It must be the planets!

I think they are probably aligned so as to give people lots of setbacks, and I have had my share. A woman from the carpet cleaning service called me at 11:00 this morning - she thought I had an afternoon appointment - and said that the owner had been stung by several wasps yesterday and spent the night in the emergency room and could they reschedule me for Thursday. What was I to say, as I've been there, and he could have been in a dangerous situation.

So at 11:00 am, which I consider getting a late start, I opened a can of primer and went to work. After wearing out my muscles yesterday with the cleaning, I found the painting to be even more strenuous. Those grooves in the paneling are the very devil to paint! I finished my ceiling and a little more than 1/3 of the walls. I had really hoped to get both rooms primered but it wasn't to be. First thing in the morning I will paint the first coat of ceiling paint, and then finish the walls while waiting for it to dry. It will take at least two coats to get decent coverage, and I hope it doesn't require more than that. I really hoped I could do both bedroom ceilings in one session, but I'm not going to fight the fact that I simply can't do it.

I had to stop early enough to look for a few items in storage and then pick up the dog, and get back before the daylight ended. Plus I'm bone tired. If that wasn't bad enough for one day, I got the air mattress and air pump and discovered that I had only the cigarette lighter connector, so I took everything out to the car. No cap for my air mattress, so the air comes back out as fast as it went in! I tried stuffing the opening with bubble wrap but it isn't going to work. I ended doubling over a comforter and will just make do.

The smoke odor is just as strong in the bedroom as it had been, and I'm sure it's mainly in the carpet. Now I'll have to wait until Thursday to see if it is even worth saving, but if not, then I'll just set my mattress and springs in the small bedroom until I can get laminate flooring - and someone to install it. The really weird thing is that the smoke smell is strong enough to make me want to gag, but I've been having more cigarette cravings than I normally do. Washing off the second hand smoke on the ceilings and walls, and then imagining what the first hand smoke looks like inside a pair of lungs, will keep me from even picking up a cigarette. But I swear if I am ever told I have a week or a month to live, I will buy a couple of cartons and chain smoke myself to death!

To top it all off, Yvonne's son (not the smoker) came by today to shut off the water supply to the swamp cooler. Yvonne thinks we will have another warm spell and I'll wish I had cooling, but I have lived without a/c since about 1999, and I think I can live without it some more. I listened to the directions on what I have to do to turn it off, and quit listening in mid=stream. Her son was there and offered to turn it off for me, which I gratefully accepted. When he came by today he mentioned several maintenance items I need to be aware of, and damned if it isn't just like an RV! The adage "wherever you go, there you are" is 110% true in my case.

Oh well, can't do nothin' about it, so I might as well laugh so's I don't cry. I hope I can get a good night's sleep because tomorrow I'm going to paint like a madwoman!