How Clean Is Your House?

[BinkyBetsy]

I wonder why some of these people don't think it's important to have a clean house. I mean, the artists, the musicians, the actors who keep costumes at home, the people who work from home on computers. Dust is death to computers. Paintings and sculptures are vulnerable, as are costumes, wigs and props. There was that one screenwriter, the one who lived on a boat, who said afterwards that he'd come to realize that it's easier to be creative when you're tidy and organized! But mostly, they seem to be under the delusion that creativity can only thrive in chaos. Like the performance artist in Venice Beach. Afterwards, he'd clearly made zero changes to his daily routine. He and the bird lady are hopeless, I think.

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grumpygirl said:

I'm starting to think that I've seen all the episodes because it comes on 3 times a day on BBC America.

YESSS!! *Tom Cruise fist pump* I recently checked BBC America's schedule and didn't see it listed more than once a day, so I'm glad you mentioned that, GrumpyGirl. (And I'm glad the dachsies are back in your avatar, too. )

[Deleted]

WOOO! I found the bird lady episode on YouTube: I just did a search for "How Clean is Your House Bird Lady" and it popped right up! It's in four parts and yes, it's unbelievable. The Bird Lady looks like Monty Python's Terry Jones in a blonde wig!
(Sorry, but I don't have time to do a link right now, but it's easily found.)

[grumpygirl]

nursenoir said:

WOOO! I found the bird lady episode on YouTube: I just did a search for "How Clean is Your House Bird Lady" and it popped right up! It's in four parts and yes, it's unbelievable. The Bird Lady looks like Monty Python's Terry Jones in a blonde wig!
(Sorry, but I don't have time to do a link right now, but it's easily found.)

THAT'S why she looked so familiar! Damn, you are SO right. She looked like SUCH a kook and the house. OMG the fact that she didn't have every disease in the book was amazing. It would be like letting your dogs or cats run around pooping and peeing everywhere and not doing a thing about it, except that they don't go on top of the coffee table, the t.v., the keyboard, etc. Ick. I'm sure it's just as bad by now and it must smell fetid. Or pongy. Heh.

I want them to do a "go back a year later" show. Have you see "Clean House" with Niecy because she did go back a year later to see some of the people. Most of them were still pretty good although one couple had gotten a divorce. I think that their mess was very passive aggressive.

[firstaid]

WOOO! I found the bird lady episode on YouTube: I just did a search for "How Clean is Your House Bird Lady" and it popped right up! It's in four parts and yes, it's unbelievable. The Bird Lady looks like Monty Python's Terry Jones in a blonde wig!
(Sorry, but I don't have time to do a link right now, but it's easily found.)

OMG!!! I just watched it on Youtube!! That's fucking disgusting!! There is bird doo doo everywhere!!! What about the slough trails on the carpet? That cannot be healthy at all. I am strangely fascinated, yet completely disgusted by this show. I don't get BBC America, is Lifetime the only other channel it comes on?

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grumpygirl said:

I want them to do a "go back a year later" show.

They seem to go back two weeks later in a lot of the episodes and the people are still doing well. I believe they DID go back a year later with the Bird Lady and, while the kitchen looked good, the living room was back to its previous horrific condition, with the birds flying free and their "poopy-doops" (to quote Kim ) everywhere. I suppose the slugs were back too. The woman seemed to prefer it that way. Whaddayagonnado?

[zivvie]

I just received Kim & Aggie's book {available on amazon, eBay, etc. }. It's really great, and gives tips for what/how you should clean daily/weekly/monthly/annually.

I have to agree about the extreme dirty and messy conditions going hand in hand with depression. A lot of the folks on HCIYH? just look like they're sad, and it really comes across when they talk to Kim & Aggie. I saw it with my own parents - when it became clear a few years ago that my dad wasn't going to be around much longer, I could tell that my mom (who was never the most brilliant housekeeper) really began to feel the loss, and just let some things go too far.

{after quite a bit of my own sadness over the last year and a half, I've been clearing out clutter and scrubbing and cleaning more, and it does help. At least I don't have a home with random piles of cat poo! }

[grumpygirl]

I've been deep cleaning and organizing more that I've been watching HCIYH. Funny that it has that affect on us. My house is still perpetually messy since my husband is the clutter version of Pig Pen, but at least it's not disgusting and the bathrooms and kitchen are usually clean. Now that I have another long-haired dog I'll be fighting the dust bunnies (or dust rhinos) again though!

[Deleted]

grumpygirl said:

Now that I have another long-haired dog I'll be fighting the dust bunnies (or dust rhinos) again though!

More dachsies: YEA!! Great new avatar!
OT: Do you ever watch "It's Me or the Dog" on Animal Planet, GrumpyGirl? Last night the new episode was about a hell-raising miniature dachshund. The family had two other dogs, Springer Spaniels from the look of it. No wonder they were ill-prepared for a devil-dachs!

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[OT]"Me or the Dog" is an amazing show. Anyone who has dogs should watch it. I watch it even though I don't have a dog yet as I'm obsessed with dogs and eagerly planning the day when my lifestyle would make it a possiblity. I like that it's not all "Dog Whisperer" but is actually filled with really practical and common sense advice. To quote Ozzy "You don't need a shrink for the dogs - you just need to get up at 7am and open the f***ing door!!"[/OT]

Isn't it amazing how newspapers in particular pile up so easily? I find that I'm a lot more anal about throwing out old newspapers after watching this show. A lot of them have piles and piles of newspapers. The other big contributers seem to be pets, not cleaning the toilet and bath, and not washing the dishes. I mean there are loads of other things too, but watching this has made me quite careful about ticking those boxes in my own home. It's so easy to be lazy when you work full time and you're not feeling all that chipper and you just want to zonk in front of the T.V. and go to bed. Oh, another change I made was turning up the temperature on the washing machine when washing sheets and towels. The book says that only at 60 degrees Celsius do the bed bugs get killed. Eeeek!