Peintre en Bâtiment

I woke on the sofa near 5am. At that point I saw no value or had no desire to head up to bed. Instead, I pulled the sofa blanket over my toes and went back to sleep. Eiknarf slept pressed against me and was snoring like an old man. It wasn’t very comfortable or pleasurable. I slept until 615am when I got up and started some coffee so it would be there for Mindy who would be up any minute to ready for school.

 I went back to sleep until the coffee finished brewing. I felt pretty good and was excited to be off work for the day. I delivered Mindy’s coffee then returned downstairs to exercise. I whipped out sit-ups and curls before Mindy was downstairs, which was near 7am.  

I didn’t plan to run until the kids were off to school. In a perfect world I would run before getting them on the bus but on a scheduled day off that seemed a little obsessive. I played around online then checked in with work. After all, it was a regular work day for others and there was a lot going on. I ended up sending following notices out on a couple issues but then put work aside.

I checked the weather forecast. It was a lovely one. Supposed to be sunny and in the low to mid 60s. I formulated a loose plan for the day, which was to cut the lawn and paint part of the front trim on the house where I’d already removed ivy and prepared the surface for paint.  

Mindy left for work after telling the kids to bus home after school since I’d be there to intercept them. I enjoyed a little coffee and internet with the time leading up to bus time. That came around quickly. The kids and I headed out at 808am. We met Kenny and the girls there. Shared my plans with Kenny. He had to work. The bus showed up on time. Eiknarf and I headed home. 

I enjoyed a 2^nd cup of coffee and did some writing in my blog over the next half hour. I dressed and headed off on a run just after 830am. It was about 50 degrees and beautifully sunny. Like I do on most day’s off, I ran just three miles. I could get used to a schedule/life like that – up around 630am – coffee, internet and run.  

Back from my run by 915am, I quickly made a meatloaf and swiss sandwich on pumpernickel. It was delicious. Around 930am I began preparing to paint the trim out front. I made sure I still had the five gallon pail of diverse beige trim paint in the basement from 9 years ago. Yep. I’ve used only a dab to touch up the back door a few years ago. Prior to that, it hadn’t been opened. It was leftover from when I hired out having the entire house trim painted. I gathered a couple brushes, the drop cloth and an empty gallon paint pail to use on the ladder.  

Nick was next door cutting Trena’s yard. I gave a look over to him a few times. It seemed as though he purposefully looked away. Perhaps he feels awkward after turning away our yard care work. As expected, the five gallon pail of paint needed stirred after almost completely separating. I stirred it vigorously for about ten minutes. I had half a mind to drive to a Sherwin-Williams and have them shake it up. It looked good when I was done. 

I didn’t have a good means of getting the paint from the full five gallon pail to the empty more manageable one gallon pale. I decided to employ a large plastic slurpee cup to dip and transfer. That worked pretty well, though I had to clean-up the outside of the cup before proceeding.

As with any painting job, it seemed so daunting at first, and like it would never get done. It’s so slow and tedious, especially doing the trim around the door with so many corners and small spaces. I decided to take my dear old time and enjoy it. I had some Dwight Yokam blasting out the living room window via my iTouch and Bose dock. That helped a bunch. 

The door and the overhang took a good two hours. I used an old, but good quality large brush to do the soffit of the overhang and the 1X6” trim. What a difference the right brush makes. Wow! It put on a nice coating easily on the textured panels. Turned out nice. I could still see the ivy feelers that remained but at least they’re subtle. 

Still before noon, I decided to keep working on the trim. In fact, if I could, I planned to do all the areas where I removed ivy, which was essentially the entire front trim minus the garage door itself and the dormer over the front door. However, to do the master bedroom windows I had to employ all three of my ladders, including the heavy 28’ fiberglass ladder. 

I need to replace the sheet of wood grained press board they used between the living room and master bed room windows. It’s rotting a couple inches up from the bottom. Other homes like mine in the subdivision have had the same problem. I painted it anyway, as it may be a couple months before I’ll get on to that repair.

I moved on to the trim around the front of the garage around 130pm. I had to put the 28’ ladder to its furthest extension to reach the pinnacle. Yikes! When moving the ladder I decided to leave the paint pail dangling from the ladder run hanging from a home made wire hook. Bad move. The paint can bumped a lower rung as I lowered the ladder a  little tipping it enough to spill a few ounces below on me, the ladder rungs, and the drive way. Crap! In the end not too much fell on the concrete drive, probably an ounce or two. But even that small amount was a pain to wash off. I used the hose and a wire brush to clear it after dabbing up the excess with a rag. What an ordeal! 

