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,680 letting in some natural light at the beginning of a cleaning 51 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,400 session. And I've said this before, but 52 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,520 that really motivates you to straighten up that front room or 53 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,400 whatever people can see when you open the blinds or the curtains. 54 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,760 But even if you don't want to be quote UN quote on display, as my 55 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:55,400 mom calls it, you might want to just open your blinds and have 56 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:57,120 them pointing upward a little bit. 57 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:01,240 Or maybe you have like darker drapes that you open to expose 58 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:05,160 the shears if you have like that shear curtain underneath and 59 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:06,560 you're letting light in that way. 60 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,680 These are just some ideas. Of course, I can talk faster 61 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,080 than you can do these things, but these are just some ideas on 62 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,800 where to begin because a lot of times you don't feel like 63 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,320 cleaning when you click on an episode like this. 64 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:23,480 And I'm trying to help you feel motivated and just get you 65 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:28,000 started. So over the next 9 1/2 minutes, 66 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,640 you're going to be listening to a clip from an episode that I 67 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:38,560 recorded in January of 2020 entitled Has Is My Mail Carrier 68 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,120 Gone Postal? Everything you're going to hear 69 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,240 for the next 9 1/2 minutes is from that episode, even the part 70 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,040 where I encourage you to get started on your dishes, but 71 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:53,840 obviously that still applies. And then after I play this clip, 72 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:59,040 I'm going to come back on and give you an update on the 73 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:04,160 situation because this person is still working as a mail carrier 74 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:07,360 in this town, and there's been a new development. 75 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:12,200 And it's just funny because one of my longtime faithful 76 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:18,279 listeners just made a comment on the Facebook page Clean With Me 77 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:23,480 podcast where she mentioned that what got her kind of hooked on 78 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:28,760 the show was that episode Has My Mail Carrier Gone Postal? 79 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:32,440 And then I remember that I've been reading the Facebook posts 80 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:37,320 of a local friend who's having trouble with her mail carrier, 81 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:41,440 and I realized that it's probably the same person. 82 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:46,080 So I'll get I'll come back with that update. 83 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:53,120 Here's the old clip from 2020. Our mailbox is kind of far, so I 84 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:58,680 often stop at the mailbox on my way home from somewhere because 85 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:01,320 it's on the right side of the road. 86 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:06,640 So when I'm on my way home I'm in the correct lane to pull over 87 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:11,400 and stop at that mailbox. One day I was on my way home and 88 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:17,120 I noticed that the mail truck was parked there, loading it up 89 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:22,280 or whatever, putting our mail in the the cluster box and I parked 90 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:24,560 behind her, not directly behind her. 91 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:26,760 I mean there was plenty of space between us. 92 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,400 I just pulled over because I was excited to get my mail and kind 93 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,240 of wanted to wait till she was done. 94 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,960 And it was not like I was breathing down her neck at all. 95 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:39,880 There was plenty of space between our vehicles. 96 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:45,240 And she looks at me and just this is kind of a visual thing. 97 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,480 I'm, I'm waving my arm and you can't see it, but she just kind 98 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,920 of makes an angry face at me and waves me away. 99 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,840 Like, go ahead and go past me. I feel it was pretty obvious 100 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:58,680 that I was waiting for my mail. I mean, if, if you're going to 101 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,840 be a mail carrier, you're going to see people who are excited to 102 00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:04,840 get something waiting for their mail. 103 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:06,800 So I found that really irritating. 104 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,960 And I, I thought, really, it's not like I got out of my car and 105 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,800 just stood there watching her put the mail in each box or 106 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,600 something. I mean, I was just parked on a 107 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,200 public street. So that that kind of irritated 108 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,640 me. And there was an also an 109 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,320 incident where my husband and I had both ordered some packages 110 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:31,240 and they were marked as delivered like placed in parcel 111 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,800 locker or whatever it said when we checked the tracking. 112 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:39,960 But then they weren't. So it was like she put down that 113 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,520 things were delivered and then they were not. 114 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:46,080 So she may have given them to someone else or just said they 115 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:47,600 were delivered when they weren't. 116 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:50,240 But he went in and did a complaint and he didn't even 117 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,840 know about the packages. I was expecting because who 118 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:57,120 tells her husband every time they order something anyway? 