Work We Must

[kevin_standlee]

The weather was excellent again today in Oregon, so we got a few more "outdoor" jobs done. We replaced the burnt-out headlight in the little orange pickup. (Actually, Lisa changed out both bulbs, saving the one that was still working as a spare.) Then we dragged out the Shop-Vac to go after trying to clean the inside of the Big Orange Van. The carpet in the van was soaked in many places, but not apparently due to rain leakage. It's just that the air is so moist up here and the van not that air-tight. Moist air gets into the van, then condenses out overnight. We noticed last night a bunch of water condensed on the inside of the van's windows. Anyway, Lisa opened up the van and pulled out as many things as she could, while I vacuumed the damp carpets. The foam mattress in the back appears too moldy to be retained and will have to be replaced. There just hasn't been sufficient warm weather here to air out the vehicle. Also, the place where the van is parked doesn't get much sun at this time of year.

Working around all of that mold didn't do me much good, and I was feeling pretty poorly by 4 PM when we gave up and put stuff away. We really should have got more work done here, but we didn't set an alarm last night and therefore didn't get up until noon. But we're generally trapped in the house on Sunday mornings by the people attending church across the street anyway.

Comments

I know you know these things, I just can't help it.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

When replacing the mattress, there are now mold resistant foams out there. I don't know the relative costs, but if the storage situation is likely going to remain similar, it might be worth looking into at least.

Of course, some people are allergic to the mold-resistant formula...

It might also be a good idea to get some sort of eggcrate foam layer or grooved ridged underlay for the mattress. Promote the circulation of air under it, and it's likelier to dry out and to stay mold free.

I watch too many home improvement shows.

Re: I know you know these things, I just can't help it.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

These are good points. We'll have to ask The Foam Man -- that's the business from which we've been buying custom-cut sheets of foam rubber for applications like this -- about mold-resistant foam. You'd think someone selling foam rubber in Oregon would know about such things, after all.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

But we're generally trapped in the house on Sunday mornings by the people attending church across the street anyway.

Um, you have to hide from the church-goers...?

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Not exactly. I say "trapped" because some of the church-goers don't seem to grasp the fact that the little bit of gravel between our property and their church is a "road" rather than a "parking lot" and it's not unusual for them to park in such a way that we can't get out of our driveway until services end. In addition, work like we were doing yesterday with a noisy vacuum cleaner, and with having to start the van to move it to a more convenient spot, is loud, and we (being more considerate than the errant parkers) don't like to disturb their services with the noise.

We have nothing against the church -- it's on property donated by Lisa's relatives, her father is, I think, involved in the governance of the church in some way, and the previous pastor was very nice to Lisa, particularly right after her mother died -- but there are individual members who are obnoxious and inconsiderate of their neighbors.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Ah, right. It's funny how often that happens, and I'm sorry you have to deal with it.