Monday, February 4, 2013

Pinterest & Me

Hello there.

Today is my second business day as an unemployed bundle of joy. I've been throwing around new titles for myself. Stay-at-Home Cat Lady sounded a little creepy. Stay-at-Home Girlfriend was a little pathetic. Senior Vice President of Home was way too ambitious.

I spent my first day of unemployment with no guidance generally associated with a title and job description. I cleaned out the kitchen, organized absolutely everything therein, and did all the laundry. Then I congratulated myself with several drinks. Every one was well deserved. I think quite highly of myself.

I used to be a scientist. I occasionally teach quilting. I love to sew and craft things. I love to bake, and sometimes cook. And, right now, I have absolutely no direction in my sad, little life. I recently read a pin on Pinterest that said people who "fly by the seat of their pants" are generally unsuccessful in life. You know what, Pinterest? People who don't are generally no fun.

So here I am. Unemployed. On the couch. Completely lost in life.

For some reason, I feel the need to clean the living shit of the kitchen, which is what lead me here. We have glass electric stove top. It seems that every time we cook, somehow, the glass gets charred beyond recognition. My favorite part of this is the smoke the aforementioned char produces the next time we cook. So I figured, I'm home. I have nothing better to do than start watching loads of TV I shouldn't even be interested in, why not try to get this shit off the stove?

I'll tell you why. Because, much like Rose from Titanic, it will never let go.

After scrubbing till my hands were raw with a sponge that promised not to scratch stove top - and coincidentally did not scratch the char either - I turned to Pinterest. I found this promising website.

I roughly followed the instructions. I say roughly because following instructions is not my strong point. I didn't exactly leave the hot towel on for 15 minutes. Because I got bored. Anyway, it did not turn out as promising as I had hoped. I guess I thought magic Baking Soda Fairies would scrub the stove. But, alas, they didn't.

Of course, I am not a quitter. I tried it again. This time, instead of focusing on the entire stove, I focused on the worst of the two burners. The website says to use a generous amount of baking soda. Check. I got the tap water as hot as I could make it, filled a bowl with soapy, hot water and soaked the rag. Then I set a timer. Also, the website says wear gloves. Do it. From personal experience, do it. I really thought this thing through the second time around. I was sure the Baking Soda Fairies would come this time. They didn't.

It's hard to say whether the charred remains of our food are somehow superior to charred remains of other food, but this cleaning technique didn't work on the burn marks. The rest of the stove looks fantastic. Looks like I will be taking an razor blade to those marks very, very carefully.



But all of this brings me to my revelation: I try a lot of things on Pinterest. Some things work, some things don't. Sometimes I make alterations to make things work better. Since I'll be home for a while and most likely trying things from Pinterest, I thought I would take this opportunity to write about it as well. It will keep me out of trouble, and maybe give people feedback on things to try.

So here it is:

Stay at Home Pinner - Searches Pinterest for new Do-It-Yourself crafts, home decor, organization, cleaning techniques, recipes and more and shares her findings in blog form