Older and Wiser?
Notice to anyone out there who may, in some crazy, Twilight-Zone induced stupor, ask me to do a project for you: I cannot, with even a modicum of accuracy, estimate how long ANY project will take. You've been warned. Problem is - I know this about myself. I see a project, mull it over, think on it, dream of it, plan it all out. I get the steps in my head and can see every phase and every detail in my head and think - well, this won't take long at all. I should have this done in XX hours - no time at all. Oh yes, I will remember my sad and humbling time underestimations of the past, but OOOOHHHH not THIS time! This time'll be different! I'm older and wiser. I've honed my skills over projects past! This'll be done in a jiff! No problem. And guess what - I did it again! I've deluded myself, suppressed memories (or would they qualify as nightmares?).
Here's what happened. I decided to wallpaper the two hallways and the stairwell (before you judge - I'll explain that in another post). Well, as all who have ever hung wallpaper know - hanging wallpaper is not as simple as putting paste on the paper and hanging it. Not. At. All.
All I wanted to do was paper this hallway:
As you can see, there's not a lot of "wall" in this hallway. It's mostly doors and trim. So I figured prepping, priming/sizing the walls, mmmm what? Maybe an hour? No. Nope. Uh uh. Two - with all those doors and trim there was a LOT of cutting-in.
Then there was the upstairs hallway.
Again - prepping, priming/sizing the walls, my guess? Another hour. Reality? Two hours. This is not encouraging.
And the stairwell...
.Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. - Kurt Vonnegut
It's hard to get this on camera, but the stairwell walls are huge! My pre-project guess - two hours for prepping, priming and sizing. Reality? I have no idea - haven't even gotten to it yet.
So what I thought would be a weekend project, has stretched to a whole weekend and several after-work hours. I have about half of the downstairs hallway papered, the upstairs hallway prepped and primed and the stairwell, well...
