Clouds overhead

It's finally raining in parts of Washington, and it may be my fault because I washed my car today. Someone had poured pop on my car in the hotel parking lot (another car got egged.) My poor auto needed to be washed anyway. The front end was covered with dead bugs that accumulated all the way from Peoria after it stopped raining there.

It was a productive day. After washing the car I went to Pet Smart to buy cat nail clippers since I left mine in Ohio. I traded in one of my Books on CD at Half price Books, and met my realtor at a property without getting lost. She had lined up four places or me to see. The first one emanated such a stench when she unlocked the door, she said, “We’re not going in there. It’s really hard to get rid of odors like that.”

The next two are larger, 2BR, but dingy and have old kitchen appliances. Since they’re at the top of my limit, I know I won't have enough cash reserves left to update them for a long time. The fourth condo is small, but completely renovated with good storage space. The biggest drawback is it’ on the second floor, so I don't relish carting twenty-five pounds of cat litter up those steps. It has tons of natural light and the kitchen is gorgeous.

The kitties are much happier not traveling even though they get annoyed when I crate them so the maid can clean the room. I don’t take full service every day, and today, since I was gone most of the day, I placed the Do Not Disturb sign on the knob. I try to get a window of time when the maid comes, but there’s a language barrier. The first day the Ethiopian maid spoke very little English, so I had to pantomime all I wanted was for her to vacuum, and give me new towels.

Yesterday, the Spanish speaking maid spoke slightly more English, but I had difficulty explaining why I needed a specific time. Elena, the desk clerk, gave me some words to say Tengo dos gatos y no quiero de solo pora mucho tiempo en joula, essentially saying I have two cats and I don't want to leave them in their crates too long. She seemed to understand the gist of what I said.

Tomorrow I get a relief from the hotel breakfast as I am joining Scott and Jena for breakfast..