119 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:02,080 But he complained about his and then once he did that we 120 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,760 received a bunch of packages on the same day. 121 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:10,520 Some of these items were marked delivered like a week before 122 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:12,520 that. So we were like OK this is 123 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,160 weird. Fast forward to Christmas my 124 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:20,160 brother called to ask if I got my Christmas gift which I did 125 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,520 not and he had the tracking that it was marked delivered at a 126 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:25,800 certain time. So I thought well I'm going to 127 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,480 get her on this one because I think there are more than one. 128 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,960 They told me before it's not the same person every time blah blah 129 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,400 blah but it usually is a certain women because I see her. 130 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,920 So I took that information and filled out a form and they had 131 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,000 the time and date of when she said it was delivered to the 132 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,080 parcel locker. Then I ran another errand. 133 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,720 When I got home about an hour later, I see her at the mailbox 134 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,320 checking all the parcel lockers. And it wasn't the usual time 135 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:56,600 when she delivers the mail. So it was like, OK, she got a 136 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,920 talking to and she's looking for that package. 137 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:04,160 But if it was placed in another box by now somebody might have 138 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,680 kept it or whatever. And then, you know, my brother 139 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,680 did a thing on his end so he could redeem the insurance and 140 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:14,120 stuff like that anyway, that that package was never, never 141 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,360 delivered. So I mean, there's there's 142 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,600 probably more, but I'm giving you the short version of it. 143 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:23,000 You've probably had plenty of time to gear up for your 144 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,600 cleaning session. So let's move to the kitchen and 145 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:27,600 I'll continue on. With the. 146 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,880 Story but you're going to want to gather up any dishes from 147 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,000 around the house or maybe just other parts of the kitchen and 148 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,039 move those over to the sink area. 149 00:08:36,799 --> 00:08:39,720 And you're also going to want to just remove clutter, whether 150 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,559 it's on the. Floor the countertops. 151 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:47,720 Maybe you need to put some food away or containers away, or just 152 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:49,960 relocate things to other areas of the house. 153 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,280 You're going to want to just kind of get your countertops 154 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:57,120 cleared off and get the dishes either into the sink or by the 155 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:58,760 sink. And then of course. 156 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:00,880 You're going to do the dishes, whatever that means for you, 157 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,560 whether you need to empty, reload and run your. 158 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:07,440 Dishwasher. Or pre rinse some dishes and 159 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,200 start that first sink load to wash by hand. 160 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:12,320 Maybe you're doing a little bit of both. 161 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:15,480 You're going to gather up dishes, straighten up your 162 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:19,040 kitchen and wash the dishes, whatever that means for you. 163 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,200 So be working in your kitchen. And then of course after that 164 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,760 we'll work on surfaces. So we got a package. 165 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:31,440 It was homemade beef jerky from my father-in-law, and he had it 166 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:34,760 kind of vacuum packed and the sealed plastic thing. 167 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,160 He has one of those things, whatever it's called, that seals 168 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,280 it up and everything. So the food was safe, but the 169 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,560 box that it was delivered in was just totally crushed. 170 00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:47,280 There was a big hole in it. I mean, if I didn't know better, 171 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:51,480 I would think that the mail carrier just stomped on our box 172 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,000 because obviously she knows I'm the one who complained. 173 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,400 When I complained about not getting my Christmas gift from 174 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:02,760 my brother, I mentioned that story of how she waved us away 175 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:04,880 and I gave her physical description. 176 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:08,440 I mean, obviously with that form about the package, she knew 177 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:10,520 which person had complained about her. 178 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:14,440 I mean, she may not know what I look like, but she knows which 179 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:16,720 address complained about her. Let's put it that way. 180 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,600 Which name and address? Unless she really remembers 181 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,320 waving me away, but that was months ago. 182 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:24,960 But I just recently brought it up when I didn't get my 183 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:30,880 Christmas package early January. So anyway, I just thought could 184 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:33,840 it be that she just stomped on this just to spite me? 185 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:38,400 But obviously it could have gotten smashed before that or 186 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:39,960 whatever. So I was just kind of like 187 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,480 whatever. Then a few days later I was on 188 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:45,560 my way home from somewhere and my kids like checking the 189 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:48,840 mailbox, especially my daughter, and I pulled over and kind of 190 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:50,720 handed her the key so she could check it. 191 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:54,320 And she's like, mom, the box is stuck. 