Well weeks of banging have finally paid off! No, Julie isn't pregnant, renovations to the room downstairs have completed! Throughout these past two months various zippings, clankings, and bangings have filled the house on a nearly weekendly basis. The room downstairs, which was once a musty, mouse infected basement has now become a fresh, equally sizable-eared mammal's domain. This afternoon Neeily Dan and Jodi Foster have moved in to this commune we like to call "Heavens Gate II". And, while they will be staying in the room for as long as it takes for them to get the hell out, the room will one day become Crunch-Barry's "Man Bowl" (or "Cave" as he puts it).
Even though I had never constructively swung a hammer in my life, they were kind enough to allow me into their goatee gang and help work on the room with them. With the help of Stainless-Neil's buddy Byler (whom I only met him once and haven't had time to develop a cute pet name for) we have taken this poorly insulated, beaver board ridden, dusty old room and made it livable again. I practiced for weeks on The Sims but was disheartened to find out that instead of just drawing a line and having a wall appear, there was a lot more manual labor involved. So much for putting in that disco jacuzzi...
As a New Yorker I never did such things as building houses or exerting my upper body, so as you could imagine the work has been pretty eye opening. As the paint begins to dry, and the efforts put in begin to take focus I feel, beneath my cold emotionless exterior, a sense of... what's the word I'm looking for? Achy? Achebe? Let's just go with Achieva. It feels like such an achieva to be able to see something you work so hard and diligently on become more than the sum of its parts.
Like many of the experiences living here, I have learned a lot. Whether it's "It doesn't matter what happens to the dry wall, joint compound is god-paste" or "If something in the wall smells bad, it probably looks even worse" or "When in doubt, pull it out." (That last one is referring to loose nails. Trust me, I know what you mean, it almost got me in a lot of trouble a Hanny's last night).
While I don't feel I would rush into another project any time soon ...damn sanding... at least now I know how to do it. If I ever find myself wrapped up in a sitcomesque lie where I told my boss that I have an awesome sauna in my backyard and he says "great I'll be over for dinner and a steam" I'll be covered, with about 3 months notice of course.
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