Random Bullets of Crap*: Brain Addled By Cleaning Products Edition

• Yesterday, I told myself I couldn't blog until I'd finished cleaning at least half of our kitchen cupboards (which I didn't manage). That might not sound like a lot, and in an ordinary kitchen it wouldn't be...but this is the Kitchen of Horrors. I cannot comprehend what the previous residents did in there, but it must have been a kind of game where they just spent hours rubbing grease, fat, any brown coloured food etc. into cupboard shelves, doors (extra points for getting it into small crevices where it's hard to clean!). As for the walls, I think they must have used been used as target practice for whatever food happened to be lying around. Totally gross. I have now cleaned some of the cupboards at least five times and am only just beginning to see the difference. So, expect me to actually unpack my pans and cook a meal sometime in 2009.
• Even our poor washer/dryer machine has had a bad reaction to being in the Kitchen of Horrors. It now takes 3 hours to wash a single load of laundry (where it used to take one) and at the end the machine is massively overheated. Clearly, it's hoping to be sent to the great Washing Machine Heaven rather than spend much longer in this place...
• Not that it's all bad on the domestic front. We do finally have a shower from which water actually flows. For two weeks we could get no more than drip from it - which led to me taking more baths than I've had in the last 10 years (I hate bathing!) - but the plumber did what plumbers do, and we now have a stream of water. Not powerful, but at least I can condition my hair properly. By the end of last week my hair was getting so static that everything I touched gave me electric shocks! Not good.
• Of course, even all the domestic horrors (and I've only given a flavour here...) do not detract from how awesome it is to live here. I haven't been out yet this morning, but have already watched people stroll around the gardens and looked at the sea from our window. Perfect.
• The reason I haven't been out yet is because I'm waiting for a delivery of concert tickets. Yet another reason why I love living in Trendy Seaside City is that there is a fantastic concert venue about ten minutes walk away which attracts top bands. And, because some poor souls always end up not being able to attend at fairly late notice, it's fairly inexpensive to get heavily discounted tickets on e-bay. I'm really excited as I've seen this band in support in the past, and it'll be fun to hear much more of their stuff.
• I hope the tickets arrive soon, as I'm looking forward to escaping the cleaning and walking to town to run some errands. I have to get Mothers' Day cards and gifts, lots of birthday cards (why are so many of my friends born in March?), and will probably poke around a couple of book shops and stationery shops to fuel my addiction just a little.
• I also want to start looking at coffee makers. I want a drip/filter sort, but I want to make sure that I buy a good one (not necessarily expensive). In the past I've had cafetiere (apologies for missing accents!) / french-press style ones, Italian stove-top espresso makers, and also a big espresso/cappuccino machine. Thing is, I've never really liked the coffee that the cafetieres make, and I only tend to drink espresso when I go out for a meal, so my espresso makers were primarily used as a basis for lattes, which I really prefer to buy from a coffee shop. What I'm really looking for is a machine that will just make good coffee. It's going to be my present to myself for finally getting the kitchen clean (if I ever do). Do any of you have any suggestions as to makes or models or any particular features I should be looking out for? I'd be hugely grateful for any advice, especially as I know there are plenty of caffeine aficionados in this part of the blogosphere. :)
  

* Originally devised by Ianqui, but now adopted by almost everyone else.