192 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:55,800 The box is stuck. I was like what? 193 00:10:55,840 --> 00:11:01,960 OK, so I hopped out of the car. There is a box inside of my 194 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:04,880 mailbox. Now, in case you don't have a 195 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:09,120 cluster box and you don't know how it works, there are several 196 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:13,280 little mailboxes, and then you use the key to open that box. 197 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,920 Ours is number 12. OK, so you open up box #12 and 198 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:22,080 there's mainly letters in there, or small packages like padded 199 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,760 envelopes or whatever. Things that would fit where your 200 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:30,680 letters go, if you have something bigger, they either 201 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:35,200 put it in a parcel locker, these bigger boxes underneath, or they 202 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,760 drop it off on your doorstep. So if you have something in a 203 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:42,840 parcel locker, when you open up little box #12 you see your 204 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,440 bills and stuff, and then you see a key. 205 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,760 And then you grab that key and you open one of the larger 206 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:51,600 parcel lockers. And then the key just stays in 207 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:54,000 the lock and you leave it there and then you get your package. 208 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:55,960 Some of you are familiar with that. 209 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:02,360 So anyway, there was a box in our little #12 it wasn't in a 210 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:06,720 parcel locker and it was the same, it was a the same size box 211 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,200 from the same company I regularly order from that's 212 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:15,280 always in the parcel locker. But this time it was wedged in 213 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:20,240 my mailbox so tightly that my daughter couldn't get it out. 214 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:23,200 And then I was having a hard time getting it out. 215 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:25,320 And I was like, you're kidding me. 216 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:27,400 How did they even get this in here? 217 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:33,040 I feel like this woman purposely just shoved it in there. 218 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,680 I mean, this, this is happening shortly after somebody stomped 219 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:41,920 on our box of beef jerky. So I'm just pulling at it and 220 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:44,400 I'm having to kind of smash the box. 221 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,040 And I felt comfortable smashing it because I knew what was in it 222 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:53,000 and I knew that the box was larger than the contents. 223 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:55,160 And then it was going to be well padded and everything. 224 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:57,760 Just I knew that because it was something that I ordered 225 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,840 regularly. So I was having to kind of 226 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:03,400 flatten part of it to get it out. 227 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,720 I mean, by the time I got it out, it was pretty mangled. 228 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:10,400 And yes, I took a picture of that and the other box, I took a 229 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,840 picture of that one being, you know, when it was still wedged 230 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,960 in after I removed it, how, how it looked. 231 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,600 And then of course the. Stomped on beef jerky box. 232 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,240 I also have a photo of that. I haven't been back in there to 233 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:27,800 talk about that, but I don't know, you know, sometimes you 234 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:30,680 just, you feel like you've got better things to do. 235 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,320 Than to just. Gripe at the post office again 236 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:38,240 and again. So anyway, yeah, I have this 237 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:40,680 nemesis. Apparently part of the reason 238 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:43,960 why I haven't gone into the post office and shown the pictures of 239 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:48,240 the damaged boxes is that since then I have not seen that 240 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,880 particular mail carrier I saw. Someone else? 241 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:55,560 So what I'm hoping best case is that other people have 242 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:58,760 complained about it and she's not working there anymore. 243 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,960 Maybe if she's not fired, maybe they should switch her to a 244 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,160 neighborhood that has different types of mailboxes because 245 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,400 obviously she gets confused with the cluster box because they 246 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:12,520 open it in the back and they have to stick things in the 247 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:16,240 correct box. So hopefully by now you've 248 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,920 gotten your dishes done, but no worries. 249 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:23,280 If you're facing a dish shaster today, meaning you've got more 250 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:28,040 dishes than would fit in one dishwasher load or you need to 251 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,920 watch wash several sink loads, that's fine. 252 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:35,840 If all you get done during this episode is your dishes, that's 253 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,080 something. It's a start and you can always 254 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,600 listen to another episode after this, however most. 255 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:45,480 Of you are probably. Ready to start working on the 256 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:49,760 surfaces of your kitchen? You're going to want to work for 257 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:52,720 the from the top down. So if this is a day that you're 258 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:56,280 wiping down your upper cabinets, start there. 