When was the last time you looked someone in the eye and told them you were proud of yourself?
I’m not a betting man, but if I had to guess, I bet it’s been a while...
If ever.
Why is that?
Because somewhere along the way, we’ve all been conditioned to believe that patting ourselves on the back — or “tooting our own horn” — is tacky or boastful.
Well if that’s true, I’m here to say:
“Fuck it...
I’m proud of myself.”
I’ve spent the better part of the past ten days prepping and painting 13 doors and 21 shelves.
If I would’ve heard someone say that last sentence before this project began, I would’ve thought to myself, “Why the hell would that many doors and shelves take so much time?”
In my mind, if they need painting, you just paint ’em, right?
Bless my little heart.
No… that’s not how it works, Ace.
There’s actually a process that involves an enormous amount of “prep” work that needs to be done in order to paint anything properly.
Which I’ve come to learn the hard — and costly — way.
Because the “professional” I hired to paint all these the first time didn’t do that proper prep work, the brand-new paint job — that was done only two weeks ago — easily began to scratch and peel.
You can imagine the heartbreak and warm fuzzies this created.
But, at the end of the day… the buck stops with me.
I hired this guy, and I ultimately didn’t vet him, nor do the research to know, that there was indeed a much deeper process that needed to be done.
I just trusted “the pro” knew what that was.
Spoiler Alert: He didn’t.
Lo and behold, by hand, I had to strip, sand, and prime everything he’d screwed up.
Obviously the shelves took a fraction of the time, energy, and effort as the doors, but at this point in the project, having to invest in putty knives, sanders, sandpaper, primer, and more paint to redo the job… was an absolute kick in the ‘nads.
For reference, one side of each of the 13 doors took a minimum of 60 minutes to sand.
As there are two sides to every story — and door — that makes 26 sides.
Roughly 26 hours...
Just sanding doors.
Then you have to vacuum, wipe them from top-to-bottom with a damp cloth, let that dry, then wipe them all down again with a “tack cloth” — before hand-rolling on the primer.
For the handymen out there, this might sound like a walk in the park.
However, yours truly has never been accused of being “handy.”
Drop my ass into a foreign country I’ve never been, nor speak the language — I’ll easily figure shit out.
Navigating busy markets and border crossings… or finding the cheapest guesthouses and hidden street-stalls in some back-alley, less developed corner of the world…
These are things I can do with my eyes closed.
But put a sander in my hand and start talking to me about grit numbers, bonding primer, or oil versus water-based paint?
Tap the brakes there, Tex.
Instead, I’m happy to show you the most scenic route from Northern Thailand into Laos.
To connect you with a spiritual guru in Bali.
Or to give you the best hiking options across the Andes and Himalayas.
But fractions on a measuring tape?
What grade of sandpaper works best for wood?
Or what kind of primer goes over what kind of paint?
Good gravy.
Those were all things completely foreign to me just a few days ago.
Yet here I am, learning (the hard way) on the fly.
Consequently, ladies and gentlemen…
These doors and shelves have now all been stripped, sanded, vacuumed, damply cleaned, wiped down with a tack cloth, hand-rolled with primer, and — as of yesterday evening — double-coated with a bright white semi-gloss finish.
And, most importantly, scratch and peel free.
Every last one of ’em.
As boring or uninteresting as that might sound to some (it certainly did to me not that long ago), I trust there are a few of you out there who can relate to — and appreciate — the time, energy, and effort this took.
I think this might’ve felt slightly less conquering to me if it were something I’d expected or anticipated doing.
But this is a trade I literally knew nothing about.
Hell, two weeks ago, I’d never even heard of a “bonding primer.”
But I learned it.
Yes, I mucked some things up.
(And other people also mucked some things up — royally.)
But I was willing to swallow my pride and learn how to right those wrongs.
The humility — and accountability — that took is what I’m most proud of.
So, yes…
I am indeed sharing this to announce the swelling pride I now feel looking across these unscratchable, meticulously redone doors and shelves.
Tacky or boastful...
I can shamelessly say, I’m proud of myself.
And as rare as that is to hear people say out loud — maybe it’s something we all should be willing to admit a little more often in life.
With Grit & Gusto,
Adrian
P.S. I do wanna give a special shoutout to Ashlie — who spent 3 of those long 10 days right beside me, giving it hell. Having an extra set of hands was invaluable.
And to anyone wondering what all the aforementioned “prep work” actually looks like...
Here’s 48 minutes of Time Lapse condensed into 28 seconds of a prepping party. 🥳
P.P.S. For anyone new here who might be wondering why the hell I’m sanding and painting doors...
A flood hit the building I manage here in Dallas back in June, and what started out as water damage repair quickly turned into a full-blown renovation project — one that I’ve been smack-dab in the middle of all summer long.
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