Cleaning 'holiday lets'

Cleaning is not something that I particularly like doing.  Cleaning is not something that I'm particularly good at.  And cleaning, especially after 'holiday let' people, is not particularly the most pleasant job in the world.

Every Friday I clean two neighbouring holiday let properties.

I clean these because I was 'head hunted' by the owners.   I've never been head hunted to do anything before so when these two owners approached me, obviously my self confidence was boosted to very high levels!!!  They didn't even know if I could clean?  I think they just thought, 'middle aged woman, living by herself, doesn't have anything better to do???  Cleaning holiday let properties in this town is very well paid - so I agreed.

Today cleaning two properties in the changeover time of 5hrs was a struggle.  The holiday makers actually left at 9am so instead of the usual 10am-3pm changeover I had an hour extra.  I needed it!!!

Property 1 was absolutely trashed. 

The blind in the kitchen was broken and wouldn't pull up, most of the pillow protectors were very badly stained, there was more sand in the property than there was down at the beach, the oven, grill pan, tiles behind the cooker hob & most of the pans were caked in grease, the bins had all been emptied but then no bin liners had been replaced and so all the bins were full of horrible sticky stuff, the teapot was full of cold tea and teabags, haven't a clue how anyone could make a fridge/freezer so dirty but there were zillions of fingerprints on the outside and lots of 'spillages' on the inside, all the work surfaces everywhere were sticky and coffee or coke or something brown had been spilled all over the kitchen floor.  Oh and the bath was the dirtiest I've ever seen it.  Apart from all the sand in there, the bath sides and floor were filthy.  Wish I'd taken some photos.

Property 2 on first appearances looked OK but........................

It would appear that the two teenage boys in there had been drinking beer and eating chips in the bedroom as I found the salt cellar in the bottom bedroom drawer and two half drunk bottles of beer next to the bed.  Hope it was beer and they'd not been using the bottles to wee in???

The toilet flush was broken and they'd obviously just been taking the cistern lid off and faffing around with the insides of the cistern to flush it instead of reporting it to the letting agents.

There were lots of soft drink empty bottles under the beds, the sheets were....................... you don't actually want to know what the bedding was like?!

Amazingly the oven was quite clean - but the grill pan wasn't.  There was so much grease in there that it took almost an hour to clean it.

It makes you wonder - do holiday makers actually live like this at home?  Or do they just think - we're on holiday, whoopee doo - the cleaner can clean up all our crap???? 

'And if we break things it doesn't matter, cos we're going home and broken toilet flushes and broken blinds aren't our problem.  Let's just leave them for the next holiday makers'.

Just as well I'm a very 'on the ball' cleaner isn't it?

I'd like to say that these items will be deducted from the holiday makers deposit - but they probably won't - because the holiday makers will deny all knowledge of ruining the above items.

It's the cleaner's word against their's.

................And as everybody knows - cleaners are the lowest of the low.  Grrrrrrrrrr................

Two for one!

 

This is a tub of coleslaw.  You can clearly see that it says, 'Any 2, £2'???!!!

 

What does this suggest to you?

 

It suggests to me that if you buy 2 tubs of coleslaw they will only cost you £2.

 

So, there I was in the 'Co-op', I'd gone in for mushrooms but that's a whole other story.

 

No mushrooms so I decided I'd buy a tub of coleslaw.  For my tea tonight I'm having BBQ'd sweet chilli chicken (from Tesco), new potatoes and I was hoping mushrooms.  (The 'Co-op' isn't very good on fresh vegetables - actually the Co-op isn't very good on anything.  Oh, & while I'm having a bit of a rant, the Co-op's use by dates are ridiculous! Might have to have a proper Co-op rant at a later date).

 

Anyway picked up this tub of coleslaw.  I only wanted one tub of coleslaw, not two.

 

Why do supermarkets think that every shopper wants 2 of everything??? 

 

Perhaps it's 'sticker' - 'Any 2 for £2', related to other things and not just coleslaw - but when I arrived in the Co-op at about 2pm there were only 5 tubs of coleslaw and no other items in the same bit. 

 

I wanted mushrooms and there were no mushrooms.

 

Anyway, I took my tub of coleslaw to the cash desk.  I didn't take 2 tubs of coleslaw - because actually I don't eat a lot of coleslaw and I doubt if I'll actually even eat all of this tub.