259 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,800 But for a lot of you, you might just be doing the minimum today, 260 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:05,040 which of course would include wiping down your countertops, 261 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:11,760 your stove top, the controls of your stove, the fronts of your 262 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:17,560 large appliances like your dishwasher, your refrigerator, 263 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,720 your oven. Of course, when you're wiping 264 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:22,520 down the countertops, you're going to pick up small 265 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:24,920 appliances, you're going to wipe those down, you're going to wipe 266 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,080 under them, you're going to do all the things. 267 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:31,080 And of course, since you did your dishes, you're going to 268 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,000 scrub out your sink and shine that up. 269 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,200 And and then lastly, you're going to sweep the kitchen 270 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:41,640 floor. While you're working on all of 271 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:48,280 that, I am going to give you the update on the mail carrier 272 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:53,240 situation. So years later a friend of mine 273 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:58,040 posted that she received a notice not to block her streets 274 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:02,640 cluster mailbox, which happens to be on their property. 275 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:07,440 And the mail carrier had told a neighbor that if she continues 276 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:11,160 to block the mailbox, she will not deliver anyone's mail to the 277 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:15,040 cluster box because it's dangerous for her to park there 278 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,960 and blah blah blah. And then of course the neighbor 279 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:23,880 reiterated to my friend that please don't block the mailbox 280 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:27,160 because I don't want my mail to be stopped because basically 281 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,880 everyone using that cluster box would be punished. 282 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:35,040 However, this lady's husband, my friend's husband, had parked his 283 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:40,440 personal truck in the same areas on the street for almost 20 284 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:46,440 years with no issues and they measured it and he's parked like 285 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:50,640 8 or 9 feet away. She talked to the postmaster who 286 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:54,200 said it's fine and he'll have a talk with the mail carrier. 287 00:16:55,000 --> 00:17:00,560 The neighbor also has photos and videos of this mail carrier 288 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,520 parking the mail truck and delivering the mail to the 289 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:07,079 community mailbox without any issues in the past. 290 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:12,240 And the neighbor even drew a chalk line 8 feet from the 291 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:15,760 mailbox to the truck to show that they weren't blocking it. 292 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:22,760 And even the local Police Department advised my friend to 293 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:29,960 file charges for harassment if this mail carrier continues to 294 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,560 complain about where they're parked. 295 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:37,200 She basically it sounds to me like the woman doesn't know how 296 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,680 to parallel park or something. I don't know but. 297 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,120 It's her job. So she's going to have to get it 298 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:45,000 figured out. They're not going to just clear 299 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:50,920 off the whole street for her. And when I read these posts it 300 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:54,200 was starting to dawn on me that it might be the same person 301 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:59,640 because of how this mail carrier didn't even like it that I 302 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,880 pulled up behind her after the fact when she was already 303 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,320 parked. So she just wants nobody near 304 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,440 her while she's working on a public street. 305 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:14,800 So after like the third post on this topic, I messaged my friend 306 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:18,560 and I basically asked her the description of this woman. 307 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:24,400 And it's a small town and I'm like 99% sure this is the same 308 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:28,160 woman because the woman she's having a problem with fits the 309 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:33,360 description of that mail carrier that I had a problem with back 310 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,440 in 2020. So apparently she's in another 311 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,160 neighborhood right now, but they've still got her delivering 312 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:43,040 to cluster boxes which she just can't seem to handle. 313 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:47,080 One of the reasons that I'm telling you this update is that 314 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:52,360 this friend of mine who is dealing with all this drama from 315 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:57,600 this weird mail carrier has lost a child. 316 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:01,560 Can you imagine? She's gone through the 317 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:06,760 unthinkable and yet this mail carrier seems to have this 318 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:13,120 vendetta against her now and, you know, doesn't want her 319 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:16,160 husband's truck anywhere on the street. 320 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:19,640 And this is a family that has teenage children, adult 321 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,120 children, and so they need a place to park. 322 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:24,480 We're the same way. We've got 2 vehicles in the 323 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:29,400 driveway, one on the street, so totally normal situation. 324 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:34,200 The message here is to be kind to people. 325 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,400 Obviously you should always be kind to people because you don't 326 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:44,640 know what they're going through. And here, this mail carrier, 327 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:49,120 this psycho mail carrier is giving my friend a hard time, 328 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,120 probably not knowing that she lost a child recently. 