Layin' Down Some Paint... and loving oxygen.

I've been around paint & bodyshops for years. I know lots of ways painters protect their lungs from the chemicals in paint while they spray it... I know (some) about all the different toners, how colors are created in different ways. Some of this stuff is in my book. In a paranormal romantic setting. Lol.

Here's a retired police Tahoe that someone removed the stripes off of, but it took off some of the paint. We're (as in my Cool, Man is) fixing it for 'em.

My job (you wondered if I worked at all, didn't you?) is to mask vehicles for paint. Let me draw your attention to the geometric designs. 0.0  Ok... so I'm random about everything. Lol. I use a lot of tape. We listen to The Brew radio station, and those rock songs of a few decades back will always mean "hangin' out with my man chatting about odd (no)things" to me.  LOVE!

This is me!!!  This is the first time I stayed in the booth and helped lay down the primer over all those black-ish areas. Then Cool, Man sprayed base-coat white over everywhere we had primered... and then sprayed clear-coat over the entire panel. (Details included in case you're ever thinking of fixing a spot on your door, or anything. You're welcome!)

Cute mask, no?

Oooh... shiny!

Voila!  Like new!  :-)

What I did not know...

I helped spray a big truck (again) last night and there are a few things that I had just blown off as "a bad day" after this experience pictured.

 1. The spray gun with the paint in the canister is heavier than it looks when Cool, Man sprays and squeezing the trigger while focusing on the angle, etc, etc, takes a lot of energy.

 2. I was exhausted afterwards. Like I could hardly stand another minute. It was hard to lift my arms, hard to remain standing. I just wanted to go find somewhere to sleep it off. NOW.

This time I mentioned how I felt to Cool, Man. He says:

"Oh yeah. It takes awhile to get used to the lack of oxygen."

What?!

All of a sudden, I'm analyzing how I feel a totally different way:  Heavy limbs, slow thoughts, lack of energy, need to sleep... "symptoms of lack of oxygen".

Gold mine for a writer!!!  Score!  Some things you need to experience to understand.

Question:  Do people who live in high elevations feel this way?  How many situations would it be natural to feel a lack of oxygen?

And finally... May I please wear an oxygen tank next time?  'Cause I really, really, really (really-really-really-really-really) like oxygen.

Hangin' Out on Saturday Snapshot

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by At Home With Books.

I took a picture of my calendar page for June... my Cool, Man gave me this Calendar for my birthday and every month has a new place for the two of us to "Hang Out Together". This picture came out fuzzy, but isn't it cute?  The thought is even cuter.  What a guy!!

This is where we hang out for real. "His -n- Hers" chairs just inside his shop, almost like a tailgate party, only much quieter. This one time we realized at the same time that we'd been sitting for a really long time without anything to say and we started laughing at our complete lack of thoughts. I laughed so hard I was crying 'cause I really wasn't thinking about anything at all, and he was thinking about budding flowers, which was just hilarious. Well, at the time, I guess. You had to be there, maybe.

And here's our View. Who wouldn't just sit and stare at that?!  It's very therapeutic!!  Lol. There are three mini horses in that field on the other side of the blackberry-covered fence. We'll have a bumper crop of blackberries this year. (We say that like we're growin' 'em on purpose. I gotta claim somethin' livin' in the country with the opposite of a green thumb!!) I make a pretty mean freezer blackberry jam with almost no sugar since I wait 'til they're ripe.

*Sigh*  This picture just reminds me of relaxing and lettin' it all go.............

Obsessed with Color Snapshot

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce @ At Home With Books for sharing pictures.

Hangin' around the shop, color has taken on new meaning for me. Each color is made up of a mix of different tints, some unexpected, some totally unrelated.  It's fascinating. By far I like wet paint best, although the fumes will give ya a loopy feeling.

One of my favorite tints is "aluminum". There's fine, coarse, large flake. It adds glisten or sparkle to the color. Pearls add those fine twinkly specks plus depth. This silver has some of both. I follow my Cool, Man around like a lil' duck every time he's mixing paint 'cause I can't get enough.

And it's so beautiful when it's wet!

I'm not saying mixing house paint isn't cool - it is.  But nothing's like wet automotive paint!!  And is pretty much off-limits for viewing 'cause any flaws - like dust from clothes or oil from skin, never mind a bug or a stray hair - means a re-do. The entire panel has to be re-painted. Sometimes the entire car. So... these are kinda rare pictures.

Unless you own a bodyshop, I suppose. Then it's like inspiration for more color obsession!!!

