Home Depot

(We apologize for the lack of updates. Now that the biggest tasks are more or less complete, things on this front should start picking up again.)

In my mind, a Saturday trip to Home Depot is something of a rite of passage for the modern American youth. You get up early; you sit through an interminable drive across scenic suburbia; you stand around for hours while your parents argue about measurements, heft cans of combustible chemicals, and compare identical pieces of tubing; you have to help hoist the haul back home. Horrible!

Now that I have my own place to remodel, those strange adult activities seem a bit more understandable. Wood stains, sanding belt grit, wool versus synthetic applicator pads: all these details matter once it's my choice, my home. It's an interesting new perspective.

I still don't see myself spending twenty minutes comparing identical faucets, though.

Okay, technically it was twenty seconds, but the point still stands.

Officially, we had come to price out and purchase floor refinishing supplies. It could have been a one hour excursion, but there are always distractions, things that spark the imagination and serve as reminders of what could be.

Beautiful, in a way.

I particularly liked the store's tool selection – a profusion of shapes! What variety! Upon encountering Wallboard's line of "blue steel" taping knives, J and I looked at each other, made the Zoolander face, and then dutifully documented the incident.

Blue Steel. I'm still working on Ferrari and Le Tigre.

We did eventually get around to choosing our stains, varnishes, and applicators. We figured we'd rent the sanding tools for four hours that Sunday, get everything done before dinner, clean and stain Monday, and have a couple coats of varnish down by Wednesday.

Little did he know...

I don't think it would be spoiling anything to reveal that that timetable turned out to be wildly optimistic. That's another story, though, one suffused with shredded breathing masks, sawdust, and sneezes.