I used the word justify because it starts with J but I had decided almost as soon as I was diagnosed that I was done with cleaning bathroom tiles and kitchen cupboards.  I asked around but cleaners were hard to find.  They all seemed to have a full workload and were not taking on any new clients.

It was then I tried Hi Pages and received three responses from companies who employed cleaners. The one I chose replied immediately and agreed to come and meet with me.  Her name was Lyn* and she had recently been put in charge of all the personnel involved in house cleaning for their company.  Her sister had had cancer and she had shaved her head in solidarity. She would make sure that I had the same person each week and that precautions would be taken in consideration of my low immunity. My new cleaner, Carol*, was to start on Thursday.

That gave me a few days to tidy the house in readiness.  On Thursday morning 9 o’clock arrived but there was no Carol.  At 9.10 am I rang Lyn.  She had just heard from Carol, who was knocking on the door next to the garage but said there was no response.  I told her there was no door next to the garage but to walk up the steps on the left-hand side to a deck where she would find the front door and us waiting for her.

There is no door next to the garage! What was she thinking?

All went quiet.  Lyn had given me Carol’s number but there was no response.  As for Lyn she said couldn’t talk because she was in a meeting.

It was almost midday when my phone rang.  

“You were trying to call me?” a woman’s voice asked.

“I’ve been trying to call you all morning,” I said.  I’ve been waiting for you to clean my house in K…. “

“I’ve already cleaned a house in K…,” she said, and gave my address.

Then the penny dropped.  Some time ago a mischievous person had turned our street sign around so that it pointed in another direction.  As most people use satellite navigation it hadn’t occurred to me that Carol would be looking at street signs.  She told me that she pulled up at a house with the same number as ours and climbed the stairs to the right (not the left as instructed).  An old lady answered the door and seemed to be expecting her.

“I’m so glad you’ve come,” she said. “My name has been down for a cleaner for such a long time as I’m not very well.”

Carol cleaned her house and then moved on to another job.  After talking to me she realised she had just cleaned a house for free. The woman had probably signed up to a Home Care Package as part of Aged Care Assistance at Home. Sometimes it takes a long time for the system to process. Carol was not sorry for her good deed as she felt the woman really needed help. As for my cleaning job I would have to contact Lyn and arrange another day for Carol to come to my house.

Contacting Lyn proved to be a problem. It wasn’t until the next day that she replied to my phone calls. Her company had restructured its organisation and decided to remove house cleaning from its services. That’s what the meeting was about!  No wonder she wasn’t in a hurry to speak to me!

She did say that Carol might be available as a private cleaner so I followed that option and lined her up for the following Monday.  I also contacted the Council to report the matter of a faulty street sign, which, to their credit, they remedied within a few days.

*Not their real names