Learning Curve

Even though I have reached middle age, I am still finding I have to re-learn some life lessons. These are things a grown woman with my experience should know and yet, here I am - a student in classes I should have passed already.

This past week, I decided to break down and clean the bathtub. I suppose that in my lifetime I have cleaned a thousand or more tubs. In a pinch, I could add "Professional bathtub cleaner" to my resume.

Our bathtub drives me crazy. It gathers more rings than a jewellry store. The difference is that these rings are dirty and scummy. I do not like to take a bath in a ring-filled tub. It gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it. The rest of my family takes showers, so they don't seem to see the rings. It seems to be up to me to take care of it.

So on this particular day, I decided to have a nice soak in the tub. But it needed to be cleaned first. I set to work. I scrubbed it down with a bleach-based product, which has made it to my "top ten" list. But even though I used a scrub brush, not all the scum came off. I always do the finger test to make sure that the scum isn't there anymore in the curves and at the water level. It was still there. I did the only thing that made sense to my poor little brain. I took another cleaner and sprayed it on. A red flag should have gone up in my head. After all, I just passed the WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Data Sheet) test at work. But there were no red flags that day my friends. Then I used the shower head to wash it down. (warm water - another red flag should have gone up, but sadly it didn't.)
This, folks, is what I mean about a learning curve. You might assume that I would know about mixing chemicals and then breathing them in. However, in my enthusism to have a clean bathtub so I could enjoy a nice soak in it, I temporarily left my brain behind. Then I breathed in further fumes while having a soak.
For those of you who have never experienced this kind of fun, let me tell you that it's not worth it. I am quite sure I have no nose hairs left, and that my lungs are a little damaged from my efforts. As well, I felt very sick to my stomach for about 18 hours.

For the record, if I ever had any illusions about doing drugs, this experience has made me more determined than ever not to try them. Also for the record, baking soda is a great tub cleaner and it has no fumes attached. I think I will stick to that from now on.