while georg was out, part 5

Tuesday, 8:45 am. Got the headboard mostly painted this morning. It looks really nice. It's amazing what a difference a second coat of paint makes. Unfortunately the brushes weren't dry yet from last night. So I can't finish the fiddly bits of the headboard until I go to Home Depot and get another brush. They open at 9, so I have just enough time to write this before I go.

I expect painting the room to take about 3 hours. Then I've got to take the paneling to the dump, clean up, and put back all the furniture. I can get all that done by 7. It will be a rush, but I can do it.

Time to go to Home Depot.

10:30. I'm almost finished painting the headboard -- just waiting for one part to dry so I can slide the doors over and paint behind the other side. Waiting for David to get here with his truck to take the paneling to the dump.

I thought Home Depot would be deserted at 9 am, but apparently that's when all the contractors go get supplies. So I had to wait in line behind a guy getting ten different gallons of paint. Grr! Fortunately another employee came to help after a few minutes.

I ran into Peggy, the landscaper, while I was there. Since the job is finished and I had missed her yesterday, I wrote her a check on the spot. I hadn't gotten money from Georg before he left, so when I got home I thought gee, I better make sure I have enough to cover that check. Went online and saw a balance of $300 in my checking account. Ack! A few seconds of mad panic, thinking that I was going to have to call Peggy immediately and ask her to wait until tomorrow to cash my check, and how humiliating that would be. Then I looked at the detailed view and saw that the $300 balance was after the check I had just written her. She must have driven to the bank the minute she left Home Depot. I had no idea checks could clear that fast. I thought there was a delay of a day while the check went from the depositor's bank to the check writer's bank. But apparently not, because that check showed up in my statement about 20 minutes after I wrote it.

David is here. yay!

3:00. The trip to the dump took an hour; painting took 3, just as I expected. The color is more blue than I had wanted. I hope it turns more grey as it dries. Or looks less intense when all our stuff is back in the room. Didn't I say I'm bad at selecting paint colors?

4 hours left to clean up and put everything back. Oh, and take a shower. I am gross!

5:15. The furniture is in! The bed is made! The color does look a little less blue with other things in the room. Actually it looks just right on the walls that get direct sunlight. Unfortunately, it looks a little too dark & blue on the walls that don't, which is most of the room.

It's a good thing I'm so extremely dirty and sweaty, because my desire to keep my filthy self out of my nice clean bed is overriding my desire to lie down and rest. Time to install lighting and hang the curtains.

7:15. I made myself late hanging a picture, but the room looks great. Time to leave for the airport.

9:30. We're back! Georg is suitably wowed by the room. We're eating dinner now. I was too busy to eat all day (almost literally -- all I ate was an Atkins bar around noon, and two slices of cheese around 6), and Georg was stuck in an airport or on an airplane, so we both wolfed down our food. Q Shack, god damn is it good! I threw caution to the wind and had the brisket plate with mac & cheese and onion rings. Mmmm, mac and cheese. They were about to close so the guy loaded up our to go boxes with huge portions. The hush puppies were awful, stale and doughy, but everything else was fantastic. I so needed that.