Friday, January 27, 2006
A little hard work never hurt anyone
Who the hell said that anyway? I’ve been working hard the past week and its killing me! Ok, well, maybe not killing me, but it sure as hell does too hurt!
First scraping wallpaper for 2 days, that’s hard work. Steam, scrape, steam, scrape repeat. In a few spots for some inexplicable reason, its 3 layers thick! And underneath it is messed up drywall. So I spent the next 2 days filling in holes and smoothing out spots that were never sanded the last time someone filled in holes :-p ugh…I swear whoever it was filled in the holes looked at all of it and said “I don’t feel like sanding, I think I’ll just wallpaper over it” GAH!
I’ve been sanding all day today, and despite the dust mask, my nose is full of it. Bruno didn’t like all the noise so he went outside to sleep on the porch. George didn’t like the noise either, but still prefers the noise to outside. Strange dog that one.
I also moved the cupboard/shelf unit thing and scrubbed the floor under it, and scrubbed several decades of grime off the floor trim (its not even quite a baseboard). Tomorrow I will do the primer and get ready to paint. We went to Lowe’s on Wednesday and got paint and a couple of ceiling light fixtures, one for the bathroom and one for the bedroom (that’s next on the project list). The only light there now is a bare bulb, which is really quite ugly. We got 2 colours of paint, Fairy Dust, which I will use for the trim I think, and Siesta for the walls. Its kind of a very light salmon-y colour. I think I will do the cupboard thingy the same. Yeah, kinda blah and bland, but “neutral” colours are best for when you’re trying to sell right? At least its not builder beige! ;-)
My shoulders are really sore now, but I’m nowhere near done. Still to do is paint the bathroom, then start on the bedroom. I need to scrape the wallpaper off the ceiling in there (why is there wallpaper on the ceiling? I have no idea), then either tile or paint the ceiling. I also really would like to remove the paneling in there and paint the walls some not-so-neutral neutral colour. After that is the kitchen. In there we have to remove the vinyl flooring, put down new flooring (probably vinyl tiles), paint the cupboards, and maybe even paint the walls. The wall paper really is horrid in there, but I can’t scrape that off, so I’ll have to get some really heavy duty primer. THEN we really should strip and re-paint the trim throughout the house. That is if I have any control left of my arms and they haven’t gone on strike or something. That’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Most of which I wanted to start doing almost immediately after moving in, but James kept putting it off saying either we don’t have money or “what’s the rush, we’ll be here for a while”. :-p Now we’re planning on moving, and we’re in a rush. Hmph.
Before I start my next project tho, I’m off to friend Juli’s bookstore this evening. She’s closing up shop and having a grand closing gathering tonight. It’s a shame to see her have to close, but I understand totally where she’s coming from. She’ll continue her business from her home, ordering books for local customers with her account from the internet. She’s in a small town, not everyone up there has grasped the concept of amazon.com yet, lucky for her. ;-) Perhaps other opportunities will open up for her sometime soon. As they say, the end of one thing is another something’s beginning. Or something.
I’ve been thinking of all the new beginnings I’ve had the past few years. First meeting James on the internet, then meeting him face to face, and starting up our long distance romance, thereby ending my sowing of wild oats in the goth clubs of Toronto ;-) Then getting married, and still living apart for nearly 3 years. Then moving to a new country, new culture, and actually starting our “new” marriage together. Since I’ve been here I’ve had 2 new jobs, both sucked and I quit them both. I’m normally not what I would call a “quitter”, but I also know I’m just too damn old to do a job for the sake of having a job. After my 13 years with the software company from hell (well, maybe only 8 or so years were hell), I decided I’m not going to do jobs that I really really don’t like anymore. What is the point just to be miserable and pull in a miserable paycheck. What is the point when you look at the bottom line and its costing you more in stress and aggravation than the paycheck is worth? I have no idea what my dream job is, but I’ll never find it if I hold onto the job from hell now will I? And its not likely that I’ll find it here in this hick town either, which leads us to our next new beginning, Wisconsin.
I think we’ll do well in Wisconsin, for several reasons. James will likely enjoy the job better since he’ll be working for himself, and not some greedy bugger who doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself and his own fat wallet. James knows the business, and once we get to know the people, I know he can be quite successful at it. I know the dogs will like it much better there, the winter is actually winter, and the summer isn’t quite so hot as it is here. Plus, we’ll be right on a lake, so they’ll get to go swimming fairly often I think! Plus, I think James and I will get along better together, even if I do have to work with him at the pizza shop :-p ;-) Because we’ll Both be starting out new in a strange town, in a strange culture, surrounded by strangers and not knowing where to go or what to do. Even after a year here, I am still an outsider. So, off we go, to where we’ll both be outsiders.
