Me Rambo

I am so bummed that I don't have a photo for this post, but it's my fault that I forgot where I put my camera on Wednesday night.

Our previous Science Editor at EHP and now great friend, Jim, came over to my house yesterday with his pressure washer to clean my DIRTY house. I had asked him the day before how long he thought it would take and he'd said about three hours. That was before he saw my house. We started at the back, and it didn't take long for me to see that Jim had underestimated the task. When he thought I wasn't looking I saw him shaking his head in frustration, as there were a few areas where the grime would just not let go. He kept saying we needed a taller ladder, but as I found out later, I don't think that would've helped much on the stubborn areas.

When we moved to the front I told him I thought I should get up on the roof, since proximity was definitely the key to success. (Many houses that aren't as filthy can probably be washed from the ground level with the highest pressure nozzle. Many houses are also not as dirty as mine was). Jim was a little hesitant to let me do that, but I insisted. When I first got up there I was pretty scared. I've never thought of myself as afraid of heights, but then again, I think it's all about circumstances. (I'm fine when I'm strapped into a seat on a roller coaster, but standing on the slanted roof of a two-story house with nothing to stop me from tumbling off head first is entirely different).

Once the roof was wet, I could go barefoot (it was hotter than Hades at first since it was 85 degrees), and the surface wasn't nearly as slick as I thought it would be. It didn't take me long to totally get into it. After a while, Jim yelled up, "I wish I had a camera!" so I told him to go in and get mine where I thought I'd left it. He couldn't find it - boo hiss!

I continued to blast away at the dirty panels and windows until my legs were rubber and my clothes were SOAKED. I looked like I'd jumped in a pool; the task took about five hours instead of three, and we didn't even get to clean the north side; but it was worth it because my house looks so much better!

Jim said he'd come back to clean the north side and do some brushing on the stubborn areas, but I won't blame him if he doesn't! The reason I titled this post "Me Rambo" is because while Jim and I packed up his stuff, I told him again how bummed I was that neither of us found my camera. He said, "Yeah, I would love to have a photo of Rambo Tracey on her roof with her super water gun!"