 

The Co-op cashier scanned it through the till.  I said, 'How much is that?'  Thinking it would be about £1.25 or even £1.50??

 

75p???!!!

 

So people - you can buy one tub of coleslaw for 75p!!!

 

But if you want to buy two tubs of coleslaw at the 'Co-ops special deal price' it will cost you £2.

 

Don't you just love all these '2 for 1' bargains???!!!

A day at the beach

Traditionally Germans have the reputation of getting up early on holiday and putting their towels on sun loungers around the hotel pool to 'reserve' them.

I think this 'tradition' has now leaked through to the great British seaside towns.

 

I trek around town with my dog first thing in the morning and people are often setting up their 'camps at 7am?!!!  Why on earth would anyone want to set up camp at 7am.

 

 

Gone are the days when holiday makers went to the beach with their swimming costume wrapped up in a towel.  Gone are the days when one discreetly tried to get changed on the beach with a towel wrapped round themselves. Gone are the days when the 'up market' people on the beach sat on deckchairs instead of just a towel.

 

Nowadays everyone on the beach has a tent - at least one tent, though usually quite a few tents, people don't just have one windbreak, they have at least four.  And these days a windbreak isn't actually to protect anyone from the wind.  It's to build a perimeter fence around their camp so that other  beach goers don't infiltrate their space.

 

Nowadays, the kids on the beach don't just have a bucket & spade.  They have skim boards, boogie boards, surf boards and of course their iphones, ipods & ipads which have to have a 'safe' place to be left in their huge camps.

 

Hardly anyone goes into the sea in just a swimming costume or trunks.  These days all the kids have wet suits.  Well their mummy's and daddy's don't want their little darlings getting hypothermia do they?

 

These days going to the beach is like a military operation....................  And where's the fun in that???

 

 



Tesco's

OK so yesterday I said I was going to go to Tesco at 8am.  I didn't.  I went around 1pm.  It wasn't particularly busy but a lot of the shelves were empty.

The 'Tesco shelf stackers' were clogging up all the aisles yet again.  Why do they do this?  They had their big unloading pallets sitting in the middle of the aisles and to be honest the majority of them  weren't even working - they were just standing around having a chat - and showed no signs of moving even when 4 or 5 people with trolleys wanted to get past.  Grrrrrrr...............

Surely they should be able to get themselves organised and stock up the shelves during the night.  I know loads of people that would work through the night.

This is a holiday town.  It's August.  Supermarkets are busy.  I can't believe that whoever is in charge of Tesco does not realise that in the summer trade doubles due to the influx of holiday makers.

OK so today it was quiet.  But I bet at 6pm tonight the shelf stackers were still stacking shelves.  I bet their huge pallets were still in the way and I bet people still couldn't find what they wanted because the shelves were not stocked.

It's ridiculous!

6pm shoppers

This weekend I have family coming to stay.  Four people are descending on me and I need to feed them for four days.  Living by myself I am not used to food shopping for so many people.  I like to think I am organised so I have made myself a very, very, very long shopping list and off I went to Tesco.

Unfortunately, because I have been working all day, I got to Tesco just after 6pm.

6pm is the time that holiday makers come off the beach and go shopping for something for their tea.

Holiday makers never know what they want for their tea.

They mooch around in unfamiliar supermarkets in flip flops and shorts, spreading sand all over the supermarket floor.  They usually have the whole family with them.  By 6pm the kids are hungry, grumpy and very, very, whingey!!!

Holiday maker families clog up the aisles in supermarkets!!!

They stand around having arguments about what they are going to have for tea.  Gone are the days when the parents decided.  In my day, my mum would say, 'we're having tofu & spinach tortellini and you'll like it or lump it'.  Obviously, we never did have tofu & spinach tortellini when I was young because vegetarians hadn't been invented.  But we had mince, tatties & carrots and the whole family ate the same thing.  And my mum did say, 'you'll like it or lump it'.

These days it's like a major operation to decide what to have for tea.

Actually I couldn't care less what people have for tea.  If parents today want to cook individually (or at least shove individual meals in the microwave) that's their choice. 

I just wish they'd have the 'what shall we have for tea' discussion before they actually get to the supermarket.

Today I was so frustrated by the number of indecisive families with squealy brats that I abandoned my shopping expedition.

Going back to Tesco's at 8am tomorrow morning.

