“I can’t believe you didn’t mention the Borax” says Scott upon reading my last post.
The “Borax” he is referring to is, specifically, 20 mule team Borax that a recipe for “head cleaner and disinfectant” calls for. It is one of those items that seem to have managed to stay on the shelves since 1891 – a hidden secret that the living members of the "Silent Generation" still demand and therefore keep on the market. It’s a powdered cleaner/detergent and is one of the few products that still comes in a cardboard box (without plastic interior) and it’s design seems to date back to the days of Courier and Ives. It's vintage.
What’s the big deal about the Borax you ask? Well, I’ll tell you.
As I mentioned in my last post – I am stubborn, headstrong and (news flash!) really, really impatient. When Scott and I were shopping for this particular ingredient, this Borax, it wasn’t at the store we were in (Target). So me, ever ready to improvise was all, “Well, lets just grab this Ajax – it’s a powder and the same exact thing.” Scott, every the pragmatist (thank god) begins to read the instructions and takes note of a warning on the label “TO AVOID HARMFUL FUMES DO NOT MIX WITH OTHER HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS LIKE AMMONIA”. Guess what another ingredient in our recipe was? Yep. Ammonia. So Scott is now adamant that we do NOT buy Ajax, and search for Borax elsewhere. “Scott, Borax and Ajax are practically the same thing – I mean, they SOUND the same – Borax probably has the same warning – it’s probably the fumes that clean the head!!” (Yes, I realize how stupid and ridiculous I sound, but hey – this is how it went down). Scott just looks at me in disbelief and shakes his head. We decide to improvise with another, NATURAL powdered cleaner and check out.
We get home and Scott hops online, much to my chagrin (I wanna clean the head dammit!) still searching for Borax when he sees online that it is located in Jewel Stores. So he calls and asks one clerk after another (they kept putting him on hold and another clerk would pick up with the same “How can I help you?”) and asks if they carry Borax, “it’s a detergent...” he says…”It’s NOT a detergent – it’s a cleaner, you’ll confuse them!” I hiss into the ear not on the phone. You see, I had it in my head that Ajax and Borax really were the same type of stuff. Powdered cleaning products. Why? I don’t know – it’s just what I decided, and when I make up my mind about something – I stick to my guns. For better or worse. Whether or not I know what the hell I am talking about.
So we go to the Jewel (they said they had it) and we’re looking down the aisle and Scott starts looking at the detergent and again I say “Its not a detergent, it’s a cleaning product – it’s going to be down here…” and I march farther down the aisle to the bright blues and greens of the cleaning products. “See…I told you they wouldn’t have….” And I am stopped by Scott, who is still in the reds and yellows of the DETERGENT section holding a box of, wouldn’t ya know it, 20 Mule team Borax. Turns out it is a detergent after all. Oops. (Incidentally, Borax seems like a hidden gem among the plastic bulbous jugs it humbly sits next too, there's some interesting history on the stuff here.)
“If only you’d have a little faith in me!” Scott says as I give him a big hug and kiss and puppy dog eyes (this is how I admit my guilt and ask for forgiveness). He laughs a little, but he’s right. I should have listened to him all along – he was just trying to do something the right way, not the comeonletsjustgetmovingigottagowhocaresifitisn’texactlyrightway, which is my way. But where he’s wrong is that I DO have faith in him. A LOT of faith in him. I trust him and his abilities implicitly – if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be living out the beginning chapters of our huge dream with him! I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be by my side - but I suppose I need to focus on these little acts of faith as well. I am a work in progress.
He also would like me to mention, as a post-script to my last post regarding my lack of faith in our steering, that a) our steering is FINE (right now) b) we have yet to bleed the air out of our hydraulic system and c) we haven’t checked all the hoses so… “It’s a little premature to loose faith in the steering Brittany”. Sigh. And he’s right. Again.
Lots of love!
Brittany and Scott
1 comment:
Briit, I am EXACTLY the same way. I will improvise and cut corners like a madman sometimes to get the Job done.
Sometimes this is good, and sometimes it is bad.
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