Ready or not, we’re painting now

Originally we were just going to be in Albuquerque for a short period of time while I got my second covid shot Friday and John did one day’s worth of work onsite. Then we were going to head back to Tucson for a week or so to get the house ready for painters and then up to Nevada for a quick camping trip with Serenity.

Originally. But then John got a couple more things added to his work schedule, and then he got “the call” for the covid shot. So we delayed in Albuquerque until the very last minute and ended up driving directly to Nevada.

The painters did the outside wall while we were gone. It looks great. Except, hmmm, not sure what they were thinking here.

Maybe they wanted to leave a blue patch so I wouldn’t forget how awful it had been, and would fully appreciate the improvement. Lol. How could they not have noticed that big blue spot?

We enjoyed our camping trip with Serenity and finally got to Tucson Sunday night, with painters arriving at 8:00 the next morning to start on the interior of the house. Yikes! We had been told that all we had to do was remove art from the walls, and they would take care of the furniture themselves and “not to worry about anything.” I knew they were going to push the furniture away from the walls a bit, but I didn’t anticipate how thoroughly disruptive it would be.

They pushed all the furniture into the middle of each room, completely jammed together with plastic over everything. There was no way we could access any of our drawers. Meaning – any of our stuff in our drawers! They also taped over our medicine cabinets, cupboards, etc.

I had just gotten home after two weeks in Albuquerque plus a camping trip – to a completely nonworking house! My new office is the backyard.

Well, I kept saying all I want to do is live outside all year round. I guess I got my wish!

I’m sort of disappointed because the paint looks a bit greenish-yellow in certain lights.

It’s not actually green – not when it’s painted on a testing stick or something. I think it’s the blue showing through, even though there aren’t any places that I can point to where you can clearly see blue showing through. It’s just a vague overall impression and not any specific areas of incomplete coverage. I know for a fact our painters aren’t going to redo it all, particularly when it’s so generalized and non-obvious. There’s nowhere I can say, look, see here, blue is showing through. Maybe I’ll get a refresh done in a few years.

The guy who did such good work for us in 2019 in Albuquerque has returned to Albuquerque (he had been in Hawaii for awhile). I’ve told him if he wants to spend some time in Tucson, I have a lot of work I could give him! He’s one of the few contractors we’ve had good luck with. He’s slow, but I trust him with everything and he will redo it if it’s not up to his standards, which are high. I wish he could just come out here and get this house into shape for me!

To send Kristina a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com