Busy Weekend

When my father passed away, my mother became the surviving owner of the house in South Jersey. After she passed away a few years ago, I became the owner and custodian of the house. Taking care of the house in South Jersey while residing and working in New York has been quite inconvinent. When everyone makes plans for the weekend to kickback and relax, I have to plan a schedule to make the best of Saturday and sometimes even Sunday to get everything done in South Jersey and then rush back to New York to prepare for the start of a new week. Naturally, I found myself usually tired and burned-out by Monday morning. Consequently, I try to make as few trips down to South Jersey as possible. But that means things that should be done are sometimes deferred for another day until the annoying notice to abate from City Hall arrives.

Only in small towns like the one that my house is located will such City Hall send code enforcement inspectors to walk around town to issue annoying notices and sometimes summons for minor infractions like having cracked paint jobs on columns of the house. My tax dollars hard at work, I guess.

The project for this weekend was prompted by such a City Hall notice. My major task this weekend is to paint the 4 columns and the fence railing on the front deck. Planning began on Wednesday night. I figured what I need for the job: rollers, brushes, cans of paint, and a telescopic-handle that can extend to reach hard to reach spots. I Googled several paint shops near home in South Jersey and called ahead to inquire about shop hours. All the paint stores close at 12 noon on Saturdays. So, on Thurday night, I went to Home Depot in Chelsea and brought some of the items that I can carry with me on the bus and left the paints to be purchased in South Jersey. After that, I did my laundry and ironed all my shirts for next week.

After work on Friday, I took the bus down to South Jersey. I spent Friday night setting things ready for work the next day. On Saturday morning, I got up at 7 AM and went to the paint stop to purchase my paint. I figured that I need a can of primer and 2 cans of regular latex paint. I also picked up a putty knife. The entire lot cost about $80. Ooch!

The guy at the store was very friendly and put everything in a box for me to carry. Still it was very heavy. I stopped at least four times carrying it for the three blocks from the store to the local bus station.

By 1:30 PM, I finished about priming 2 columns. It looked like it's more demanding than I thought. I began to fear that I had made a mistake tackling the task myself instead of hiring professional help. I breaked for lunch and washed down half a take-out order of fried rice with Coke. I rested for half an hour and went back to work. By 6:30 PM, I finished priming all 4 columns and painted half of the fence railing. I was behind schedule. But I needed a break for dinner and rest. I went inside, cleaned up and went out to get something to eat. I bought a sandwich and went to sit on the Boardwalk to eat. It was quiet and relaxing.

After dinner, I went back to work. I wanted to complete painting the fence railing. Half way through the last part of the fence railing, Sam came home after work and saw me. So, he came up to the deck to chat. We chatted for about 15 minutes and Sam went back down to get some rest. He has to get up to work again in about 6 hours. He has a crazy work schedule. I went back to work and completed the last fence railing by 10:15 PM. I was dead tired and I could bearly lift my right arm. It's going to hurt like hell tomorrow.

I cleaned up the deck a bit to get ready for tomorrow. I am planning to put two coats of paint on the columns. The store guy said a coat takes about 4 hours to dry. So, if I start at 7 AM, I may just be able to put 2 coats on before I need to leave for NYC. Also, I hope to have time to mow the lawn too. Lest the code enforcement inspector targets me for that as well.

Right now, the headaches of work seem very far away. I am comparmentalizing my brain: One headache at a time. I will deal with that Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test application on Monday.