Tuesday, March 05, 2013

The room that wouldn't paint

(Is it gauche to draw attention my high quality Saskatchewan-literary-figure Farley Mowat reference in the title?  Gauche or not, it's too late because in being all meta about things I have already pointed it out.)
 
As I believe I mentioned a few weeks ago, Jeannette I were in the market for a house in Regina.  Fortunately, after a not overly-long search we found one which we were able to take possession of at the end of February.
 
While we were generally pleased with the condition of the house and the decorating choices made by the previous owner, we were a little baffled by the paint choices in the bedrooms.  For some reason all three bedrooms (including trim, closets, and ceilings) were painted the same mustardy yellow.  And while we thought this questionable decorating choice might have been a holdover from the seventies (the previous owners had owned the house since the 1960s), we eventually learned that the paint had actually just been applied about five years ago, or well into the first decade of the 21st century?  What was up with that?
 
So, not surprisingly, one our first projects upon taking possession of the house has been to engage in re-painting the three bedrooms.  Not surprisingly we started with the master bedroom (which we've painted grey - though it looks blue because of the way the room is lit).  We then moved on to the smallest of the three bedrooms and the room that Jeannette is using as an office.  Though this room is now officially 'sage green,' when I'm feeling like getting dirty looks and snorts targeted at me I refer to the room as being painted 'something approximating mold green.'
 
A few days after we completed these first two painting projects, both of which moved quite quickly, we decided to tackle the third room: my office/the guest bedroom.
 
Because of my indecisiveness, Jeannette's unwillingness to let me paint all of the walls and ceiling different, not-white colours, and an incredible desire not to spend any more time in the paint store we have decided to paint the room a very light orange (almost a peach) colour.
 
At first things seemed to be going well - you know, it looked as though paint was being applied to the walls by our rollers and brushes.  Of course, it didn't take long to realize that our original impressions were mistaken. 
 
It soon became clear that this orange paint just wasn't covering the original mustardy yellow paint.  And this despite the fact that we're using exactly the same kind of paint that we used in the other three rooms that covered the yellow perfectly in two coats.
 
And to make matters worse, instead of getting two full coats from the gallon we purchased - as we did in the comparably sized grey room - we managed to only eke out about 1.6 coats. 
 
Now that we've managed to get our hands on a second gallon of paint and applied another 1.5-2.0 coats we're still only 'getting close to being done.'
 
How is this possible?  How is it that this orange stuff is doing so much worse a job of covering the existing paint than either the green or grey paint did?
 
Anyway, despite the fact that we're still not done - I can at least take some comfort in the fact that most of the original paint has more or less been covered and the end is, hopefully, in sight.
 
Of course, the bummer is that because of all of the new paint the room will be about a .5 cm smaller at the end of this process than it was at the beginning.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Road Trip - Video Wrap-Up

In case you didn't get a chance to see all of my hot new vids from our recent weekend road trip to calgary - here they are!



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Well, those were super exciting weren't they?

Don't for check back for more exciting time-lapse content over the coming days.

Cameron - 36
Neil - 0

Monday, February 18, 2013

Road Trip - 20

And we're back.

That was a long day of driving.

I can't wait to have a little more food and hit the rack.

Cameron - 35
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 19

Lunch is just about done so we'll be heading back out shortly. Next stop Swift Current?

Oh and those vegetables didn't last more than a few minutes past Bassano. Too bad I ate most of them and didn't really share with Jeannette.

Cameron - 34
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 18

So we are in Medicine Hat and just about ready for lunch. I guess I'll be back behind the wheel shortly.

And because there was so much demand I've published another time-lapse vid, this time of our trip from Bassano to just outside Medicine Hat.

Cameron - 33
Neil - 0

Road Trip- 17

We just broke out our return trip vegetable supply. I'll be amazed if the tub lasts until Medicine Hat (I'll be a little disappointed in myself if it does).

Cameron - 32
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 16

So we're already on our way back to sunny Regina. Actually, we just pulled out of a gas station in Bassano, which is about 2 hours east of Calgary.

