random thoughts - Day 1,989 (Wednesday) - getting stuff done

It was a day of getting stuff done. It was almost like a cloud of determination and motivation parked over my head. Knobs were removed from the brown chest of drawers and set in a plastic bag with the companion screws. Two drawers were lightly sanded before a trip was made to the local hardware store for paint, one knob in hand. I love having a local hardware store with helpful people. Unlike the big box store paint experiences in Lowell, today's paint team provided solutions and advice as well as paint. 

After returning from the store with a gallon of black paint for the dresser and its companion bureau and mirror, I logged on for the one-hour job fair prep webinar through the unemployment office. There is a job fair in a week or two. 

Before the rain.

As soon as the webinar was over, it was back to the carport and the drawers. The sun was shining and it was comfortably warm. The drawer fronts were sanded and wiped with tack cloth. There was a moment of panic when the lid came off the can and the paint looked navy blue. The painting began with my favorite painting tool, the four-inch cabinet roller and miraculously, the paint that looked blue when wet dried to a beautiful black. 

This all took next to no time, so the dresser frame was hauled outside using a mix of walking it across the rug, then setting it on a runner and dragging it across the vinyl. Getting the dresser down the stairs to the carport was a bit trickier, but it got done and the dresser frame was sanded, wiped, and painted. 

During the painting, there was a phone call from a recruiter who had reached out via LinkedIn on Tuesday about an open role. As we were talking, clouds rolled in and it began to rain, which had me holding the phone with one hand and moving drawers further under the carport with the other. The rain got heavier and the racket on the carport roof became so loud I had to go inside. 

I watched the rain while we discussed an interesting job. The angle of the rain shifted and a couple of the drawers got rained on, which  put me back outside wiping the rain off the drawer faces, which ended up with marks from the raindrops and streaks from the wiping. Errrrr.

When the call was over, another coat of paint was rolled onto the drawer fronts and the dresser. The front of the knobs were painted with a foam brush and set in a cardboard box where they looked like licorice macarons or little whoopie pie tops. 

A quick break with a trip for gas and air in the tires allowed time for things to dry and turned into an adventure. It took three gas stations before the tires were aired up. The first station, where I got gas, had a bizarre air nozzle I couldn't figure out and when it was over, I was out four quarters and all the tires had significantly less air than when I started. At the second station, I couldn't find an air machine. The third station had an air machine that cost $1.50 and I had to go inside to break a bill for more quarters. The machine had the same weird nozzle as the one that took the air out of the tires and the clerk, who had offered help when giving me quarters, was tapped for the assistance he had offered. He said the unfamiliar pump nozzles were old and I really missed my favorite air machine in Dracut with uncomplicated air nozzles. 

Back at the house, there was another quick coat of paint on the drawers and dresser. And then, suddenly, it rained again. What the heck? Instead of a rain dance, it seems me painting under the carport can break a drought.

Wednesday weekly reading.

After the walk for the mail, which was the usual weekly grocery store flyers, the drawers were brought inside. Before it got dark, the dresser frame was wrangled back into the house. Later, the flyers for Price Chopper, Market Basket, Family Dollar, and Friendly's were reviewed. Yes, there is a Friendly's here, and I still haven't gone for a Fribble. There were never grocery store flyers in the mailbox in Lowell and it feels very quaint receiving them now.