Well, I should call Juli and see what she needs me to bring to this gathering tonight. Its getting dark and I need gas in the truck. Hey, there’s another new beginning kinda thing. Can you believe that before I moved here I never had to pump gas before? I had to learn how to do it, and I still don’t like it, but there’s not a full serve station anywhere near here. Weird huh? ¶ 5:34 PM
First scraping wallpaper for 2 days, that’s hard work. Steam, scrape, steam, scrape repeat. In a few spots for some inexplicable reason, its 3 layers thick! And underneath it is messed up drywall. So I spent the next 2 days filling in holes and smoothing out spots that were never sanded the last time someone filled in holes :-p ugh…I swear whoever it was filled in the holes looked at all of it and said “I don’t feel like sanding, I think I’ll just wallpaper over it” GAH!
I’ve been sanding all day today, and despite the dust mask, my nose is full of it. Bruno didn’t like all the noise so he went outside to sleep on the porch. George didn’t like the noise either, but still prefers the noise to outside. Strange dog that one.
I also moved the cupboard/shelf unit thing and scrubbed the floor under it, and scrubbed several decades of grime off the floor trim (its not even quite a baseboard). Tomorrow I will do the primer and get ready to paint. We went to Lowe’s on Wednesday and got paint and a couple of ceiling light fixtures, one for the bathroom and one for the bedroom (that’s next on the project list). The only light there now is a bare bulb, which is really quite ugly. We got 2 colours of paint, Fairy Dust, which I will use for the trim I think, and Siesta for the walls. Its kind of a very light salmon-y colour. I think I will do the cupboard thingy the same. Yeah, kinda blah and bland, but “neutral” colours are best for when you’re trying to sell right? At least its not builder beige! ;-)
My shoulders are really sore now, but I’m nowhere near done. Still to do is paint the bathroom, then start on the bedroom. I need to scrape the wallpaper off the ceiling in there (why is there wallpaper on the ceiling? I have no idea), then either tile or paint the ceiling. I also really would like to remove the paneling in there and paint the walls some not-so-neutral neutral colour. After that is the kitchen. In there we have to remove the vinyl flooring, put down new flooring (probably vinyl tiles), paint the cupboards, and maybe even paint the walls. The wall paper really is horrid in there, but I can’t scrape that off, so I’ll have to get some really heavy duty primer. THEN we really should strip and re-paint the trim throughout the house. That is if I have any control left of my arms and they haven’t gone on strike or something. That’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Most of which I wanted to start doing almost immediately after moving in, but James kept putting it off saying either we don’t have money or “what’s the rush, we’ll be here for a while”. :-p Now we’re planning on moving, and we’re in a rush. Hmph.
Before I start my next project tho, I’m off to friend Juli’s bookstore this evening. She’s closing up shop and having a grand closing gathering tonight. It’s a shame to see her have to close, but I understand totally where she’s coming from. She’ll continue her business from her home, ordering books for local customers with her account from the internet. She’s in a small town, not everyone up there has grasped the concept of amazon.com yet, lucky for her. ;-) Perhaps other opportunities will open up for her sometime soon. As they say, the end of one thing is another something’s beginning. Or something.
I’ve been thinking of all the new beginnings I’ve had the past few years. First meeting James on the internet, then meeting him face to face, and starting up our long distance romance, thereby ending my sowing of wild oats in the goth clubs of Toronto ;-) Then getting married, and still living apart for nearly 3 years. Then moving to a new country, new culture, and actually starting our “new” marriage together. Since I’ve been here I’ve had 2 new jobs, both sucked and I quit them both. I’m normally not what I would call a “quitter”, but I also know I’m just too damn old to do a job for the sake of having a job. After my 13 years with the software company from hell (well, maybe only 8 or so years were hell), I decided I’m not going to do jobs that I really really don’t like anymore. What is the point just to be miserable and pull in a miserable paycheck. What is the point when you look at the bottom line and its costing you more in stress and aggravation than the paycheck is worth? I have no idea what my dream job is, but I’ll never find it if I hold onto the job from hell now will I? And its not likely that I’ll find it here in this hick town either, which leads us to our next new beginning, Wisconsin.
I think we’ll do well in Wisconsin, for several reasons. James will likely enjoy the job better since he’ll be working for himself, and not some greedy bugger who doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself and his own fat wallet. James knows the business, and once we get to know the people, I know he can be quite successful at it. I know the dogs will like it much better there, the winter is actually winter, and the summer isn’t quite so hot as it is here. Plus, we’ll be right on a lake, so they’ll get to go swimming fairly often I think! Plus, I think James and I will get along better together, even if I do have to work with him at the pizza shop :-p ;-) Because we’ll Both be starting out new in a strange town, in a strange culture, surrounded by strangers and not knowing where to go or what to do. Even after a year here, I am still an outsider. So, off we go, to where we’ll both be outsiders.
Well, I should call Juli and see what she needs me to bring to this gathering tonight. Its getting dark and I need gas in the truck. Hey, there’s another new beginning kinda thing. Can you believe that before I moved here I never had to pump gas before? I had to learn how to do it, and I still don’t like it, but there’s not a full serve station anywhere near here. Weird huh? ¶ 5:34 PM
