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The Swiffer
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If you want to get across an idea, wrap it up in a person. |
Monday, August 23, 1999
One year ago: Horsehead Hotcakes
Two years ago: The Heritage Industry
Because I worked extra for the Money Show last weekend, I'd already planned on taking today off, even before the trip to Jack's parents' place was scheduled. So I slept delightfully late!
I puttered around, doing some clean-up. I put some plastic storage containers that I'd been carrying around in my car to good use, sorting out my socks, stockings, and fancy underwear and stacking the containers on top of my dresser as a temporary measure. I moved the rest of the clean clothes to a laundry basket, but that needs to be even more temporary! But at least it cleared off the bed; for a while I thought that I was trying to reduce my new bed back to the twin size I had before (and even then, often had one of those long body pillows taking up some room).
In an instance of meme transmission, I've been hearing about this new cleaning thing, the Swiffer. They mentioned it on the DECLUTTR mailing list. They talked about it on the alt.recovery.clutter newsgroup. I succumbed; I bought one recently and decided to try it out on my newly-exposed hardwood floor in the bedrooom. It's great! It's a mop-type of deal, but instead of being a traditional mop or broom, it has a treated cloth held in an applicator on the end of a long handle. I liked how the corners of the cloth poked easily into little holders on the head. I proceeded to swoosh it around on the floor, and it worked very well. I've used treated "paper" cloths for cleaning in the past, and these were a lot better! They are electrostatically charged to pick up tons of dust, dirt, hair, and so on. I used the back side of the cloth to clean the monitor, computer table, and dresser top, then threw it away and felt very proud of myself.
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The Savoy Swing Club and Dave Atkinson had been sponsoring a dance workshop with Steven Mitchell over the weekend, and there were also sessions tonight and tomorrow night. I'd known I couldn't make the weekend stuff, and I hadn't signed up for the weeknight classes since I wasn't sure about my schedule. But since the class location (The Polish Home) was only three blocks from my place, I decided to go over and see if they had room.
They were a bit follow-heavy, since they'd been lead-heavy before and had put out a call for follows! So I said I'd wait until everyone arrived and see how it shook out. As a warm-up, I danced with my friend Greg. Warm-up, indeed! The temperature was up there, and a long, active dance made me slightly out of breath before class even started!
I've taken class from Steven before; he was one of the instructors at Swing Out Northwest. He has a reputation for being very critical and discouraging, but I think he's trying to do better nowadays. He did emphasize, when it came to the footwork later in the class, that he wanted us to get the way of moving, and not worry about the exact steps. I was glad to hear this, since footwork combinations aren't something I pick up as easily as some folks. I liked the beginning of the class, where he was reviewing basic steps with an eye for detail. This stuff is always valuable to work on.
I did go and sit down for the last few minutes of class, next to my buddy Steve Steiner who was just watching. When it came time for the last dance of the class, he suggested we get up and dance, just dance, rather than try for the exact combinations of the class. What fun! I always enjoy dancing with him.
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