Next stop Medicine Hat?

Cameron - 31
Neil - 0

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Road Trip - 15

So we're in Banff and it's so much more the tourist destination than I would ever imagined in my wildest dreams. I'm curious if we've even seen a single 'local.'

And what's with all of the stores that have nothing to do with mountain stuff?

But the mountains are really quite impressive, as was lake Louise.

Cameron - 30
Neil - 0





Saturday, February 16, 2013

Road Trip - 14

So hopefully it's off to Banff today. And i am growing increasingly excited about the prospect of seeing some mountains from the middle of a mountain range. And maybe we'll see a glacier?

Cameron - 29
Neil - 0

Friday, February 15, 2013

Road Trip - 13

So we made to Calgary safely in time for a late supper. From the restaurant we made our way to where we'll be staying for the weekend.

After a little socializing we hit the bunks - and I was ready for some sleep after a gruelling four hours of work followed by a straight and flat 7.5 hour drive.

Now that we're in town our plans have started to come together and it looks as though we'll be taking a day trip to Banff so that I can see mountains and Lake Louise (the site of that famous figure skating special?).

Maybe more importantly, I've manger to sneak a peak at a few of the mountains already.

Cameron - 28
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 12

So we made to Calgary safely.

Instead o heading to Jeannette's aunt and uncle's house we went directly to the restaurant. At first I couldn't figure out why it was so busy on a Thursday night - then when I saw roses on tables I remembered that its valentine's day.

I'm zonked so this will have to do for the live-blogging today.

Cameron - 27
Neil - 0

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Road Trip - 11

I thought we were in eastern Alberta rather than coastal BC, but the presence of motorcycles seems to suggest otherwise.

What's up Alberta, I thought you had a real winter?

Cameron - 26
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 10

Now we've managed to hit some winter construction. All of a sudden we lost all of the time we made on the last leg of our trip. Bummer.

I guess the good news is that I think we're below the 300 km mark.

And now we're heading out of Medicine Hat.

Next stop - gas station for some 1.05 gas

Cameron - 25
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 9

Just saw the world's largest teepee.

Cameron - 24
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 8

Just arrived in Medicine Hat.

Oh, and I just posted my longest vid yet!

Driver switch coming soon.

Cameron - 23
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 7

As we keep heading further west we keep encountering fewer and fewer wintery conditions, and the temperature keeps rising.

I guess I didn't realize until quite recently that winter tends to be a fair bit harsher in Regina than Calgary. While it's not likely to be quite as warm as a trip to a tropical island, it should be close to 15 degrees warmer.

In case you're curious, we're currently about halfway between Swift Current and Medicine Hat.

Oh and I just posted another hot 13 sec vid to YouTube. Aren't you all so glad tat I now have a better data package for my phone?

Cameron - 22
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 6

Jeannette has just successfully navigated us out of Swift Current, no small feat, while I have just made my first time-lapse video of the trip. Hooray! Aren't you excited?

The bummer is that because I'm doing this from my phone I can't post the hot 12 sec vid here immediately. Of course, if you find my YouTube account or my Twitter account you should be able to find it (and I know that you'll all be motivated to take these extra steps).

Cameron - 21
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 5

So we're in Swift Current and a little turned around.

That place is definitely a weird place to drive.

All road confusion aside it was nice to stop for a coffee, bathroom break, and a driver change (so that I can do more live-blogging).

Hopefully we only have about five hours to go.

Cameron - 20
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 4

Finally, we basically on the open road. Good thing it stopped snowing and blowing a few hours ago. Driving in that mess would have been a bummer.

Cameron - 19
Neil - 0

Road Trip - 3

Good thing Jeannette was also up for food because I don't know how long I would have had before I would have crashed otherwise.

Of course, the fast food place we decided to visit was in the midst of its daily high school rush - fortunately we have the choice of drive thru while carless teens do not.

Cameron - 18
Neil - 0