329 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,680 Anyway, it's infuriating, but I wanted to give you the update on 330 00:19:57,680 --> 00:19:59,920 that. Hopefully you're wiping down the 331 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:05,520 surfaces of your kitchen and you're going to be sweeping soon 332 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,360 while you're finishing up in the kitchen. 333 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:15,760 On a more positive note, I wanted to kind of relay 334 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,880 something that I was talking to a friend about. 335 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:24,240 She works remotely from home. And she was saying that part of 336 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:29,760 her morning routine is to quickly pick up her entire 337 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:32,600 house, you know, remove any clutter off of the floor, put 338 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,440 her shoes away and whatever else dog toys are out, things like 339 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,640 that. And basically get her house 340 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,200 Roomba ready. She has one of those robot 341 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:46,240 vacuums. I don't have one, but I know 342 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:49,320 some of you do. So I wanted to kind of share 343 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:54,080 this, that she gets her house Roomba ready before she sits 344 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,200 down to work. Then she's out of the way and 345 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:01,640 her house is working for her while she starts doing her job. 346 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:06,760 And one of the reasons she got the Roomba is that she has a 347 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:12,680 hard floor and she has multiple dogs that shed. 348 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:19,240 So for you pet parents, this might be something that you need 349 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,960 if you despise vacuuming or sweeping the other way. 350 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:27,520 And let's face it, we're all busy. 351 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,960 If you're like me, you would rather be walking on the 352 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:35,720 treadmill or going for a walk in the neighborhood then vacuuming 353 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:39,160 or sweeping. So at some point I want to get 354 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,040 one too. In the past I've thought that 355 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:48,080 maybe it wouldn't work with kids and pets, but I like what what 356 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,800 she does because she does the quick pickup, right? 357 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,200 Before she sits. Down and she's going to be home 358 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:59,440 alone for a while and that's the perfect time to let your robot 359 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:03,040 vacuum get to work. So just a thought there. 360 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:05,880 When you're done with your kitchen, maybe you want to get 361 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:10,320 your whole house vacuum ready if you've got one of those 362 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:15,320 automatic vacuums, but I don't know how many of you have those. 363 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:21,040 So if you have a Roomba or similar device, go to Glen With 364 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:26,360 Me podcast, the Facebook page and post a comment under this 365 00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:29,160 episode, whether or not you have a Roomba. 366 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,040 That way I'll know whether I should mention that in future 367 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:34,760 episodes. If enough people have them, I'll 368 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,920 start talking about it in future episodes. 369 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,080 Another thing I want to remind you of in case you're new to the 370 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:46,160 show, is that if you're overwhelmed by dishes, there are 371 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:50,320 a couple things you can do to prevent pile UPS. 372 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:55,160 Number one, of course, you can get some disposable products. 373 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,120 The only ones that I really get. Lately. 374 00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:01,280 Are just the paper plates We use regular bowls. 375 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:07,000 We do use regular plates in situations where we're cutting 376 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:12,000 steak on a plate or whatever. I get my husband prefers to eat 377 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,000 off of those hard plates at dinner time. 378 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,920 You know, sometimes the meal is kind of a wetter meal that has a 379 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,240 lot of sauce or whatever. I get that. 380 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:23,520 But a lot of the time we're using paper plates. 381 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,440 And the other thing that I've done is I've taken a lot of our 382 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:31,880 dishes out of circulation, meaning I've hidden them in a 383 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:37,200 hard to reach cupboard. So we have them for Thanksgiving 384 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,000 or when, you know, we decide to have a lot of people over for 385 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,400 whatever reason, but that they're not always in 386 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,760 circulation. So if my husband and I are out 387 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:48,240 and about. For the day. 388 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:52,840 It will be impossible for the teenagers to dirty very many 389 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:57,200 dishes because they simply don't have access to them they're not 390 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,200 allowed to get into. Those overflow cupboards. 391 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,120 If that makes sense. So I hope that helps you. 392 00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:06,920 And another thing that I've implemented recently in the 393 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:11,920 kitchen is emptying the drying rack and the dishwasher first 394 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:17,520 thing in the morning because we all know that we're supposed to 395 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:21,640 do dishes after dinner or before bed, basically get down to dish 396 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,920 zero at the end of the day. You know, most days, you know, 397 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:26,360 we're going to fall off the wagon. 