I think I just did it. And I do it on a regular basis. I’m talking about changing the ac/heater filter. None of the family knows I do it unless they actually see me do it. I use the fiberglass version that you can just wash off, but still you have to hose and vacum it to get the dirt out. I don’t mind it too much, it’s just that I would like someone somewhere to say, “Hey nice job on changing that filter there bub!”
Thanks for reading this.
And do please opine on your choice of most thankless job around the house.
You know what, ** aha, ** I change the filters at my house too, [I HATE the one in the attic, such a weird position I have to get into to change it’s lil diddies! ;)] and I didn’t even THINK about that til you said so!
That is a pretty thankless task, but the one that came to mind when I read your thread title was having to take the ladder put it against the outside wall near the back of our house [it’s a two story] and clean out the dryer vent with all that gunky lint. I’m always scared a mouse will come out…it happened only ONCE, but I think of it every week when I do this terribly thankless task!
Cleaning the dust off of the a/c filter - yes
Putting on toilet paper rolls - yes
Cleaning the toilet bowls - yes
Sweeping out the garage - yes
Emptying the trash cans into the garbage cans - yes
Cleaning out the shower stall and the bathtub - yes
Picking up all those funky dirty clothes that were dropped there when they could have been dropped here in the laundry - yes
Baking chicken when it could have been lima bean soup - yes
Washing silverware - yes
Weeding - yes
Washing the car - yes
all of which the kids have been forced [via slavelabor] to do.
But the absolute thankless task is washing the front door oval glass or the backdoor sliding glass because no sooner than it’s done, greasy handprints/stubby noseprints/dogsnot noseprints appear like magic and no one understands how this pisses me off.
Mowing the lawn, or shoveling snow. Boring, repetetive, and the only time anyone notices when you do it is when you don’t do it well enough. (“You call that shoveling snow? I can barely get into the driveway!” “You forgot to mow under the low-hanging boughs of the pine trees again!”) Honestly, I have deep respect for anyone who can mow a medium sized lawn with a push-mower and not bitch about it.
…
And who are all you lucky people with AC? Jesus Christ Almighty! I always thought that was reserved for rich people.
Being the only person who even CONSIDERS, not to mention DOES REFILL the flipping ice cube trays.
I have never believed in the ice cube fairy, the one who magically makes wonderfully-tasting, fresh ice cubes appear, replacing the small, icky, shruken chunks of cloudy glass (ice cubes that have existed too long)that normally live in the freezer. S/he does not co-exist with the sock fairy (the one who washes and refills the sock drawers) in my house.
The again, maybe I am the ice cube fairy, as well as the sock fairy at my house.
I’m not bitter. Noooooooo…
[BlackKnight - I live in Florida (not rich). Every day I thank some higher power, if there is one, who/what ever brought Mr. Carrier to this planet and gave him the smarts to develop air-conditioning. Now if I could only peacefully co-exist with the mole crickets.]
screech, I solved the ice problem. I bought one of my dream items last year - the side-by-side fridge with ice, crushed ice, and cold water in the door. Ahhhh. I’m in heaven. Now, did I get a thank you for shelling out $1100 (alright, 1 year no-interest financing, so $89 a month) and hooking up a water line? Nope.
And I too shall thank you, Mr Carrier, and the Trane you rode in on. I love Central A/C.
(BlackKnight, down here in the South, A/C comes with the house. Way better than my days up North putting the window units in, then taking them out, year after year. Yet another thankless job.)
Don’t forget the mantra of the North (chant with me now):
take down the screen windows, put up the storm windows
take down the storm windows, put up the screen windows
take down the screen windows, put up the storm windows
take down the storm windows, put up the screen windows
take down the screen windows, put up the storm windows
take down the storm windows, put up the screen windows
take down the screen windows, put up the storm windows
Forget colored leaves and apple blossoms to tell the seasons apart; all we had to do was look at the windows.
How about draining and covering the pool for the winter? Thankless and a pain in the dupa.
[Wish I could get one of 'em fancy ice makers, but there’s no way to run a water hose to that side of the kitchen.]
Changing lightbulbs. If I didn’t climb up on a chair and change our ceiling fan lights regularly we would be stumbling around in the dark. And yet, I’ve not received a thank you yet. Interesting…
When I lived with Mrs Duke, these were jobs that had to be done, but, since she was so terrified of spiders, I couldn’t even tell her when I’d done them. She thought that, if I killed one, there must be another six or seven that I hadn’t found.
