Take a Bite

Biting off more than I can chew . . . .

This week I purchased an entertainment center for my new tv. The one I wanted cost $275 so I kept looking. I finally found one that was perfect for $99 except that it was painted a garish silver. No problem, I thought. I'll just paint it.

It took two guys at Rex plus a dolly to load it into my car. "Are you sure I'll be able to get it out by myself?" I asked. "Oh, it will be a piece of cake," they responded. They also told me it was very easy to assemble.

Yesterday I purchased paint & thought I would quickly paint the wood before assembling; then put it together later in the day. When I got home from buying the paint, I attempted to get the entertainment unit out of my car . . . the box would not budge as it was wedged into my backseat. Eventually I was able to pry open the box & get the pieces out one by one. I spread a drop cloth on my deck & carried all the pieces outside. Suddenly the beautiful sunny day became very dark & windy. Undaunted, I opened the paint & proceeded to paint a piece of wood only to discover that it would not adhere. Perservering, I remembered that I had a can of primer left over from painting my hearth & mantle. I located the primer & began to prime all the wood. After applying several coats of primer, the rains came.

I backed my car out of the garage & spread out another drop cloth on the garage floor. Then I moved the pieces to the garage to finish the priming. Every couple of hours I would go the the garage to apply another coat as most of the pieces needed to be primed front & back, & each side needed at least two & sometimes three coats of primer. As of this morning I have yet to finish the priming & am beginning to wonder exactly how many days this project might take. Hopefully when the painting is finished, it will be as easy to assemble as the salesmen said it would be, but from the looks of all the pieces & bags of screws, I doubt it!

Reality bites . . . .

Oddly enough my sons encouraged me to play in their fantasy football league. I was uncertain since I had never played before, but they convinced me that I could do it.

After the first two weeks, I was sitting pretty atop the league undefeated. At that point I would say "I know my football," but I'm sure my sons were thinking "dumb luck." Since that time I have lost every game even though I have scored a lot of points each week. This week I dumped my so-called premier receiver, Randy Moss, since he had done absolutely nothing so far this season with the hapless Raiders. Unfortunately for me I happened to mention this to my son, Adam, who quickly snatched him up. Yesterday, the Raiders won & Randy had a great day. My fantasy is quickly becoming a nightmare!