Reminiscences from a Kitchen (Marc's Blog)

A Guest Blogger?  I earned my Guest Blogging invite by spending 5 days in the kitchen. You do that, you get a guest blog invite. 

Eli has set a lofty writing standard for the Sunkist blog; so I will be striving for witty, erudite, pithy and insightful.   As I read what I write, it seems like blah blogging to me.  But I was invited.

Who is this Guest Blogger?  I am Marc, Dad of Kimberly (KCA).  Gretchen and I had discussed the possibility of my coming out to help get Sunkist ready for habitation, and when I saw the blog, I knew I was going. KCA and I agreed I would put in a full Mon-Fri stint, and I asked KCA to give me a list of what needed doing. 

So when we went over the first morning, prior to my tour, I was handed my list.

Polyurethane Vanity

Kitchen—clean, sanitize (Killz), spackle paint
Guest bedroom — clean spackle paint

Master bedroom — clean spackle paint

Den—remove paneling; clean spackle paint

Rehab carport structure

Mailbox support

Plus a couple of minor projects.

So I asked:  if I finish this today, what will I do tomorrow?

Ninety percent of my actual effort was focused on the kitchen, and the vanity got refinished.  Oh yes, I also “managed” the 2 contractors and the City and PG&E inspectors.  Got by with only 2 Home Depot trips plus one hardware store trip (to a part of town KCA told me not to go back to).  Plus replying to the 12 or so daily texts from KCA.

Overall, this is a serious project. Sunkist has a super view, and great potential, nice layout, good hardwood floor.  I like the plan.  It needs lots of work, but that’s what you can do when you are 30.  A good cleaning will really help.

My week felt similar to a week of backpacking alone. Instead of walking all day, I was cleaning, sanding, painting. The contractors were occasional fellow hikers.  I slept at Sunkist 3 nights, mattress on floor, no shower, with few working lights.  Breakfast and lunch were somewhat spartan and quick.

Ah, the kitchen, my kitchen (maybe there should be a small plaque on the wall commemorating my efforts?). How can painting a kitchen take most of a week?  Try 10 cabinet doors, 5 drawers, 8 shelves, and 3 old casement windows.  Took doors off, hardware off, drawers and shelves out.   It has been a very long time since this kitchen was really cleaned. My full routine included some wall and ceiling repair.  But the bulk of effort was on sanitizing (bleach and pine sol), sanding grime off when needed, a full coat of “Killz primer” (2+ gallons), and painting (1.5 gallons Behr Ultra White Semi Gloss Layex Enamel).  The cabinet interiors had been artistically sponge painted with black over white (a zebra look), making that “white white” hard to achieve.  This wasn’t craftsmanship; it was a germ and grime attack. 

I was very proud of my end product, and it was truly needed before move-in.     Was it full completion?  No, I could have used another ½ day to paint walls and put it all back together.   I finished aching and sore, very tired, but feeling like the old guy contributed.  It felt good.