398 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:28,440 Life's going to happen. Sometimes you're going to come 399 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,120 home late and just crash. I get that. 400 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:35,800 But the routine should be to wash all your dishes at the end 401 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,360 of the day. But most of us are letting them 402 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:42,120 air dry or the dishwasher is going to dry them. 403 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:45,720 OK, in the morning, instead of just patting yourself on the 404 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:49,120 back that your kitchen's clean, put away that clean stuff 405 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:53,840 because that's that's the stage for washing dishes throughout 406 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:58,720 the day as you use them. So that's such an important tip 407 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,440 that I hope you are all implementing. 408 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,760 Another thing I wanted to remind you of while you're finishing up 409 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:12,000 with sweeping your kitchen or whatever you're doing, is when 410 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:20,040 you're preparing food or brewing coffee or waiting for the teapot 411 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:26,280 to whistle, use those minutes in your kitchen to clean. 412 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,400 Just get in the habit of cleaning during those waiting 413 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:35,280 periods, waiting for water to boil, waiting for even your 414 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:39,720 Keurig to dispense the coffee. You'd be surprised what you can 415 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:41,840 get done. Lately. 416 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:46,640 I've been emptying my drying rack while my Keurig is 417 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:51,840 dispensing my coffee. And yeah, I take a little longer 418 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:55,400 to empty the drying rack than it takes for that coffee mug to 419 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:57,120 fill up. But it's going to be there when 420 00:25:57,120 --> 00:26:01,600 I'm done emptying the drying rack and when I'm cooking and 421 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,720 I'm waiting for water to boil. I'm looking for things to do in 422 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:10,280 my kitchen, whether it's organizing the pantry or 423 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:16,200 throwing away some empty packages that were left out 424 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,120 somewhere. I don't know about you, but we 425 00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:23,960 often have empty water bottle packages in our pantry. 426 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:29,240 Even though we have the big water dispenser, we do buy those 427 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:33,960 individual waters for various purposes and sometimes when the 428 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,720 kids take the last water, they're leaving that package in 429 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:40,840 the pantry floor. So while I'm in the kitchen 430 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:43,280 cooking, I'm throwing that stuff away. 431 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:50,200 That's just one example, but use those hidden moments where 432 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,920 you're in the kitchen and another benefit of staying in 433 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:54,040 the kitchen while you're cooking. 434 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,560 You're not going to forget about the bread and the oven because 435 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,320 you're going to smell it, start to get toasty and then you're 436 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,320 not going to end up burning it. So just make yourself stay in 437 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:05,600 the kitchen and do something productive. 438 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:11,560 I realize you clean your kitchen before you cook, but while 439 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,160 you're cooking, you're going to clean as you go. 440 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:20,320 You're going to maybe scrub a shelf in your refrigerator or 441 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:23,960 organize your pantry. You're going to stay busy in 442 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:29,320 your kitchen so that you have less to do during your deep 443 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,600 cleaning sessions because of course you're going to clean up 444 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:36,600 after the meal or at least at the end of the day. 445 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:40,200 If you do let dishes pile up throughout the day, I don't 446 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,400 recommend it because a lot of us are just, if you're like me, 447 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:45,760 you're overwhelmed by a huge mess. 448 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:50,800 So that's the key to to keeping a clean kitchen and avoiding 449 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,960 overwhelm is just cleaning as you go and then cleaning up 450 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,120 after each meal. But cleaning up after a meal is 451 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:02,640 not going to be as daunting if most of the work was done before 452 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,440 the meal was even served. You were cleaning as you were 453 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,200 going. You were looking for other tasks 454 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,520 to do in the kitchen. You see what I'm saying? 455 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:16,040 Anyway, I hope you got a lot done during this episode. 456 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:20,640 Don't be like that mail carrier. Be kind to people because you 457 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:22,600 don't know what they've been through. 458 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:28,040 By the way, special thanks to my financial supporters who support 459 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:35,080 me on Patreon or by subscribing to Clean With Me Unplugged 460 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:39,480 episodes on Apple Podcasts or through the Spreaker Supporter 461 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:42,800 Program. To learn more about how to 462 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,840 support the show and unlock bonus episodes, you can and 463 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:51,080 visit cleanwithmepodcast.com. It's all there. 464 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,240 Go ahead and check that out. You can also find cleaning 465 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:59,480 products that I use and purchase those through my Amazon link. 466 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,200 But even if you're not. Able to. 467 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:07,960 Subscribe to bonus episodes or purchase products through my 468 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,440 link. Just keep listening. 469 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:14,160 Even just listening to these free episodes helps me. 470 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,520 And as always, happy cleaning. I'll talk to you in the next 471 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:18,000 episode.