PROJECT COMPLETE
I am in the middle of trying to knock out a project. It requires me to do some physical work. I was looking forward to this and felt it was going to make me have a sense of the normal life I lived before now. I felt this would not be an issue to tackle and so it began. I had a brief period leading up to the actual work starting and I could have done a better job of searching for someone else to handle it. I didn’t really do that. Most likely because deep down I wanted that sense of normal back. I wanted to prove to myself that I could still do something like this. I fight hard and probably way too long when I get a feeling that I can’t do something that I feel is within reason to do or accomplish. I am in the middle of the project currently and I am putting this to paper as my back is up against the wall to head out and try and complete this thing this morning.
Let’s see how far we get before we must go venture out to the jobsite. I will finish this ramble when I return. For you it will be a brief second of time lapse but for me it is going to be several hours of the unknown. OK, time to go. Be back in a few hours/seconds. Turns out I am back in a blink of the eye for you. For me personally it has been a little over twenty-four hours. Project is complete is the good news. I guess I have not mentioned that the project consisted of painting the new Taco Bell in Athens. The painting was a non-issue as we have plenty of painters. The part that is a pain in the butt is the vinyl wallcovering and mural that no one seems to do these days. It wasn’t a large project by any means, but it had to be done, and we had only myself to knock this out. I had my sons (neither one seasoned at this but extremely helpful) give me a hand because the way this was to be hung was railroaded, which is basically hanging side to side instead of floor to ceiling. The vinyl itself wasn’t but 36” off the floor so railroading allows for minimal seams but does take two folks to handle that size of run.
How did it go?
Let’s just say the only sense of my old normal life with this project was the constant thought of never again! The difference between this time and all the other times I thought this, I knew I meant it. Physically, and may change down the road, I just can’t. The mural was not that bad but the low stuff…virtually impossible for me now. Here is when I realized this was all over. I had one son there with me yesterday morning. I thought we would be done by lunch, but it just didn’t happen. I had to run him back home, we rode together, at lunch time. There weren’t but maybe two hours left, and it would be completed so I went back to wrap it up. I got the mural up and then went to do my first piece down low. You must get your butt down on the floor to do this and that was a bit of a struggle. Earlier in the day it wasn’t that bad but now it was not any fun. Next came my huge discovery…I couldn’t get up off the floor. I literally could not get up without something to grab to pull myself up with. I suppose most folks would be mad and upset as they laid there on the floor. Not me, all I could do was laugh and think I was glad no one was around to see this spectacle of myself trying to get up. As I crawled across the floor to a bench to use as a brace, I started thinking what do I do now. I quickly called my other son, and he came to the rescue, now he has never messed with wallcovering so I wasn’t sure if this would work or not. It turned out it did, and we got out of there around 7PM.
As I left the job and headed back to the house I had some mixed feelings. I was super satisfied I was able to do what I did and among the three of us we got the job done. Then I quickly realized that my physical days of working on projects like this were over. It was tough to commit and understand this. This was my life for 40 years and for now that part is on standby. I suppose at some point, maybe when my chemo treatments are done, I can work towards building some strength back and see where that goes. It is all in my legs so I should be able to get that built back up. I am disappointed that this is where I am but for now, I will look for other ways to work. I have managed to take about 36 hours to get this on paper and I am feeling sore. Day two after is usually the worst, so I have something to look forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow will come and go and we will enjoy the weekend before Chemo Session 3 Monday. I pray to Penthouse Dude it goes as well as Chemo Session 2 went, and life will be good!
Moving On,
A Simple Man
Let’s see how far we get before we must go venture out to the jobsite. I will finish this ramble when I return. For you it will be a brief second of time lapse but for me it is going to be several hours of the unknown. OK, time to go. Be back in a few hours/seconds. Turns out I am back in a blink of the eye for you. For me personally it has been a little over twenty-four hours. Project is complete is the good news. I guess I have not mentioned that the project consisted of painting the new Taco Bell in Athens. The painting was a non-issue as we have plenty of painters. The part that is a pain in the butt is the vinyl wallcovering and mural that no one seems to do these days. It wasn’t a large project by any means, but it had to be done, and we had only myself to knock this out. I had my sons (neither one seasoned at this but extremely helpful) give me a hand because the way this was to be hung was railroaded, which is basically hanging side to side instead of floor to ceiling. The vinyl itself wasn’t but 36” off the floor so railroading allows for minimal seams but does take two folks to handle that size of run.
How did it go?
Let’s just say the only sense of my old normal life with this project was the constant thought of never again! The difference between this time and all the other times I thought this, I knew I meant it. Physically, and may change down the road, I just can’t. The mural was not that bad but the low stuff…virtually impossible for me now. Here is when I realized this was all over. I had one son there with me yesterday morning. I thought we would be done by lunch, but it just didn’t happen. I had to run him back home, we rode together, at lunch time. There weren’t but maybe two hours left, and it would be completed so I went back to wrap it up. I got the mural up and then went to do my first piece down low. You must get your butt down on the floor to do this and that was a bit of a struggle. Earlier in the day it wasn’t that bad but now it was not any fun. Next came my huge discovery…I couldn’t get up off the floor. I literally could not get up without something to grab to pull myself up with. I suppose most folks would be mad and upset as they laid there on the floor. Not me, all I could do was laugh and think I was glad no one was around to see this spectacle of myself trying to get up. As I crawled across the floor to a bench to use as a brace, I started thinking what do I do now. I quickly called my other son, and he came to the rescue, now he has never messed with wallcovering so I wasn’t sure if this would work or not. It turned out it did, and we got out of there around 7PM.
As I left the job and headed back to the house I had some mixed feelings. I was super satisfied I was able to do what I did and among the three of us we got the job done. Then I quickly realized that my physical days of working on projects like this were over. It was tough to commit and understand this. This was my life for 40 years and for now that part is on standby. I suppose at some point, maybe when my chemo treatments are done, I can work towards building some strength back and see where that goes. It is all in my legs so I should be able to get that built back up. I am disappointed that this is where I am but for now, I will look for other ways to work. I have managed to take about 36 hours to get this on paper and I am feeling sore. Day two after is usually the worst, so I have something to look forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow will come and go and we will enjoy the weekend before Chemo Session 3 Monday. I pray to Penthouse Dude it goes as well as Chemo Session 2 went, and life will be good!
Moving On,
A Simple Man
— Thig On the Wheel