That coffee shop punch card was basically my lifeline, I had a whole row of stamps by the end. But honestly, it got me thinking about how this sort of thing happens everywhere now, not just construction. Like with my kids' school, they keep changing the bell schedule every few months and nobody knows what's going on until the last minute. Or how grocery stores constantly rearrange the aisles so you can never find anything. It's like everything is designed to keep you off balance, right? You finally learn the rhythm of something and then they pull the rug out just to see if you'll fall. Really makes you wonder who benefits from all this chaos.

@the_rowan im with you 100 percent. my cheap sprayer was a wagner i think, the one that was like $35. it actually worked fine for the first wall but then it started spitting and clumping all over the place. totally feel your pain on the cleanup too, i spent more time trying to unclog it than i did actually spraying. ended up just tossing it and buying a proper one from a friend who paints houses. you live and you learn i guess.

My dad had a similar saying about fixing a leaky radiator with an egg. He swore it would seal a small hole just long enough to get you to a shop, and he was right about it more than once. It's humbling to think how much practical know-how gets lost when the internet becomes our only manual.

My last painting took me 47 hours and I was really feeling myself during the process, very zen and connected to my inner artist. The result was a blob that looked less like the sunset I was going for and more like a sad potato with a fever. So I guess the process was great for my mental health, but nobody wants a sad potato on their wall unless it's a really cool sad potato. I think there's room for both, but my potato paintings definitely live in the process-only zone.

This is just like how thin pizza crust holds up better than thick doughy stuff.