I love mine. The telescoping one gets the wall and ceiling corners, I have a bent one for the ceiling fans, and the bitty one that looks just like a ballerina skirt (twirl! twirl!) is great for getting in between the knicknacks that I'd otherwise have to duct tape down and use the leafblower, a la Tim Allen. Great also for books and tv and monitor screens, plus vented surfaces. You have to take them outside and beat them on the brick periodically (or shake them over a trashcan), but they hold the dust and don't redeposit it, and don't push it around the way I've found ostrich plumes often do.

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I just have a hand one. But this leads me to a rather prosaic cleaning question: I have three ceiling fans which I keep going constantly. I try to clean them once a year. but they are coated with this pernicious, greasy dusty buunyfilth. Does anyone have any tricks for getting this goo off of something that's 9 inches over my head?

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Does anyone have any tricks for getting this goo off of something that's 9 inches over my head?

Well, the blades can be removed, but if you do, you have to be careful when you put them back on, that they're balanced, or the fan won't run.

You could get a chair or step ladder, some paper towels and some Fantastic! (or some other cleaner like Formula 409, or something that does not need rinsing) and try that.

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JZ, I've done a similar coredump about a subject most folks didn't find squicky, so whether I share your squick, I'm in your corner for posting it.

I left support group when they told me soon I would lose my anger, and I thought to myself "In a world like that, where does stand-up come from?"

That's nicely put, Erika.

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Or take a bucket of bleach and just hurl it up at the fan while its running on it's fastest speed.

What?

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You may have to use a solvent, like TSP or one of the spray cleaners with orange oil. Soap and water will do it, but you'd need to actually remove the blades from the fan and wash them in the sink--messy. And it still leaves you with the fan body. I don't know if I'd want to use a spray cleaner on the fan housing--it has vent holes and I don't know what the cleaner would do to the motor. I'd use Goo Gone on a paper towel on a metal surface I couldn't submerge.

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I am far too lazy to remove fan blades. I'll try the Goo Gone.

I swear, the stuff is like ectoplasm mated with a dead Persian.

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I am far too lazy to remove fan blades. I'll try the Goo Gone.

Also the Palmolive Oxy Plus is really good at cutting through greasy stuff. It's what I like to use. Just a drop on a sponge or so should clean them up really well.

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Erin has a new tag.

As I was walking home from the Union today, I heard the words "Free hot chocolate!"

I turned, and there were several girls all bundled up for the cold. There was a paper sign proclaiming "Free hot chocolate!"

One girl asked, "Do you want free hot chocolate?"

"Yes," I said. "What do I do?"

"You don't do anything," she said.

The wind blew one of the paper signs off, a sign which did indeed say, "You don't have to do anything!"

As I was given my hot chocolate, I saw another paper sign with the name of the group, since this had to be something for an organization.

"What's ORAK?" I asked.

"DORAK," she said. "It stands for Do Random Acts of Kindness."

"Wow, that's awesome! I approve," I said. "How do I join?"

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It sounds like Neil Gaiman's daughter would get along quite well with my sister.

Why don't I read his blog again?

Signed,
Man, Sandman is even better on the second reading.

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