Our father had rental properties when we were young and he used slave labor to keep them up. By slave labor, I mean we kids. We were required to do it and didn't get paid. But we were fed and clothed.
I have been painting since I was 10 years old and I am pretty good at it. I am too good to pay someone to do the job I know I can do, maybe even a better job. Plus, I am cheap, so there you go. I paint.
We bought the wood to finish the arbor/gazebo and it has been drying in the shop. Lee laid it out on boards for air circulation and yesterday I ran out of excuses (it's cold, it's raining, I HATE TO PAINT) and put on the primer coat.
Because all four sides of the wood will be exposed, I have to paint all four sides. Because it is raw lumber I have to paint a primer coat and a finish coat. Because you can't paint the wood and then set it down on something that it will stick to, I had to paint three sides of the lumber. Then I had to wait for it to dry and flip everything over and paint the fourth side. Then start all over again the next day with the finish coat. This basically means I have to paint four times. Did I mention that I hate to paint? Yeah, I thought I did.
Here is a tip for lazy, cheap painters. In between coats, while you are waiting for them to dry, wrap the brushes and roller with foil. That way you don't have to either clean them or toss them and you can just quit and then start up again with ease!
I have an antique, irreplaceable jacket that I use for working at the barn. It is antique because I have had it since I was in my early twenties. It is irreplaceable for two reasons. It is a Federal Express uniform jacket that was for employees. I am no longer a Federal Express employee. It was before Federal Express changed the name to FedEx. So they are no longer made with the Federal Express logo.
It was cold, so I wore this work jacket. The spaces between the 8 foot 2X2s were small and I had to squeeze in to reach the middle with the roller. This is what I did to the jacket.
I said I was good at painting. I never said I was NEAT at painting. So now it is ruined. I should have worn the jacket next to my skin and used my horrible work shirt that I bought at Dollar General for about $5 as a jacket. Then my priceless jacket wouldn't be ruined, just the shirt. But I didn't think of it until I noticed the mess I was making and then I just wanted to finish.
To be fair, the jacket is old and worn and frequently has horse pooh on it. But now it is UGLY, too. Good thing I don't obsess about THINGS! Even better that no one sees me but the horses and they have no fashion sense.
No comments:
Post a Comment