I want a new life

[drscott]

...or at least a vacation from house chores, breakdowns, disrupted routines, and the general lack of fun.

The "temporary" red dye in my hair is not washing out as the label said it would. Meanwhile, my car is back with a new battery and new starter/solenoid. The bloom is off the rose of this relationship, though, so I'm ready to turn it in for something newer. The Prius looks good, but I can also have a zippy little Scion xA at a bit over half the cost of the Prius. Still thinking it over.

The painters thought they would be done by noon. Alas, I had to point out two sides of the house needed another coat (the first coat did not fill in the fine cracks in the old paint) and certain things remaining to be done would take more time than they thought. Painting the Eichler house numbers, for example, which are carved wood numerals with the faces painted the body color while the background piece and sides of the numerals are painted the trim color.

The house color is not quite what I wanted it to be (it's too light), but the trim is exactly right (perfect match for inside). There was no way to precisely duplicate in paint the color of the eave overhangs, which has a streaky redwood underlying a blue-gray semitransparent stain, but the color we picked comes close.

I am stressed out.

Comments

[allanh.livejournal.com]

The red becomes you very nicely.

The house looks beautiful, and you should feel slightly smug for having gotten more value out of your house painters than they'd intended. They're only upset because they undercharged you, which is probably better than the alternative, as long as you're happy with the final paint job.

Randy loves his Scion xA. He got a cold air (performance) kit for it, which made it even zippier. See him for details. He'll be delighted to hear that someone else is thinking about skewing Scion's buyer statistical curve way upwards in the age range.

You can even get a red leather xA steering wheel to complement your hair! (Just kidding about the hair part, but the red leather does add a nice accent to the interior.)

Is there anything we can do to make you feel less stressed out, other than leaving humorous comments in your LJ?

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I felt especially guilty about making them stay because the foreperson's gf (a leggy long-haired blond) arrived at lunch to wait for him. I'm guessing they were planning to take off early for points north. She ate her lunch sitting on an upturned bucket, smoked and generally looked bored for three more hours.

I'll ask Randy about the xA. It seems like the ideal teensy car, like a cheaper Mini with better reliability stats. Plus the hyped feature: plug-in iPod interface. Oooh! [rolls eyes]

And the humorous comments are just the thing. I feel better already. I'm taking a little time off to do nothing today, which helps.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Substantially better reliability stats.

(And you are not responsible for your painting contractor's love life, or lack thereof. If they'd estimated correctly in the first place, the gf wouldn't've had to wait around until they were done. Not Your Problem.)

[sfmini.livejournal.com]

MINI

nuff said