I kept going and going until I finished the garage trim. The kids bus went by just as I was finishing up. Bella said she was ashamed that her bus friends saw me out there painting in my boxers. In reality they were Jams. I explained how back in 1982 Jams were all the rage. And yes, I still have mine and they fit! That’s 30 years.  

Mindy was soon home from school too. I had her park along the curb. I still had a few areas that I wanted to hit with a fresh coat that weren’t grown over with ivy. I also wanted to clean the windows and gutters over the master bedroom while I had the ladders out. I ended up spending another hour painting and cleaning. The kids left with Jimaken for their weekly dinner with dad night. 

I was beat, and my back and feet ached from working off of a ladder all day long. The trim looks good. It was well worth the effort. It looked bad after pulling the ivy off. I still wanted to cut the lawn. If I didn’t do it then, it might not have gotten done until the weekend and that would have left it entirely too long. After putting away all my ladders, without a break I moved directly to lawn mowing. I knew if I stopped that might be the end of me. 

I cut with the push mower first, cutting the entire front and then moving around back to mow the side and slopes before getting out the tractor. I was achy and sore but full of energy.  I flew around the yard, finishing up the mowing by 620pm. That might be a world record. While blowing off the walk, drive and deck, I noticed those same four boys out playing in the back of our yard. I opened the deck door asking Mindy if they knocked and asked permission. Nope! Again, a couple of these boys are bigger than me and look like they’re in high school. I don’t want kids thinking our yard is a public playground. I’ve asked them before to knock and ask permission in the past. They complied with my request as recent as last week. I walked out and confronted them again. The same scrawny one started to lie and say he did knock. I stopped him in his tracks. Instead of perpetuating the lie, he fell on his sword and went on about how much he feels like a heel. He asked if they needed to leave. I gave them one more chance and let them stay. I don’t’ want to be an ass or a push over. 

Still not completely done with chores, I still had to carry my paint to the basement and then clean my two brushes. Carrying the five gallon pail to the basement was a chore. I finished up everything by 630pm. And before heading up for a much deserved shower, I snacked on a small slice of pizza. I planned to warm a few more slices for dinner after my shower. Mindy suggested I take some Advil. Considering that good advice, I took four then headed for a shower.  

A shower felt terrific and helped loosen up my stiff back. I was covered with quite a bit of paint too. I scrubbed all that away in a hurry. I was very much looking forward to devouring some pizza. I was famished. I warmed four slices of leftover pizza in the microwave. It was as good as it was on Saturday when it was fresh. I was craving soda too, which in all likelihood means I was on empty. 

Mindy wad being unusually lazy, napping, watching Mash from the family room sofa. She got up soon after I finished eating and joined me in the living room where I was checking work emails as well as the stock market’s performance for the day. Up almost 194 points for the day. Awesome!  We chatted until the kids got home around 8pm. Just before they got home, Mindy shared that Jacob failed to do his homework when he got home from school so she made him take it to his dad’s house to complete. 

As soon as the kids were in the door Mindy insisted that Jacob have me check his homework. Great! I didn’t really like the way it was being positioned but was willing to do it. He definitely doesn’t like me checking it. Says his dad never does. He refused at first until Mindy insisted. But then after handing it to me he was uttering some disparaging comments. Out of 6 relatively simple math problems, found three that I felt were incorrect. He made a few more disparaging comments about correcting his home work and went on to tell us he was 'outta here'. Having heard enough, I was driven completely by instinct and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt while reading him the riot act. Instead of cowering as expected, he bristled up and barked back and I guess you could say he challenged me. Hell no! OK, how about a headlock? Now he was really mad. I sent him to his room. Mindy concurred. Bella cried. It was a dramatic few moments.  

Make no mistake, because I'd like to believe that I'm a highly evolved being, I never like it when I move from stimulus to response. I'd like to think that I would choose a far more constructive, far headier response. But in the end, I am human. I returned to what I was doing on the PC and found myself feeling guilt free and glad I let him know I will never back down from his teenaged-type  tantrum. 

Mindy had to console Bella for a while. Said she was worried that I might put her in a headlock. We all got a laugh out of that. We allowed Jacob to sit in his room for at least a half hour, maybe longer. Eventually, however, we let him come down and fix his homework, which is how it all started. He was in a far better place. The three of us, Mindy, me and Jacob talked through the issue. He agreed that his outburst was out of control and apologized profusely. We agreed that should it happen again he'll be losing what he covets the most, soccer. He found that odd given that we paid so much for him to play. We made it clear, his behavior was far more important than what we paid for soccer. Screw the money! 

The evening was much calmer that point forward. Jacob even gave Bella a hug, which never happens. We headed for bed around 10pm. Can't remember what we did after the big talk. Anticlimactic. Good night painter dude.