Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Prince Albert in a Can

Do you have Prince Albert in a can?  Well, you'd better let him out!  LOL!  Who remembers prank phone calls?  More on that later.......

Odoban, a product we use at the CAAWS shelter, is an amazing cleaning/mold inhibitor/sanitizer/odor remover.  In fact, it even kills HIV virus!  and you can readily get it at Home Depot or similar stores. I am using it to clean the stuff that will eventually go back into the house.

One gallon makes 32 gallons of solution.  I use a sponge and a microfiber rag to put the solution on the piece, then it needs to sit and dry about 15 to 20 minutes.  I haven't been rinsing it off, but you can.

The piece that may survive the best is the cheapest piece I own.  We bought this Fish Watching Bench at a craft fair.  It sat in front of the aquarium in the foyer.  Carrie and I would share the seat with Cali the cat and watch the fishes swim.

My grandmothers writing desk may not be salvageable.  My oak dining table is barely hanging on.  I will eventually get another table but I really wanted to save the writing to desk.  

I remember Grandma Graci sitting at the desk and ciphering.  She would go to the corner store, buy her daily groceries and walk home.  All the items would be placed on the kitchen table and she would check each item off the receipt and confirm the price.  If it was wrong, even a penny, she would immediately go back to the store and get it corrected.  If it was in her favor, she would collect.  If it was in the store's favor, she would pay.  
Upon the writing desk was the old telephone.  I remember there was a 3-party line.  But as the years went on, the line was changed to a private line.  A prefix was used as part of the number, Grandma Graci was Whitehall or WH then a series of numbers.  Papa and Ganny, my mother's parents, lived in the Twinbrook area.  

TW1-9073.  How can I remember that and not to move the fan in out of the rain yesterday?

Here's a secret.......Cousin Karen and I would spend the summers together at Grandma's Frenchmen Street house.  When Grandma was praying the Holy Rosary, we would make prank calls on that old phone!  Looking back, I guess she was just trying to save our souls from burning in hell!
And don't worry, neither of us ended up on Bourbon Street or in Jail!  Although we might have been close to either at any given time,


PS - I ordered my new fireplace insert today!   Who would have ever thought that in my lifetime, I would need to order fireplace insert?



7 comments:

  1. You sound better with each post. There's almost a hint of a giggle in today's memories. Of course, sometimes you sound pretty mad, pissed off a couple of times (FEMA, insurance, government) but those posts sound better, also. When you're fighting mad, I think of a bantam at a cock fight, and I know that I do not want to work for FEMA, insurance, or government! And on days like today, I smile and say "She's coming back!" and think "that's it! That's how I knew that you would make it."

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  2. I have my fingers crossed that the writing desk can be made whole for you. Funny about the fireplace insert ... I would have thought those things were indestructible.

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  3. if you can't save the desk, save part of it... like the writing surface, or the cubbies. Just some part that you can put on a wall, or a shelf, that will keep you connected... and the photo, of course. hugs.

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  4. I grew up with Woodward as our telephone prefix - later shortened to WO and then 96 -- my sister and I made prank calls, too. And it must have been a rule about checking the grocery list after returning home - we did that, too!

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  5. I think Kathleen has a great idea - if the desk can't be saved, salvage some part of it the hardware, a drawer, whatever and put the salvage part with a picture of the desk.

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  6. I love odor ban ! We use it at the hotel I work at a lot because it smells good to say nothing of it cleaning abilities.

    I'm
    Glad you were able to save a few thing that have memories attached.

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  7. Onward and Upward. Remember you are a survivor.

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