The older I get, the more I think illnesses such as cancer, kids' short attention spans, impulsivity, and other health problems are due to overuse of plastics in cooking and bottling, preservatives, chemicals in the environment, fertilization of lawns, pesticides, pollution and breathing in all that stuff. I used to think I had very good genes from both my mom and dad for longevity, but they didn't use all the plastics we use today, microwave everything in plastic, cover it with plastic, and eat all the convenience foods that are so filled with chemicals and preservatives and genetically modified ingredients. They didn't breathe all the crap we breathe today. It's a wonder we aren't all succumbing to cancers and diseases, the human body is so overworked trying to cleanse itself.
I can't blame my ADD on chemicals, unless you count breathing in DDT in the fifties, when they use to come around and spray the Dutch elms in our neighborhood with the big tanker trucks and humongous hoses, shooting the chemicals up in the air towards the canopies of the trees, only to have the pesticide mist come raining down in our backyards on us, if we were unlucky enough to be outside when they came. We were warned to stay indoors when they came spraying, but not everybody would remember. My dad dutifully fertilized our lawn in hopes of having one of the greener, plusher lawns in the neighborhood. I remember filling the little Scott's spreader, and breathing in that stuff. I actually liked the smell of it at the time. Hm-m-m-m...maybe that's got something to do with my learning problems I had! I was a "huffer" and didn't know it! Add magic markers to the list. Liked the smell of those, too. However, I think I'm just one of those kids in the fifties born that way, who never knew why she couldn't focus and pay attention in class, why she bombed math class year after year, and why she has so much trouble finding her way around places. BUT--I'm quite creative and inventive and good at finding solutions to problems, working with my hand making cool stuff, so that's a nice foil to not being able to focus and pay attention for very long.
Back to the bathroom....little space, but a BIG, dirty job. The wallpaper is so old, that it was on the walls before they hung the big mirror and the medicine cabinet. I can't remove the mirror, but I did take out the medicine cabinet so I could get at the paper better.
Once the brown paper is visible, I'm spraying it and saturating it thoroughly with water and then scraping it off with a putty knife. That part goes pretty quickly, thank goodness! What a gummy, gooey mess when it does come off. It's sticking to my shoes, it's sticking to the ladder, it's sticking to everything, so I see I'm going to have to wash my walls and get the gummy residue off before I paint. Sigh......
Hope I can do about a wall a day....half way there.....
I need a break....Think I'll ride my bike for awhile and look at the pretty scenery in our neighborhood...Wish I knew the name of this beautiful deep rose pink shrub that's doing so well in this hot, hot broiling summer climate in this area. I need to visit a nursery soon and learn the names of some Florida plants. Landscaping plans are in the future for winter projects. Winter projects? There is no winter in Bradenton/Sarasota! Lows will be in the seventies then.....Can't wait!
Geez...Blogger makes it hard to make changes without being annoying! I lost my "followers" button somehow, and when I went to get it back by "adding a gadget", now you can only pick Google + Followers, which means anybody who wants to follow has to have a Google I.D. Phooey! I find that really annoying, I'm not crazy about Google + and don't really want to have that as the only choice on my blog to annoy anybody else if they don't have a Google profile, so for now, guess I won't know who's following! Darn Google and darn Blogger! Technology is starting to pass me by....
Well we here, Google+ has taken the place of Google Followers, whether we like it or now. I am slowly getting to know it.
ReplyDeleteStripping old wallpaper can take for ever. You have the right Idea, do a bit and take a break until tomorrow. This job will wait patiently for you.
Only one comment about the bathroom and removing old wallpaper. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteTold ya so on the wallpaper.
ReplyDeleteThe flower is a penta.
I agree about the plastics and I never microwave in any plastic, even if it's supposed to be microwave safe.
And no....I am not a robot.
Looks like you fixed the google + thing or I wouldn't be able to comment. I refuse to do google+ even if it means I have to quit blogging. I'm tired of being bullied by google and microsoft and don't get me started on facebook. BUT what I really wanted to say is I think you are 1000% right about the effects of the chemicals and plastics on the human brain and nervous system. The incidence of cancer is WAY up since the 50's and so is the incidence of all these autoimmune diseases. Oh and could you get rid of the authentication word? My eyes are too bad to read it these days. LOL
ReplyDeleteSorry for this late reply - I have been painting for what seems like days now and have only just gotten back into my blog!
ReplyDeleteI was lucky that our wallpaper came right off, though it was vinyl. Our kitchen is unventilated so all those years of cooking steam had loosened the paper pretty thoroughly.
After depapering, I cleaned the walls with a TSP (trisodium phosphate) solution, which is not ideal from an ecological standpoint, but according to my husband is the best thing for degreasing and prepping walls before you paint. I try not to use chemicals either but made an exception in this case as the amount involved was very small and it was a one-time event.
Hope your renovating went well! And thanks so much for commenting on my blog. :)