Structure and Kitchen Armageddon

Structure! That's the key to staying sane and healthy out here! What do I do when I have nothing to do? Watch movies and read the Internet. Down that path lies madness, so I came up with a schedule so as to be not a psycho.

On work days, I pack my gym bag before work. Each and every day without fail, I will go to the gym. I'll swim or lift weights or do a class. Then I can decide if it's early enough to go explore. I don't yet know how to explore.

Speaking of exploring, I bought a paper map, and that helps a bit; I don't want to drive around on GPS every time; I'd like to be able to remember the streets and make it make sense. It's hard. It'll take some time.

In the evening, I'll do a movie, some Internetting, and read some book before going to bed. Not having structure like this, not having a plan means I wont do anything at all.

Next thing is I decided to clean the kitchen. I bought 409, paper towels, sponges, Scotch Brite pads, and tonic water (for the vodka; that has nothing to do with cleaning, though). I spent a bunch of last time night listening to the Adam Carolla show and scrubbing things down.

The people in this house save the most unreal things. From the fridge, I threw away a 2-liter bottle of Coke with about 3oz left in it, a bunch of long-expired stuff (including eggs from four months ago), and a can of baked beans that had been opened by one of those new-fangled can openers that cuts the cans on it's sides. Anyway, the beans had the lid put back on it, and was sitting in the back of the fridge.

Things are much much better now, but it's not finished. I think maybe I need some Comet. Or maybe a flame thrower.

But the truth is I didn't have very high hopes. The place was terrible. So I went and did a little shopping. I ended up at a Bed Bath and Beyond, and also a Kitchen Collection. I wanted cheap silverware, and an inexpensive knife I wouldn't mind being destroyed or stolen, and cutting boards (I didn't have high hopes for my cleaning, and I didn't want my stuff touching the countertops). The fork and knife were set on top of the new cutting boards for these photos:

They were cheap, and look nice, and I'm very happy with them.

The knife is a five-inch stamped Henckles utility knife. It was only $10, feels really good, and is probably about the best cheap knife I could get.

Oh, I also got a cool trash can from the Container Store and a table from the Goodwill. Both are in the following picture. I'm pretty happy with how that turned out. The setup, not the picture.

The new trash can is in the lower right, and the table is the table. It's got DVDs, kitchen stuff, and a printer on it right now. We'll see how this evolves over time.