Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Does that require a 4 year degree?

A few weeks ago, I found myself sitting cross-legged on the floor of my parents' new house with a rag, a razor blade, and this:


In a well-intentioned but poorly considered move, the former owners of the house had placed a large quantity of extraordinarily sticky double-sided tape on the polished stone fireplace hearth. We successfully removed most of the spongey tape, but the goopy residue seemed content to remain on the stone for the rest of time. Not exactly thrilled with the smudgey asthetic in the brand new family room, I volunteered for the painstaking and somewhat aromatic job of removing the gunk.

It was in about the 43rd minute of my soaking-blotting-rubbing-scraping-soaking routine that I noticed something on the container that gave me pause. Admittedly, three-quarters of an hour of inhaling the fumes may have had something to do with my observation, but I suppose you can be the judge of that. Any guesses as to what may have caught my eye?


Professional strength? Really? Are there professional goo-off-ers somewhere? Is this a career path that I somehow missed? (Because it turns out I'm really good at it.) Would a professional goo-off-er really purchase the self-proclaimed miracle remover in a 4.5oz sized container? And, more importantly, where can I buy the strength designed for mere lay-people? I don't have a goo-off license.

Bonus random thought of the day:
As long as we're on the topic, here's another thought for you. What is the deal with products that use those stickers that leave the paper-y sticky residue behind when the sticker is removed? It absolutely burns me when I buy a new set of tupperware, as I recently did, only to find that the largest container will forever have the furry white fuzz in the outline of the large descriptive sticker placed on the front.

When I purchase a discounted book, that 20% off sticker had better peel off with perfect ease, not a hint of gunk remaining, because if I have to live with one more cover marred by a price sticker bunched in one corner from my fingernail and pressed back into place due to poor sticker-removal, I'm going to have to find and forever employ one of those professionals they speak of.

3 comments:

Tommy + Monica said...

haha this made me laugh! I am SO with you about the sticky residue left behind! I HATE THAT! so annoying!

sohirach said...

what a great blog! you are so inspirational! if you get the chance to check out mine, I would love for you to tell me your opinions on it! :)

follow me?
www.so--hi.blogspot.com

Liv said...

i just got some shoes from ross and i held my breath while pulling the stickers off.

for the first time EVER they didn't leave any gunk!! yea!!