Will probably have a 'Tesco' rant tomorrow because they never have anything on their shelves at 8am in the morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Property Tycoon

OK so I've given this post the title, 'Property Tycoon'.  I'm not actually a property tycoon but I do own a two bedroomed flat which is rented out.  Maybe I could put on my CV that I'm a property manager or a property developer or a property landlord??!!

Oh and while I'm on the subject of CV's - I don't have one.  I don't actually think I've ever had one.  I don't see the point of them.  I've never had a problem getting a job.  Think I might have a bit of a CV rant at a later date!!!!

Anyway to get back to my 'property tycooning'.

I've just had my rental statement in for my flat.  The letting agent has spent £564.14 of my money on......................... I don't know what??!!

£9 - keys cut - why am I paying to get keys cut when the letting agent has had my property on it's books for almost 5 years and I gave them four sets of keys????

£48 - EPC - What on earth does EPC stand for?

£134.52 - Various works?  Surely as a letting agent they should be itemising what 'various works' are???

I have not authorised any of these things.

In all fairness, the agreement I have with the letting agent is that anything that costs under £100 they just do, anything over £100 I need to be consulted.

I was consulted, about a month ago, about replacing the shower curtain rail in the bathroom.  They said it was rusty.  I accepted that; said get a new one.  But £73.14 for a shower curtain rail?????!!!!!  Bit excessive don't you think?

They also said the toilet wasn't flushing properly so I authorised someone to repair that.  £118.80??!!  I probably could have got a new toilet put in for that.

And just don't get me started on mattresses.  I have been having an on going saga with them about mattresses which I really can't be bothered to mention in this blog.  After all does anyone, apart from me, really care what is happening about the mattresses in my rented flat??!!

Sometimes being a 'property tycoon' is hard work!!!!!!!

Needless to say I fired off a very long email to the letting agents as soon as I read my statement!!!!

Dog Poo

So today I'm going to have a bit of a rant about 'dog poo'.

Dog poo is not very pleasant.  It certainly is not very pleasant to be out on the dog walk and have to stop to pick up poo when one's dog decides to have a dump!

However, dog poo is even more unpleasant for people who do not own dogs.

In the town where I live, there is one street, which is without a doubt, the dog toilet.  Haven't a clue why everyone seems to take their dogs there to have a poo?!  It's quite a busy street, well overlooked with a steady stream of people and traffic pretty much all day.  What I don't understand; is how come so many dogs can have poos in this street without anyone noticing?  I've never yet managed to walk down there without some busybody coming out of their house and watching me.

Anyway, what must be the most annoying thing ever, as far as dog poo is concerned is..................   people picking up their dogs poo, bagging it up and then just dumping it by the side of the path ..................... or what is even worse ..................... hanging it on a tree.

Just what is the point of that??????

OK, I guess the conscientious amongst you will say it's because 'dog owner' will be returning via the same route and will pick it up on their route back??!!

Mmmmmmmmm .................................. How many of you have actually seen anyone return along the same route and pick up the bags of poo that they left at the start of their walk??

I actually know people who have bought a load of cheap plastic forks and walk around town sticking a fork into all the dog poo they can find.  Or they stick notes on bags of dog poo that have been left swinging from branches saying, 'What is the point of this?'

What indeed?!!!!

I guess it's making a point.  But really???!!!!

Why don't dog owners just pick up their poo and dispose of it in a proper bin??????

Definition of a 'Spinster'

My very first RANT!  (OK it’s my 2^nd cos I had a bit of a rant about cauliflowers yesterday).

Definition of a spinster, as defined by the ‘Oxford Concise Dictionary’:

‘Unmarried woman; elderly, woman thought unlikely to marry.’

I am a ‘spinster’ though to be honest I wouldn’t consider myself to be elderly??!!  I wouldn’t consider myself to be ‘unmarriable’.

Sooooooooooo this was going to be my first rant!

This BLOG was going to be soooooo organised and well structured?!!!!  But that was before I bought a couple of cauliflowers.  See yesterdays BLOG!!!

Anyway does anyone else absolutely HATE, HATE, HATE, the word ‘SPINSTER’???  I really do not look on myself as being an ‘elderly woman thought unlikely to marry’!!!!

If I wanted to get married I would.  I’d just log onto one of the numerous dating websites, find myself a man and waltz off down the aisle.

