If I ever lose my job, I could become a painter's apprentice.

Last night, I started painting my apartment. (Froggy got me the materials just the day after I requested them. Go figure.) I started in the bathroom, since it's the smallest room. It's also the most complicated, as it turns out. I have to work around the medicine cabinet, but I successfully removed the mirror and the covering off the light fixture from the wall. (I borrowed a shop light to illuminate the room while I painted around the fixture.)

Error #1: I forgot to borrow a stepladder. I stood on the edge of the tub and the toilet lid (Do not try this at home!) to get the wall there, but I won't successfully mask and paint the other edges of the room without help.

Error #2: I took the cover off the wall heater and discovered that it's not a cover. It's the entire heater, and it's hard-wired to the wall. Okay, so I'll just temporarily hang it back on with two of the screws and work around it when the time comes. Then (fortunately) I remembered that I won't be painting that low down on the wall. You see, one part of the sink wall has some sort of fake tile that had been painted white long ago, with the rest of the room. I had decided to leave it white and paint just the wall above that point and to extend that line around the rest of the room. (Note to self: bring level home from work today.) I'm hoping for a wainscot effect. Anyway, that's a good error, so I put all the screws in and tightened them down.

Most of the bathroom is done already (I could reach far more than I anticipated), so I'll finish it and start on the hallway (another small area, for practice) on Thursday. (I have bowling tonight.) I should be able to patch small holes and mask the bedroom on Friday and paint it Saturday. Then I need to work up motivation for the kitchen and living room...

This song is stuck in my head this morning. Not only does it maintain the habit of songs appearing in my dreams 2-3 days after hearing them, but it's good enough to share with you without you cursing me for getting it stuck in your heads, too.



But I can't decide whether to close this post about home improvement with the line, "A man's home is his castle," or tag an old pun onto a line from the song. "It's not a model; it's a horrible example."