The return

I'm back. My grandma's veranada has never been whiter (as far as I know), and I'm sick of painting. I can still smell it, so either I have the fumes stuck in my clothes or I got some on me and missed it while cleaning up. My grandma's house doesn't have a shower, so that's a distinct possibility.

The work was a bit mind-numbing. I scraped off as much old paint as I could on Sunday night. some of that paint was been on there for longer than I've been alive, and a lot of it had formed an inpenetrable shell. I managed to scrape down to bare wood in a few places, but others were impossible. On Monday morning I put on primer, and there wasn't quite enough in the can to cover everything. A floorboard and a half were left uncovered, as well as the stairs. The floorboards weren't a big deal because they're normally covered by a carpet, and I decided the stairs would need 2 coats. There was lots of paint, so I wasn't too concerned about it.

Once the primer was dry and the scorching heat of the day was receding, I set out on the task of painting. I started around quarter to 4, and I'm not sure when I finished, but it was before dinner. I did the latticework, the railings, the sides, the floorboards, and the stairs. Four sides of the veranda got covered, and some of it was exhausting detail work. I had to squat for most of it, and I don't know if my knees will ever be the same.

I put another coat on the stairs this morning, and then painted the doorsteps, because both the front and back doors needed it. The place looks a lot nicer now, so it was worthwhile.

Painting aside, we got in another round of golf, where my list of ailments increased. In addition to 100 pound wedge, I now have a case of Contracting Neck Disease (which causes the neck muscles to violently contract when in a downswing, causing the head to lift and the shot to be ruined), and recurring bouts of Feather Touch (which causes long putts to stop very far away from the hole). Even with these afflictions I managed to shoot a 113, so I guess I compensated. Kinda.

I got my transcript in the mail today, so I'm going to apply for the technical writer program tomorrow. If everything goes right, I could be returning to the sweet embrace of academia, my refuge from reality. If not, I might be able to finagle a job at a wine and beer brewer. They called on Monday about a resume I had sent to them, so my brother called my grandma's to let me know. I called them and talked to the interviewer, but it turns out they were looking for someone to work for them permanently, using the summer to train them for the busy season, which starts in September. He said I should call if school doesn't work out, so I guess that's something.

I just realized, I haven't played Guild Wars since my guild got our guild hall, and with it the ability to do guild battles. I used the word "guild" way too many times in that sentence. The point still remains that I need to play more.