In this day & age finding a man is not difficult – even for an ‘elderly woman’ of my age?!  May be I’m unusual but I’ve never had a problem finding a man?!  Finding a man I want to be with – well that’s a completely different question??

However, I’m a happily single ‘spinster’.

Still doesn’t stop me ranting though!

‘SPINSTER’ must be one of the most horrible words in the English language??!!

It conjures up images of some ugly old woman, sitting alone with a cat, knitting, drinking tea, wearing tweed skirts and home knitted cardis, never having had sex, never having kissed a man, never having held hands with a man.  Never having done anything apart from live with her mother and go to church.

So why have I called this BLOG – ‘Rantings of a middle aged spinster’????

..............Because I guess that’s what I am.  LOL!!!!

PS – I’m not ugly, I don’t have a cat, I don’t wear tweed skirts and home knitted cardi’s & I’ve had loads of sex in the last 54 years.  I’ve also done a lot of kissing, held hands & had sexual contact (I’m admitting it now; so no need to go on the ‘Jeremy Kyle Show’ for a lie detector??!!)  My mother is dead so I don’t live with her and the last time I went to church was ....................... I can’t remember ...............  Oh yes – it was my father’s funeral in October 2002!

 

Cauliflowers

I like cauliflower.  I like cauliflower with cheese sauce.  I quite often have cauliflower and cheese sauce for my tea with a nice bit of fish.

I don’t like to eat cauliflower every day of the week.  Cauliflower twice a week (not every week) is quite sufficient for me.

So today I went to Tesco (I will definitely have a rant about Tesco at a later date).  Tesco were selling little cauliflowers  - two for £1.  Fabulous deal for anyone who wants two cauliflowers!

I didn’t want two cauliflowers.  I only wanted one cauliflower.  The cauliflowers did not have an individual price on them.  So I asked the nearest ‘Tesco shelf stacker’ how much an individual cauliflower was.

 He said, ‘They’re two for £1’.

I said, ‘I only want one’.

He said, ‘They’re £1’

I said, ‘So I can have two cauliflowers for £1 but if I only want one it’s still £1’.

He said, ‘Yeah’ and wandered off to carry on stocking up the potatoes.

So.................... I put two cauliflowers into my basket and when I got to the checkout I said to the checkout girl:

‘I don’t really want two cauliflowers but apparently you’re not selling them individually?’

She said, ‘It’s come up as two for one – it’s a really good deal’.

I said, ‘It’s only a good deal if you want two cauliflowers and I don’t’.

She ignored me .......................And I couldn’t be bothered to argue or ask to speak with a manager.

I paid my £1 for two cauliflowers with a ‘best before’ date of two days.

I live by myself.  I am not going to eat two cauliflowers in two days so one cauliflower will end up being thrown out.

And while I’m on the subject of wastage – just how many trees is Tesco’s using up by giving their customers stupid bits of paper that say, ‘You’ve saved 27p today!’

As I say – a ‘Tesco’ rant is imminent!!!!

A BIT ABOUT ME

..................So what do you want to know?

I’m female, single, heterosexual, aged 54, never married, reasonably attractive (so I’m told), no children, lots of ex-boyfriends (but have now given up on men & relationships) & I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, my life.

Live in a holiday town in the South West of England, work part-time in the tourism trade, & own my own little house with fabulous sea views.

I work most mornings & spend most afternoons walking my dog for an hour or more.

Early evening I like to have a couple of glasses of wine with friends at some of our fabulous beach bars.  (Obviously in the winter we frequent the pubs more??!!)

I drink a lot of wine!  ................Sometimes I wonder if I’m an alcoholic?  But in January this year, I deliberately didn’t have any alcohol for a month. -  Just to see if I could actually go for a whole month without any alcohol.  It wasn’t a problem.  .............But my friends' son has actually dubed myself & his mum the ‘AB FAB’ girls?!!  That’s a compliment – right?!!

Other stuff I like doing:

Walking with my dog.  (I walk for at least a couple of hours a day.) 

Going out for meals/drinks with friends.

 Knitting squares (yes I know – very spinster like) to  make blankets for dog rescue centres.

Watching ‘soaps’.

Having friends to stay.

Photography.

Blogging.

And that’s about it.

That’s my life and I love it.

 

PS:  I love RANTING too!