So... many months ago I promised my gf that I would build her a shoe closet. While the original plans were to be a magnificent synergy of engineering and showmanship not seen since Monticello, assuming Liberaci lived there... unfortunately the cost of tempered glass, mirrors, and tract lighting brought it into being much closer to a basic pine board bookshelf that might eventually have doors... as long as I don't have another vehicle that blows a head gasket. (good wood is expensive) Anyways, so there I am in my parking space about to paint this bookshelf for shoes when I decide try something different. I have a spray gun that is designed for painting cars... but I figure it might work for bookshelves too if I thin out the paint enough.
It turns out it does! It works great! I was using water based "Lowe's paint the baby room" brand paint. I had to thin it down pretty good to get it to go through the gun, but it was working fine... until I got the air hose snagged on a corner of the shelf. I had just taken the top off the feed cup and had just topped off the thinned paint. The air hose at the end is basically a big rubber spring so when it released it sprung... and I tossed the whole container of paint up into the air.... way up into the air...! Luckily about half of it landed on my head. The other half unfortunately landed on the pristine dark black blacktop of the parking lot. (did I mention it was white paint?) Yea... so there I was looking at what should have been a small spill spread across the dark black parking lot like it was fucking nanobots consuming the earth! I had thinned it out enough that this small cup of paint was spreading across the dark surface in a way that seemed to defy reality. Well no problem... it is water based paint, I can just mop it up.
NOOOOOOO!!!! So I attempt to mop it up, but the added water from the mop just feeds it. It starts spreading more! Though it seems impossible, I now have covered about twenty parking spots with white paint. Remember I live in Florida in a condo. For everyone here, their parking spot is like their yard used to be before they retired. They don't keep a pristine green lawn anymore, they keep a shiny black parking spot... and I am spraying everyone's yard with bleach!
I have the parking spot right next to both the complex manager, and the president of the condo association so I can't even pretend I am not the epicenter of this disaster. I am already the asshole lowering property values with shit cars that leak everywhere that I start loudly at 6 in the morning to go to work. Now, I am going to be the asshole that ruined the beautiful parking lot too.
(Not cut out for condo life. Makes plans to move to Montana ASAP and become a hermit.)
Shit shit shit... It keep spreading. I have now accidentally painted about half a football field of parking lot with a single cup of paint. I am the god damn Jesus Christ of paint, who needs your fishes and loafs... I got a cup of white paint... I'll make the world look like Greece! For some ridiculous reason, it seems to be applying ten times better to the oiled asphalt than it was to the sanded wood shelf but I don't have time to think about that now.
SUDDENLY, Some old Canadian Snow Birds Stop to Talk...
"Hey! what you do'n? You decide to wash everyone's parking spot?"
I don't have time for this right now. I am trying to reduce the number of letters I get from the home owner's association per month! This isn't going to help... but no one can refuse a polite conversation with Canadians.
So I go with, "Nice work in Sochi, I spilled some paint... enjoy your evening!" I then run past their Ontario plated Cadillac with a push broom and a hose. (Everyone already thinks of me as entertainment around hear anyways, oh well.)
I change tactics and decide to advance in a new direction. No more moping, I'll just filter this shit on it's way to the ocean. I threw some rags in front of the drain then took a hose and flooded the whole god damn parking lot. I figured the paint will just float along with the water, the water will go to the drain, and the rags will pull out the paint.
Thank god that finally worked, though for a moment it seemed I had made it even worse if that was possible.
I literally washed the whole parking lot and just filtered the paint out with rags before it left for the ocean.
Fuck me... now back to painting this damn shoe shelf...
I did get the first coat of paint done, but then I had to move off to other adventures for the day like walking the Chihuahua and metal detecting for treasure. (only found a quarter) I still need to put a second coat of paint on the shelf so I might as well leave it close to where I can paint it. Unfortunately, it is really big... too big in fact to fit in the garage anymore.
As an aside, if I learned one thing from the Ukrainians while I was there, it is "build it BIG!" By nature, I tend to overbuild. I wanted to leave the shelf in the parking spot overnight for convenience, but need to put it in the garage to protect it from the rain, but it didn't fit. Yes, that's right... the shoe shelf wouldn't fit in a 4 car garage. Like I said, it is to big. So, I just put it in public the hallway for now... should be fine right?
