home is where the couch is

I have beaten the painted brick wall.

 It was hard work. I scraped with metal scrapers, used chemical peels, used a wire metal drill attachment and even telekinesis to try and strip the paint from the wall. The paint fought hard but I finally beat it with sand. And a sandblaster.

The sandblaster and a few bags of empty sand

It wasn't my first choice. Obviously I tried lots of things and when the only soda blaster guy I could find around Peterborough quoted me $1200.00 (whatever!) I finally gave in and used the thing I didn't want to use. Sandblasting leaves pits in the brick, especially when the brick is over 100 years old. And it leaves buckets of sand all through the house. But I really hated that paint and I was desperate.

I went in to the Rent All place to order the sandblaster. A guy showed me how to use it. Easy peasy. I asked that it be delivered before I got home from work at 3. I get home and what do I see? Nothing. I was not impressed. Finally at around 4:30, my compressor and sandblaster are here, set up but not quite running.

The Compressor finally in my driveway

The delivery guy leaves and I start up the air. Nothing is coming out from the sandblaster. I move stuff around, wiggle valves around...nothing but air. I begin to have a small conniption. I call the Rent All place. They're closed. How convenient. Deliver it late and then I can't call for help. Unimpressed Me is stomping around, trying to figure this out. There are phone calls to my Little Brother because he's good with machines and a bit of screaming at the Man. I am heartbroken. I just want this to work and I want the paint off the wall. I don't care how dirty and sore I have to get but I want it done today. (I may or may not be going through perimenopause which according to Dr.Oz, can cause rages. Or I just may be kind of crazy. Whatever the case is, my rages are kind of funny, but not really if you're getting the brunt of it.)

Just one of the many piles of sand IN MY HOUSE.

Suddenly it worked! The Man had fixed it. My hero. He saw that the delivery guy had the hoses in the wrong place, switched them around and voila, sand blasting out from a hose. A few hours later and the paint was gone.



The End.

Some things I've learned:

• Sandblasting is fun. 
• Sandblasting is really messy.
• If you sandblast in your house, you will need to take breaks because you will not be able to see anything due to the amazing amount of dust. It will look like your house is blowing smoke out its windows.
• You should probably wear ear protection even though you think it's not that loud. The zinging of the sand makes your ears ring like you've been at a concert.
• Sand gets everywhere. But I'm sure I knew that from previous beach experiences.