My neighbor, who helps to serve as a bit of
caretaker around our place pointed out that our window trim on the back of the
house needed to be stained or pretty soon, those boards will have irreparable
damage. My father agreed. Let’s go and get some paint tomorrow so we
can take care of this. Different, when its' your own place.
Today he rolled up
at 8:00AM. I’d been up on calls to China
since two-in-the-morning and was still on a call when he arrived. He waited and puttered around the place while
I drove on and then another call to completion. Antsy,
he searched for brushes and found them down in the basement. And then searched the place to see if we had any paint. “Do you have a scrubby
pad?” Muting the call I’m on I mention:
“I think you’ll find them there, under the sink.”
I assume were
driving to the huge mega, everything-to-do-with-home store, Lowes out on 299, but he
instead goes down a side street in town that I don’t even recognize and
arrives at the True Value hardware store.
He’d had said the name “True Value” and I just hadn’t recognized it as such. “There is more of a personal touch here”, he
informs me. It feels like local people own it. Fair enough. He's looking for detergent and I pick out a white
paint according to his instructions. The guy puts it in the machine which
whips it around violently. My dad asks
him if he does that often and the gent confirms, laconically.
Back home, pop explains
that he wants me to clean off the sills before he paints them. Put this cleaning powder into the
bucket. Fill the rest with hot
water. Use gloves or it will irritate
your hands. Later, after he's gone, I mop down one and then another sill just like he told me. It's hot out here and what's more it's humid. By now
I’m sweating profusely and am ready to head back in. Unwittingly I turn and knock the bucket over and
the soap and water settle into the shrubs near the lawn.
He’d asked me to keep that soapy water till tomorrow. At least I’d managed the sill cleaning.
Monday 8/19/19
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