Stranger and stranger

Well, when I got back from work, the first set of surveyors stakes were all gone and a different set in their place (in entirely different places). And a bunch of plate sized holes have punched in the concrete of the driveway. But nothing else.

Ms. P nonetheless left her chariot at the foot of the hill - it was a little late to be pulling into the neighbor's driveway, waking their 2 large dogs and clambering up through the ivy. Instead she parks across the street and did the buns and thigh workout by walking up the driveway.

At this rate, the driveway might be done by Christmas.

Now, Ms. P on the other hand? Third coat on the very top flight; first coat on the next flight down. Tomorrow morning the plan is to remove the tape from stage 1, put a second coat on stage 2 and start the prep on stage 3 - which is also the longest of all the flights. I need to move the bundle of quarter round and pull the covers and staples etc. But if I can get that part done Friday a.m. and tape it and first coat it Saturday before noon, I can get 2 coats on Sunday - early am and late pm and by Monday night? walkable. Meanwhile, stage 2 will get a third coat Saturday. Ms. P will not get home until 8:30 or later Friday, so she doubts she will have time or energy to start taping Friday night - but all things are possible.

Got to get more varnish and more blue tape. But I'm really seeing that this can get finished before I go to bed Sunday night. The last flight of 4 steps? That's going to be harder because I'll probably have to do them while using them. But I had to do this top down or I wouldn't have been able to work on more than one section at a time, so ... However, this entire exercise does not fill Ms. Packratty's heart with joy thinking about the painting of the risers and the stringers. That will have to happen slowly and, Ms. P suspects will be just as painful as the varnishing, although it won't involve all the vacating of the premises. The taping will be much more critical, however.

Enough woodworking though - the big news at work, other than the VP shuffle, is that The Conservative Corporation that Ms. Packratty labors for has actually decided to allow women to wear open toed shoes - although not sandals of any sort. Ms. P doubts this will truly affect her much, as the shoes available for her large boats that are also not painful to wear are generally lacking in anything that might be termed "style". However, the dress code amendments came with some vigorous restating of other standards, including the requirement that skanky tattoos must be concealed, that earrings may not dangle to the shoulders and that clothing may not be skintight or see-through, all offenses by some of her co-workers that have made her shudder (and feel cranky about) in recent months. If Ms. P has to obey the rules, she expects everyone else to have to obey the same damn rules.