Blistering Work Schedule

The Driveway Repair

Yesterday was certainly not a day of rest.  After church we knocked out the grocery shopping and then headed to Home Depot where I had a list of things to get and it turns out there were plants that needed to be rescued from bondage there.  It should come as no surprise that during my return from loading the car with my purchases I had to launch a quadrant search for my wife who was at her elusive best.  I found her wheeling around with more flowers and a humungous new flower pot.  She had the good grace to look a little contrite but said she just loved the color of the flowers and well they would need a pot.  Note to self – whenever wife comes with me to Home Depot – bring extra money (lots of extra money).  When we got back to the house I recharged the home’s water filters with 150 pounds of salt and tried to make adjustments on my lawn tractor which was not mowing level.  It turns out that something in there is bent and I’ll have to get Sears in to check it out.  Thank God for service agreements.  I was able to jury rig something so it still works in a fashion.  I also finished my driveway repair job.  Home Depot sells these bags of asphalt that you just pour out and then pack into whatever needs repair. The house has settled over the years and a gap developed between the driveway and the garage.  I was happy with the results but they came at a price.  Since I was trying to do this while still catching some of the Red Sox game I forgot to put on my work gloves when I started doing the compacting.  I could feel some tender spots developing but by then my hands were coated with the grit and oil from the asphalt and I didn’t want to waste time cleaning up and then putting on the gloves – BIG MISTAKE.  By the end I had eight different places on my hands where I tore blisters off.  They were throbbing a little (lot) with the grease, oil, and bits of asphalt imbedded.  I finished the part I wanted to and then tried to wash the hands out.  Mere soap was no match for the grease so I found some spray stuff that my wife uses to glean grease off the stove and that worked great.  It stung a whole lot but it really cut through the grease.  Now all I had to do was keep the extent of my injuries from my wife to avoid the obligatory lecture about what an idiot I had been.  She did ask why I was taking the wedding ring off (huge blood blister there).  After the Sox won another game (did I just say that!) I headed out and mowed the yard and then launched a chemical strike to thwart our annual invasion of black ants.  Finally I put the cars back into the garage and finished the asphalt project, wearing gloves this time.  My wife had safely ensconced her new plants in the new pot while I went up stairs and rediscovered how much fun it was to apply soap to raw skin.  Showers are going to be fun for the next couple days.  We settled down to watch a movie, My Week with Marilyn, recommended by our daughter.  None of my nightly popcorn though because of salt on the raw skin fears.  If my wife saw me wearing gloves to eat popcorn she would know for sure.  We made it about halfway through before we both acknowledged we had slept through most of it so we’ll give it another shot tonight.  I’ve got to learn to stop being such an idiot.  I’ll have to acknowledge my son’s proclivity to get injured all the time probably was inherited from me.  Hey, at least the back is almost back to normal!


The Price