Connections... and DEALS!!!

I suppose I should entitle this post "Networking" - it's just such an over-used word.

The point is... when you have a personal connection to a business, you can recommend it confidently. And when I know someone personally who recommends me to a business they know personally... well... it's like I know 'em personally myself!!

There are a few contacts that I know like that... to share with my readers.

Of course, if you're ever in Oregon and need anything REMOTELY automotive, I'd be yer go-to girl. 'Cause I'd tap into my dearest Cool, Man's repertoire and git ya hooked UP!!  If he doesn't know someone personally that can solve any automotive question, he knows who does. Which is WHY he finds is so hugely entertaining to hang out (for fun) at the Northwest's largest Swap Meet all weekend, rain or shine.

This is hilarous...  

I drove him to the PIR (Portland International Raceway) yesterday, so I have first-hand knowledge. 

For starters, the speed limit is 5 miles an hour, which feels fast with guys who step (or bike or scooter or golf cart) in front of my Suburban when obviously I'm sportin' a big block Chevy motor. Sure, I don't have fancy exhaust to rumble, but I do have ghost flames (wait, maybe that's the problem.) 

Anyway... so I'm motatin' at 5 miles an hour dodging people - men. We're not talkin' 25 or 100... no, I'm talking thousands upon thousands meandering around a huge race track completely zoned out as they check out WAY COOL car parts that line the track both sides. 

Car parts.  *___* 

I don't tell them that it looks like piles of scrap metal to me. Nope.  I'm vastly outnumbered.  The ghost flames along with our automotive shop sticker prove that I'm worthy to meander through their midst, but it's not wise to pick fights.

So if your car breaks down in Oregon or if you are suddenly in the mood for one of those sweet classic rides that are more expensive than they look, shoot me an email. Yer in like flin.

If you want to take a missions trip to Mexico - for a life-changing experience with a little sight-seeing to the pyramids, I can get you hooked up for that, too.  I already introduced my sister, who's a working-resident near Teohtichuacan (or some such). But my dad also has a ministry and there's tons of experience with hookin' up youth groups or enthusiastic adults. Anyone can go build a building in Tijuana, right?  Try something different and put on a kids' camp outside of Mexico City DF, or something. You know?


I've got awesome relatives, 'cause my mo-in-law is the go-to person for resort vacations.  No joke.  All those people who got suckered into buying timeshares have weeks they can't make it to their resort, and they're looking to get someone to at least pay their cleaning bill. Since there's tons of different owners with tons of different weeks owned at tons of different locations, it's rather hectic to figure out where to go when for how much. 


"Nana" Trish is a broker between those owners and salespeople who sell those resort weeks at great prices.  She's a great connection if you want to get into the business of reselling weeks, 'cause the deals she finds are outrageously good (from long-time experience & connections). But if you're just looking to go to Cancun or Hawaii or something for a week... well, don't let her professionalism scare you off. She's finding incredible deals daily and she'll hook you up!! (The "Vacations" tab goes straight to her site.)


So, I already talked about clicking on Google Ads or purchasing books via each other's links to support other book bloggers, right?  Ever since I blogged about it, I've remembered to click much more often. Every Google Ad I see is a happy click for me. The only Google Ad that's hand-chosen by me is the Teavana one. The other Google Ads rotate through some mysterious plan of their own.

If you need to order through The Book Depository, right now (thru tomorrow) is a GREAT time. They're offering 10% off everything. Even through book-blogger's links!!!  Oh yea!! 

 I just wanna order sumpin just to see if that's for real. They already have great prices!!

Gone Reading contacted me this week after I discovered them over at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer's site. Did you know they donate to libraries & reading-related charities?  Um... 100% of their profit!!!  That's nuts.  Even better, they have given me a code you can use through May 6th to get 20% off of anything on their site:  COLORIMETRY20 


(You're SOOO happy you know me, right?  Me, too!!!)


I bet you didn't know they had this blow-fish bookmark available, did you?!

I want these book plates.  They'd be fun to give away with books, don't you think?



The ads on the upper left & the lower banners are totally awesome links for handy places to buy books and tea.  (Tea being closely related to books in my mind).  I personally get tea from Adagio - I had to track down their affiliate program. :-D  The Christian Bookstore link is affiliated through me, too, even though I just put up "Daily Devotions". And, of course, Amazon & Barnes & Noble links are essential.

What Connections do you have?!  

'Cause I'd definitely go through someone you know before googling randomly!!