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War Against the Spiders
Apr. 5th, 2009 02:36 pmThe patio at my apartment has been mostly unusable for more than a year now, ever since I moved a surplus-to-requirements bookshelf out there and stopped sweeping away the leaf-fall and debris that is a consequence of being on the ground floor. There's a notice going around that the complex management is going to be repainting all exteriors, which includes patios, and that we need to get cleaned up before the workmen come. This weekend is the last one for a month when I'm going to be home, so with trepidation, I put on a long-sleeve denim shirt and began to cautiously poke around out there.
( Warning: poisonous spiders ahead )
I decided I'd better get rid of that bookshelf before doing anything else, so I carefully swept it clean and rolled it out to my van, then drove down to the nearest thrift store, where they were happy to take if off of my hands. (I also gave them a load of old shoes I'd been meaning to get rid of as well.)
Returning to the mess, I spent the next hour or so sweeping, filling bags, and hauling leafy debris. In the end, I filled four extra-large garbage sacks and one large cardboard box and hauled them all away to the dumpster. For the first time in more than a year, we have a patio again.
( Photographic evidence; I wish I'd taken a 'before' shot )
The little barbecue was surprisingly spider-free. I probably should have taken the stacked plastic chairs down to the thrift store with me because we never use them; they're leftovers from the San Jose Slan Shack when we had an actual back yard with pool rather than just a little postage-stamp patio. The sofa in the distance is a hulk that was here when we moved in, that I don't want, and that I've been meaning to ask the owner to have hauled away because I don't want to touch it -- I assume it's full of spiders despite me periodically spraying it. But perhaps I won't broach the subject with the owner until after I sign a new lease.
Update, 15:05: So of course, twenty minutes after finishing the cleanup, my upstairs neighbor decides it's time to do the same thing, and more junk rained down into my patio. Sigh.
( Warning: poisonous spiders ahead )
I decided I'd better get rid of that bookshelf before doing anything else, so I carefully swept it clean and rolled it out to my van, then drove down to the nearest thrift store, where they were happy to take if off of my hands. (I also gave them a load of old shoes I'd been meaning to get rid of as well.)
Returning to the mess, I spent the next hour or so sweeping, filling bags, and hauling leafy debris. In the end, I filled four extra-large garbage sacks and one large cardboard box and hauled them all away to the dumpster. For the first time in more than a year, we have a patio again.
( Photographic evidence; I wish I'd taken a 'before' shot )
The little barbecue was surprisingly spider-free. I probably should have taken the stacked plastic chairs down to the thrift store with me because we never use them; they're leftovers from the San Jose Slan Shack when we had an actual back yard with pool rather than just a little postage-stamp patio. The sofa in the distance is a hulk that was here when we moved in, that I don't want, and that I've been meaning to ask the owner to have hauled away because I don't want to touch it -- I assume it's full of spiders despite me periodically spraying it. But perhaps I won't broach the subject with the owner until after I sign a new lease.
Update, 15:05: So of course, twenty minutes after finishing the cleanup, my upstairs neighbor decides it's time to do the same thing, and more junk rained down into my patio. Sigh.
