KITCHEN. Check.
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Lounge room. Check.
Bathroom. Check.
Microwave. Check.
Yes, happily we can report the Great Struggle Street Cleanup is well advanced. This correspondent was forced to act following threats from the World Heath Organisation (WHO) regarding our unkempt shanty. It had been some weeks (read months) since the place had received a decent tidy up.
This was starting to draw comment from the few visitors we receive. So dire had the situation become that even the Jehovah Witnesses refused to call in, asking instead could we meet at the front fence.
In this space previously we mentioned that our microwave was in a poor state. Yet compared to other sections of the Struggle Street household (SSH), the microwave was a beacon of cleanliness.
So we will mark Saturday, July 6 as a day of significant change in Struggle Street. It was the start of the Great Struggle Street Cleanup (GSSC).
It was a massive operation, for the cleaners (there were two, under the supervision of this correspondent) first had to establish a base camp. We know that child labour is frowned upon in some parts of the world, but to be honest, we believe it should be legalised and encouraged. Child labour is a great learning curve for the younger generation, teaching them responsibility, installing a work ethic while also giving them purpose. And best of all, it's also free.
Just getting rid of the sundry magazines, TV guides, phone books (one from 2015 no less), Watch Towers, junk mail and other items from a coffee table was daunting enough, particularly for a nine-year-old. Lucky her mum was there to help. There was also a major hiccup when it was discovered that neither of our vacuum cleaners worked. This was a surprise. We didn't know we had one vacuum cleaner, let alone two. Unfortunately, this correspondent was forced to pay out for a new one. The things one does.
There were a few complaints during the course of the clean. All from this correspondent, as time was ticking away and we had an urgent meeting we had to attend at our hostelry.
The Greatest Hits of the Bee Gees provided the perfect musical backdrop for the sweated toil and we were also able to watch a replay of the Roosters smashing West Tigers from the night before while the work was progressing. After two and a bit hours, the job was done. Just a couple more rooms to go, although we shall have to wait until our cleaning combination has another free weekend.
Struggle Street is still looking resplendent, despite it being the venue for a soiree for the third State of Origin. This could be the dawn of a new, tidy era. Miracles do happen.
Even on Struggle Street.