Friday, August 12, 2011

Thing Number Three

You know how I blogged about my cat and my basement flooding and worried about bad thing number three striking? Well, the hillside above our house started on fire, and I thought, Crap.

But the firemen were awesome and put it out before any houses went up in flames. Then I thought, Dodged a bullet there. Sweet. Thing three averted.

Wrong. The Universe doesn't work that way. It likes threes. It also doesn't like me dodging bullets. Yup you guessed it, our three happened last night, and no, it wasn't as bad as the house burning down, or even as bad as it flooding, and definitely not as bad as my cat getting hit by a car, but it was messy. (And that was a really long sentence.)

What was our thing three? In an effort to be a good hostess to a book club meeting at my house, I decided to make fresh scones. You have to use oil to deep fry scones. We had lots of scones planned, so we had lots of oil. Do you know what happens to carpet if you accidentally dump a gallon of oil on it? I do. And did it just fall on the ground and goober up one spot? Of course not, such a silly question. It had to hit the floor and splash over fifteen feet of carpet. Curse you cooking oil!

I guess it wouldn't be so bad if we hadn't just learned that the carpet we so painstakingly cleaned and pulled up from the basement flood can't be relaid--something about it being bad if the back comes off the front. Sheesh.

Oh well, at least we've had our three. Knock on wood. Several times. (Please, stop at three, Universe. I'm begging you.)

So, if any of you out there know how to get oil out of carpet, you will officially be my new best friend (oh the glory!), because after hours of trying, I despair.

10 comments:

Jonene Ficklin said...

Oh, so so sorry! You know, you'd make a dang fine reporter and you wouldn't even have to go looking for THE story. It keeps coming to you. Fire above your house! Holy smokes! (Sorry for the pun.) Just consider it your burnt offering to the universe. I'm HOPING you're free and clear now!

Sandy L. Rowland said...

Leisha, what can I say?
At least the three plagues are over and you suffered no major injuries. Sorry to hear the carpet may be a fatality.

How long before you can save up for new carpet?
In a pinch, just smile when you look at the grimy spot and say, this too shall pass, just as the destroying angel did over Israel.

Donea Lee said...

Oh, no!! So sorry - just read about the cat and the flooding, too. :( But, I have to say - you've clearly kept your sense of humor about all of it! Sometimes - that's all you can do (laugh). :)

And I wish I had a tip about oil - the only thing that comes to mind is dish soap...I don't know why... and that could be a whole new mess, so. Yeah, don't listen to me. Best of luck!

marne' siggard said...

oh man i am sorry leisha! praying the bad things stop at #3.

Hermana Maw said...

Jonene, I'm hoping that too. Really hard. lol.

Sandy, I think we'll be smiling at a grimy spot for a while, but at least we have a spot to smile at. :)

Donea, I tried the dish soap. I walked around and squirted half a bottle of it onto the carpet, then shampooed it up. It didn't even bubble because of all the oil. But my feet got a spa treatment while I worked.

Marne', me too!

Nikki Mantyla said...

Love how you refer to the Universe in this. I may steal the capitalization of that and the general tone you strike and also the rule of threes. So great! But I promise to put you in the acknowledgements for said contributions and more. ;)

Hermana Maw said...

Nikki, no stealing needed. They are yours with my blessing, just be wary of the Universe. It doesn't like to be tampered with. ;)

Cherie said...

Well, first (and I'm assuming you did this) you blot up everything you can with towels, rags, etc.

Then, you scream really loudly - it's o.k. if you did this earlier.

Thirdly, vacuum up as much as you can with a good wet dry vac.

Put cat litter on it overnight to soak - then vacuum it up.
(courtesy of http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081111163200AAwLkD8)

And then - dilute the dish soap (not Dawn, apparently it will eat the glue) or shampoo,in water and apply to the carpet. Vacuum again. Repeat, until it looks better.

I think with a gallon of oil, it's going to take numerous applications of soap. You can't just do one big one, because if the back of the carpet gets too wet - well you know what happens.

Good luck.

Hermana Maw said...

Cherie, thanks! I shall try this as well. :)

The Stanley's said...

You are my very own 3D comic strip. Have you tried calgon? Seriously, fill your tub with it, climb in and say take me away!

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