I ache, therefore I am

Floors are a test of endurance and determination. All your equipement is heavy and awkward. The cords to run the machines are heavy and awkward. Noise and dust block out the rest of the world. Pain from sore body parts is a constant companion. Yesterday the equipment had had enough and refused to work. My vaccuum was the first to refuse to start. It just wouldn't turn on. I checked the cord to make sure it was plugged in and I checked the outlet to make sure it was working. After a lot of running around I narrowed it down to the vaccuum itself was just refusing to go. I pounded on it and poked the switch over and over-- nothing.

Well, vaccuuming isn't much fun anyway so I skipped that and went straight to edging. The edger has a bag holder to keep the dust collection bag out of the way. With the bag holder in place the edger was to big to get into the closet I wanted to use it in. Well, I would just take it apart and hold the bag while I edged. It needed a phillips screw driver. No phillips in the box, so I wandered around and found one of the painters and borrowed one. I removed the bag holder and edged the closet and put the bag holder back on. I wandered around and found the painter and gave him back the screwdriver.

My back ached from edging the closet so I decided to switch to using the floor machine. The really coarse paper is a struggle to get on evenly, since the coarse grit makes it stiff and brittle. The paper has to be tight and even or it will blow appart. Blowouts are heartstopping affairs that will give you some indication of how you will do under enemy fire in a surprise ambush. The floor machine comes a live and seems bent on thrashing itself and you to death. You yank up on the handle that raises the drum, but the thrashing continues and may get worse. Finally, you find the off switch and it stops. If there is a puddle under you, you are not going to do well under surprise attack nor should you be a floor person since puddles will ruin the floor. So I'm fussy when I put the paper on and this particular sheet was being stubborn. Finally, I got it on evenly and hooked the cord on the machine, got behind it, put my ear muffus on, grabbed the handles, and hit the switch. Nothing.

So, I check to make sure all the plugs are connected good and hit the switch again. Still nothing. I go to the basement and reset all the 220 breakers. I climb back up to the second floor room that I am trying do the floor in and hit the switch. Nothing. Well, yesterday the electricians were at the house working, but today they are gone and I am on my own. I need a tester and I know who has one so I jump in my truck and go to Tracy's paint shop. I borrow a tester and return to the house. Up the stairs again. I check the 220 outlet and it's live. I plug the floor machine cord in and go check the other end of the cord. Nothing. It's the cord. I can't tell which end, one of the ends is pulled apart. I get lucky (if you can consider yourself lucky when you are doing floors) and the first end I take apart is the problem. I fix the cord, plug in the floor machine and hit the switch. Deafening noise and dust. All right, it's working.

I started at 7:30 and it's now 11:00 and finally something is working. I am pretty tickled about that. As floors go, that's pretty good.