i woke up at 9:30a hoping my roommate had already left for class but was dismayed to find she was still home, sleeping in her bedroom. i went to go use the bathroom but when i heard her coming out of her bedroom, i got so anxious thinking she might want to use the facility that i abruptly finished and vacated. turns out bathroom wasn't even the top of her morning priority list: first she made coffee, then she went outside to smoke, and finally she got to the bathroom. by then i'd waited so long that and needed to go again. i narrowly had a bathroom emergency in my own house, almost had to do the unthinkable and go take a dump in a bag in my bedroom. finally she left by 10:30a, nearly a full hour since i left the bathroom. i quickly rushed back inside and could finally do my morning business in peace.

my original plan for today was to ride down to belmont and borrow the car so i could pick up the dyson vacuum and the power washer for a day of cambridge cleaning. but i noticed my father wasn't at the cafe yet so i called him at home. he said he could bring the power washer to my place, saving me a trip. i ended up vacuuming with my little hoover vac. i used the small rarely-used rug attachment head to clean my carpets. turns out it works pretty well, although nowhere the suction power of the dyson. i replaced the bag recently and washed the filter so there was no smell. still, i'd like to clean the house just once with the dyson, before i turn on my heat and have the dusty air recirculating throughout the house.

my father showed up sometime after 11a with the power washer. i started with the front steps, connecting the hose from the backyard and running power from a living room outlet. renee admired my house maintenance diligence, said she herself can hardly get around to doing the smallest amount of house upkeep. once the front steps were done, i disconnected everything and moved to the back of the house.

even though the backyard deck is only two stories, it actually has 3 layers, with a middle landing between the two main floors. i'd only cleaned the deck once before, many years ago before i treated it with australian timber oil. back then my father had the power washer but i didn't want to use it because i was afraid it'd tear up the wood during cleaning. that's the case with the jet nozzle, but my father has another nozzle, a gentle spray nozzle with adjustable velocity, and that's the one i used for the deck.

originally i wanted to work my way from top down, because i knew anything i sprayed above would land below, but i was so eager to power wash that i started from my own first floor deck first. the last time i washed the deck i scrubbed it with a brush. it was back breaking and dirty work, and i could only clean the places i could easily reach, so areas like the underside of the deck were never cleaned. armed with a power washer however, i could reach most anywhere on the deck, especially after i set up the ladder my father brought as well. but the one disadvantage of spray cleaning above me was suddenly water was dripping everywhere. i used a flip-flop to protect the power outlet, and covered my hanging wireless temperature sensor with some plastic wrap.

power washing is actually pretty fun, the same kind of joy i get from vacuuming the carpet or mowing the lawn. especially on our deck, which hasn't been washed in ages and coated with years of dirt and algae, the difference between washed and unwashed wood is really noticeable. i wore these vinyl disposable gloves which were terrible and kept ripping at the fingertips despite changing them for a new pair. i also had on my safety goggles; it kept the water off my glasses, but didn't keep the water from the goggles. at least it'd protect my eyes from any dirty water splash back.

i worked my way upwards, finally to steve's floor. he had a bunch of things on his deck which was a hassle to move around, but i didn't tell him i was washing the deck today either, so it's not entirely his fault. the only part i couldn't spray were parts of the 2nd floor railing facing the garden. the dirt on there is so thick the sprayer needs to be nearly right against the wood in order to clean it.

sure enough, when i returned to the lower decks, they were covered in washed off debris from the top deck, so i had to quick rinse those floors again.

since i was on a roll, i decided to wash the flagstones in the backyard. for that i used the jet nozzle, which is a much stronger stream. i one point i was picking something up and accidentally sprayed my fingers with the jet nozzle for a split second, which hurt. i switched back to the spray nozzle and washed a section of the wooden fence. the really amazing thing was it was able to wash off the algae but not harm the ivy growing on the boards.

i finally went inside by 3:30p, a soaked mess. ana was already home, eating lunch in the kitchen, watching her spanish show from her laptop, the house smells think of burnt cooking oil. my bedroom door was naturally open, my bedroom stank of cooking smell. up to that point i hadn't even eaten anything yet the entire day, so after a quick shower, i made myself an english muffin sandwich. ana would later go take her afternoon siesta.

around 4p i went outside briefly to run some errands. i went to porter square to check on the status of two charlie cards my mother gave me. i then went to see if the new dollar tree on somerville avenue was open yet. i saw the sign and parked my bike, but when i looked inside the store, it was still empty, but all the aisles were new. finally i went to star market to get some snacks, including a large bag of salty sunflower seeds.

ana didn't go away this weekend like she normally does. instead she used the bathroom around 7p and left the house by 8p to have dinner with her brother. she didn't return home until 2a. as for me, i heated up the last of my clam corn chowder for dinner while watching big night (1996) on netflix. later i had a craving for hard cider so i went to the liquor store around the corner and got myself some fall harvest woodchuck hard cider. i really wanted to try the downeast cider but i didn't know how much it cost, so decided to stick with the usual.