Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Mental Meanderings

I have 20 minutes until dinner is ready, I'm tired, and thought I'd stay awake letting my thoughts leak out of my head and into the computer.

1) We still smell like we've recently given up the smoking habit, but if the doors and windows are all open it's not so bad. Thank heavens for the warmer weather this week.

2) I do have a couple of suggestions if you ever find yourself in this predicament. 1-Unless you love the smell of eucalyptus and/or Odoban, don't use Odoban. We had a few days wondering whether the smoke or the cleaner was worse. The Odoban has gone, though, and the smoke hasn't. That probably says something. 2-Covering the floor with a layer of Baking Soda did seem to help. We left it on all day Sunday and the smell was greatly reduced when we vacuumed it up on Monday. 3-Buy lots of vacuum bags, though. We put down a 12 pound bag of baking soda (from Sam's Club) and it took 1-1/2 vacuum bags to get it all up. 4-I think using a mild vinegar/Advanage solution on the carpet and walls has helped, but I'm not sure if it's because the Odoban smell is clearing away or if it really helped.

3) Did you know they sell little air filters that fit right inside your vents? I didn't until I was buying a new filter for the furnace yesterday.

4) I changed the air filter in the furnace yesterday, but couldn't get the cover back on. I left it out in the family room so I could ask Greg about it during Family Home Evening last night. I didn't even see it when we had FHE last night. Turns out that the heater won't turn on without the cover. That explains why it felt so chilly last night before bed and still this morning when we got up. I did see the furnace cover when we went downstairs this morning for Family Scripture reading. Greg got it back on and it turned right on. That means the heat was off for nearly 24 hours and we not only lived, but I didn't even notice for most of the time. Good thing it's not really that cold right now. Wonder how much we saved on the gas bill?

5) I'm tired. Nothing new there. We'll finish the taxes tonight (yea!) and hopefully get to bed a little earlier. Good thing the Wellness program hasn't done a sleep activity. I'm not sure I'd be able to complete it.

6) The outdoor thermometer at our house broke the 60 degree mark today. Nice!

7) Joseph wants me to have our Wii serviced so he can play Game Cube games on it. Apparently it's supposed to, but ours won't for some reason. We're breaking out the mini violins while I type. I see no rush. He suggested just buying a Game Cube so we don't have to worry about it. I'd rather pay $200 for an ozone treatment to clean out the smoke smell.

8) Do you care that there is a company in Iowa that will rent you an ozone machine through the mail? I didn't, either, until Saturday. I can't find anything in UT. Maybe I should buy one and start my own business. (I probably won't still have that thought after I wake up tomorrow. It's really not a "me" thing to do.)

Ok, there's the timer. My 20 minutes are up. Gonna go get the chicken pot pie while it's still making the room smell good. Happy Tuesday!

7 comments:

luvmymunchkins said...

Big bummer about the ozone machine. At least the baking soda was a whole lot cheaper than having an emergency restoration service come out. Hope the warm weather holds out for you!

Doreen said...

Sorry you still have to deal with the smell. I hope it goes away soon.

Joy For Your Journey said...

I too am sorry about the smell, but am glad your weather is nice. Although you know when it hits 60 in Utah it is 80 in Arizona and that isn't exactly something to celebrate--since it often just keeps going up from there.

Good luck with everything.

Keith and Nicci said...

Oh man, I'm sorry you have deal with all of that - it does not sound fun :(.

Mom O' Nine said...

You have experience and information on smoke damage you will be able to share with people. Mr Wonderful and I usually flood things. I am hoping that since we finally own a shop vac that we won't have to use it, but can loan it out to other flood prone people.

Katy said...

Shannon, I love all of your posts! Sorry if I forget to comment, but I do read them. :) And good for you for getting yucky taxes done! It keeps magically popping up on my to-do list every week...and keeps popping up...hmm. I really need to get going on that.

cvtippetts said...

I'm sorry about the smoke mess- yuck!! Sounds like something I would do. I almost left something boiling once and now I always put on a timer... This will give me extra incentive to keep doing it since I get distracted so easily. Hope you can keep the windows open for a few more days:)