Also... these guys did the math... enjoy the statistics.
Graphic from outerplaces.com.
It turns out it does! It works great! I was using water based "Lowe's paint the baby room" brand paint. I had to thin it down pretty good to get it to go through the gun, but it was working fine... until I got the air hose snagged on a corner of the shelf. I had just taken the top off the feed cup and had just topped off the thinned paint. The air hose at the end is basically a big rubber spring so when it released it sprung... and I tossed the whole container of paint up into the air.... way up into the air...! Luckily about half of it landed on my head. The other half unfortunately landed on the pristine dark black blacktop of the parking lot. (did I mention it was white paint?) Yea... so there I was looking at what should have been a small spill spread across the dark black parking lot like it was fucking nanobots consuming the earth! I had thinned it out enough that this small cup of paint was spreading across the dark surface in a way that seemed to defy reality. Well no problem... it is water based paint, I can just mop it up.
NOOOOOOO!!!! So I attempt to mop it up, but the added water from the mop just feeds it. It starts spreading more! Though it seems impossible, I now have covered about twenty parking spots with white paint. Remember I live in Florida in a condo. For everyone here, their parking spot is like their yard used to be before they retired. They don't keep a pristine green lawn anymore, they keep a shiny black parking spot... and I am spraying everyone's yard with bleach!
I have the parking spot right next to both the complex manager, and the president of the condo association so I can't even pretend I am not the epicenter of this disaster. I am already the asshole lowering property values with shit cars that leak everywhere that I start loudly at 6 in the morning to go to work. Now, I am going to be the asshole that ruined the beautiful parking lot too.
(Not cut out for condo life. Makes plans to move to Montana ASAP and become a hermit.)
Shit shit shit... It keep spreading. I have now accidentally painted about half a football field of parking lot with a single cup of paint. I am the god damn Jesus Christ of paint, who needs your fishes and loafs... I got a cup of white paint... I'll make the world look like Greece! For some ridiculous reason, it seems to be applying ten times better to the oiled asphalt than it was to the sanded wood shelf but I don't have time to think about that now.
SUDDENLY, Some old Canadian Snow Birds Stop to Talk...
"Hey! what you do'n? You decide to wash everyone's parking spot?"
I don't have time for this right now. I am trying to reduce the number of letters I get from the home owner's association per month! This isn't going to help... but no one can refuse a polite conversation with Canadians.
So I go with, "Nice work in Sochi, I spilled some paint... enjoy your evening!" I then run past their Ontario plated Cadillac with a push broom and a hose. (Everyone already thinks of me as entertainment around hear anyways, oh well.)
I change tactics and decide to advance in a new direction. No more moping, I'll just filter this shit on it's way to the ocean. I threw some rags in front of the drain then took a hose and flooded the whole god damn parking lot. I figured the paint will just float along with the water, the water will go to the drain, and the rags will pull out the paint.
Thank god that finally worked, though for a moment it seemed I had made it even worse if that was possible.
I literally washed the whole parking lot and just filtered the paint out with rags before it left for the ocean.
Fuck me... now back to painting this damn shoe shelf...
I did get the first coat of paint done, but then I had to move off to other adventures for the day like walking the Chihuahua and metal detecting for treasure. (only found a quarter) I still need to put a second coat of paint on the shelf so I might as well leave it close to where I can paint it. Unfortunately, it is really big... too big in fact to fit in the garage anymore.
As an aside, if I learned one thing from the Ukrainians while I was there, it is "build it BIG!" By nature, I tend to overbuild. I wanted to leave the shelf in the parking spot overnight for convenience, but need to put it in the garage to protect it from the rain, but it didn't fit. Yes, that's right... the shoe shelf wouldn't fit in a 4 car garage. Like I said, it is to big. So, I just put it in public the hallway for now... should be fine right?
Ukrainians go BIG. This is Ukrainians version of the Iwo Jima monument. A 5,000 foot giantess of victory. It also does not fit in the garage.
Also... these guys did the math... enjoy the statistics.
Graphic from outerplaces.com.
1 comment:
That statue.
I remember singing in front of it at twelve years old, demanding my brain not let go of the image or the fact that this giant fucking WOMAN is the symbol of national pride in the Ukraine.
Another fun fact, this statue is part of one of the oral histories in World War Z. Excellent description of Her, too.
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