Holidays like Thanksgiving really remind me just how much I prefer to keep to myself. It's just simpler, and far less time consuming.
Mrs. Denmarkguy and I had been cleaning house, ahead of the annual influx of family and friends. For some reason, we seem to always be the ones who end up "playing host" to everyone else in our family/circle. Which is OK, really... I'd rather stay home this weekend than have to travel somewhere.
But getting everything ready is really a lot of effort... and expense. Which makes me ponder — perhaps selfishly — why it is so often those who can least afford it who end up underwriting those who could most afford things?
I remember around the time my mother passed away, we were "invited" to go out for dinner with one of my parents' uber-wealthy friends... who subsequently sat there with a piece of paper and pen and figured out down to the last cent who owed what for dinner, including beverage tax and everything.
And then they almost acted like they deserved a tip for being the one to calculate the bill so accurately. The person who had "invited," in the first place...
These were people who had original Picasse drawing hanging in their childrens' bedrooms. Go figure.
But I am digressing.
Because we were having people over, we were deep cleaning the house. And it's very time consuming.
House cleaning is one of those time-consuming aspects of being alive that makes me wonder how people even manage to get through life, in a meaningful way. Then you add in all the other things related to health, wellness, hobbies and whatever else... and where does the time end up going?
When I was at University, I remember having a very simple debate with an (older) student about staying fit. I pointed to my cousin — who was a municipal office manager back in Denmark — and how he rode his bicycle 20 minutes to work, and back from work, every day.
Including parking and whatever else, it only took him about 5 minutes longer than getting out in heavy traffic with his car to get to work.
Compared to someone in the US who might take 20 minutes each way to get to work, and then take 15 minutes to drive their bike to a park, ride around in a circle for 30 minutes, and then drive 15 minutes back home. On top of commuting.
Getting back to deep cleaning and time management, I am often amazed (and a little disappointed) by the sheer amount of time and expense we go to, in service of supposedly making our lives better.
Sometimes I feel like I am the only person on the planet who "sees through" time-saving tricks and devices, recognizing that they are actually a way to pay extra to have our lives become even more complex and filled with more stuff. "Stuff" we have to service, maintain and periodically replace.
As I recall, my cousin — who was in his mid-50's, at the time — had been riding the same bike for 20+ years, and had never concerned himself with "upgrading," or with tricking out the bike. It was simply a reliable mode of transportation.
I do realize that here in the US we are often dealing with greater distances and such, but in many cases we're not.
But to come back around to the original issue of "deep cleaning," I also don't need "the latest technology" in vacuum cleaners... I just need a reliable piece of gear that sucks dust.
Keep it simple!
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Created at 2025.11.27 23:16 PST
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