2024, Art, holidays, Mysteries

Sticky Situation

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You’d think I would know better.

Working on a holiday project today involving pieces of tile, pieces of cardstock and a spray adhesive.  I had everything set up on a big tray and headed to the back yard; I don’t like doing spray adhesive or sealant in the house. 

It’s a new spray adhesive for me and as soon as I sprayed the first tile, I had it all over my hand (the hand holding the tile).  In for a penny, in for a pound.  Since I figured it was already too late, I kept going, doing all 24 of the tiles.  If I’d used my brain I would have stopped after the first one, washed quickly and put on a plastic glove.  We have plenty of them. 

Instead I’ve now spent over an hour getting all the glue off.  Hot water and soap, Quik Clean (a waterless cleaner), more hot water, pumice stone with soap, polish remover.  And technically it’s not all off yet. 

When was the last time you should have stopped, but didn’t?

20 thoughts on “Sticky Situation”

  2. The circumstance is familiar—knowing you should stop but then going ahead anyway and hoping it will somehow work out—but I can’t recall any specific incidents.

    The mention of spray glue puts me in mind of my first job in advertising. I was hired by Campbell-Mithun, which at the time was the biggest, or one of the biggest, agencies in Minneapolis. Since I had at the time no experience in advertising and essentially no portfolio my first job was to prepare the work of the art directors for presentation. That meant mounting a lot of artwork on black mat board with spray glue. You would think at a big agency that there would be a professional ventilated spray booth for the use of such volatile and aromatic products but the spray booth at C-M was simply a box built out of foamcore. It would get so caked with layers of glue one would have to reline it from time to time with sheets of paper, otherwise anything you laid in there to be sprayed would be stuck forever. Note: at no time did I try to spray anything while holding it in my hand.

    I must have mounted hundreds of pieces that way. I also began expanding my usefulness to the art directors in other ways so that after nine months in the paste-up room I was made a full-fledged art director and given my own set of clients.

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    1. This is probably a good place to fess up that I could have done something other than hold these tiles in my hand. The alternative was take a card table out back and cover it with paper and lay out all the tiles. I only did 24 so I could’ve fit them on the table. But of course that would’ve taken more time. Looking back now it would’ve taken less time than the amount of time I spent cleaning the glue off of my hand.

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  6. I’ve used that spray adhesive, it’s good stuff!
    But yeah, everything around gets sticky..

    Snort – There’s so many things I was too dumb to stop doing.
    My favorite: years ago working on an implement and I held a bolt head with my thumb while using the air wrench to take off the nut. It spun so fast, and the head was worn to a razor sharp edge and it sliced my thumb open. Went and got a bandaide. Back to that same bolt. Held it with the other thumb… same result. Like I thought it would work better this time??

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  7. It seems as though I am always doing too much and never stopping. I realized being at this conference that I am way beyond needing to be inspired as a Human Service professional and that I really need to retire. I have an appointment in two weeks with the State retirement office. Of course, even after I retire I want to work part time. Sheesh!

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  8. There have been times when I was using a weed wrench or a leaf vac and thought, this is not doing my back any good. Still, I always want to push it a little farther and do a little more, and really feel it the next day.

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  9. Any kind of deep cleaning is getting to be a real chore, if my s-i joint is acting up. The other day we started vacuuming in the basement, I got a burst of energy and decided to do the stairway, etc. BUT: I let myself take little breaks. I was really proud of myself, and now I see how I can accomplish these chores – just give myself a break, even if it takes a little longer.

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  10. i remember the time i went into the doctor when i had broken my feet. the guy doing the work on the inital treatment asked if i knew while i was doing the task teaponsible for the damage that it was a bad and dangerous idea. i said i did realize it but pushed ahead anyway. he said about 80% of the people he asked knew it was a bad idea but went forward anyway until the doctors office was the next move

    most recent? doing deliveries with all my waking hours even though it became obvious a while ago i needed to go with plan b in order to get my life back on track

    i have begun the process.

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