Sunday, June 18, 2017

Don't ever do this, OK?

So there I was, getting things in order a week ago prior to leaving on a six-day backpacking trip (see later post).  I had been painting some trim upstairs, and put the near-full gallon of premium, nice, thick white semi-gloss paint on the high shelf above the work bench in the garage.  The setup couldn't have been more dangerous; our nice, new silver Honda minivan was parked within 24 inches, and Paula was walking in front of it dressed neatly, looking in to her now-open best purse.
The next few milliseconds are etched in my brain, along with Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail, my locker combination from 7th grade, the Scout Motto and my route home from the hospital, which I can do, and did many times, in my sleep.
First off, you may congratulate me that I said nothing stronger than, "NO!!' as the can hit the workbench and burst open, splashing a near-gallon of premium, nice, thick white semi-gloss pain on everything.  We concentrated quickly on the car, getting it out of the garage to hose down, and of course smearing white paint on the inside.  (OK, that's a picture of someone's Maserati, but you get the idea. And I wasn't stopping to take any photos.)
Meanwhile, Paula was covered on one side, including her hair, and everything at that end of the garage was splashed.  She hit the showers and I started frantically trying to clean things up before it all dried.  Six hours later, I finished getting the last bits of paint off the concrete floor with a drill and wire brush.  
Several points to remember:
1.  A fine-toothed comb gets paint out of your wife's hair...eventually.  Sort of.
2.  Premium nice thick semi-gloss paint, and we're talking latex here, ruins clothes.
3.  Tragedy plus time equals humor.  However, not enough time yet.
4.  I have a kind, forgiving wife, and appreciate her even more for her even-tempered approach to this whole episode.  And thanks to Amazon, the essential clothes were quickly replaced for about forty bucks.  The t-shirt went in the 'work clothes' pile.
5.  Be careful with paint.  Duh.

We hope that your home improvement projects end more smoothly.
Dave & Paula

2 comments:

Patti said...

I am speechless, and so sorry. Oh my.

Randy and Leslie Reese said...

So sorry....I hope that all came out okay. I am waiting for the humor because it will be fabulous coming from you.....