My Lord ya’ll I always have to learn the hard way.
Big Daddy says I do not learn a damn thing unless I get hurt at it. And he is not exaggerating one bit. I absolutely drove him nuts to get him to ride the Virginia Creeper Trail with me. We are grown adults, we ride a Harley for God sake. How hard can this be? Plus the country is gorgeous . So he must have had a fever or something because he finally gave in. So off we went on Memorial Day weekend to Abbingdon Virginia to ride 18 miles, mostly down hill on bicycles………. that we didn’t even own. Was sooo excited I could not stand myself! So here’s how this went down. I wiped out on mile 1 bridge 1. I am crapping ya’ll negative. I hit the first bridge straight so hard that Big Daddy said it look like a suicide attempt. I was a bloody mess. My face, arms and legs were blood and I passed out for a bit. The worst part was I ripped a big hole in my (favorite) Kalik Beer T-shirt…… right over one of my boobs!. God it was awful. I layer on a park bench shaking and crying while Big Daddy cussed a blue streak as he tried to fix my wrecked bike and make it go the correct direction again.
Mile 1 bridge 1 people.
The Virginia Creeper Trail is 18 miles long.
He fixed my pretzel of a bike with spit and Kleenex. He dried my tears and told me my boob was not showing too bad. He said he would get me a new beer T-shirt. He sat there on that park bench with me until I could walk and he talked me down the mountain one mile at the time. But he is quite correct. I learn when I get hurt at something.
If it leaves a mark I will remember it.
So today I want to run down a few things I have learned not to do when it comes to my company. The ones listed are absolutely maddening for me.
1. Sniff it.
If it stinks keep walking.
You will spend wwwaaayyy more time trying to get rid of a bad odor than it would take you to find your next piece of furniture. Smoke, pet urine or nasty basement smell is never coming out.
2. Don’t buy a piece that is already painted /painted badly.
I have tried this enough times to know that it is more trouble than its worth and you will inherit the last person drips, brush marks and bleed through which leads to sanding and priming.
Keep walking.
3. Don’t paint laminate anything
Laminate can be painted . You can rough up the surface with a sander to give it a tooth the paint will stick to a bit better but it will never wear or last like wood.
4. Always inspect drawers carefully and WELL
Wonky, stinky. sticky, broken drawers or drawer sliders are one more thing to have to fix. Make sure you want to do that job and be familiar with what the supplies will cost you. Be aware of your bottom line.
5. Don’t buy crap
Work past the crazy voice in your head that is telling you this piece of junk in front of you is the last Wildebeest on the Sahara……cause it ain’t. I have done it and always regretted it. Do what I do: Go hit two more thrift stores and you will find at least one piece that is better that the one you walked away from.
6. lamps
Do not leave a thrift store with a lamp that you have not plugged in, turned on and has a harp on it. You probably still need to purchase a shade and lamp parts are an added expense. Be aware of your bottom line.
7. Paint as you acquire.
In other words …..don’t hoard. If you have a garage crammed full of furniture and no finished furniture you have gotten yourself in a mess. It becomes very overwhelming. I usually have 5 pieces on hand waiting and 2-3 in process at a time.
8. Making my own chalk paint has always been a disaster …….. all 6 times.
Buy it, Research it and just buy it.
9. RED IS VERY HARD TO PAINT!!!!!!
It took me SIX coats to get the saturation I wanted on this little table.
Ain’t nobody got time for that.
I hope this helps:)
Paige
