40 Grit Should Do It, Ma'am

Have I mentioned that Home Depot is a frightening place? Well, add to that frustrating and, sometimes, dare I say it, WRONG. This weekend was the weekend that I had designated to sand my kitchen floors. There are layers of god knows what on the hardwood, so I wanted to get all the crap up and see what I had under there.

So, after a delightful night on a boat with young Bentley alums in the Boston Harbor, Bryan and I ventured into HD on Saturday to rent a sander and all the necessary accompaniments. I spoke with a man who seemed knowledgeable, answering all of his questions about my floor:
"What's on the wood now?"
"Dunno"
"How big is the room?"
"Not sure"
"What kind of sander do you want?"
"Dunno", again
We finally figured out that there was polyeurathane on the floor and that I should start with a 40 grit sanding pads, which is supposedly rough, on the most expensive sander available to rent (I was sold by the statement, "it sucks up 80% of the dust"). After 40 grit, 80 grit should be used and then 120 grit to smooth out the scratches. Well, after getting the heavy-ass machine home and sanding for 4 hours on one of the hottest days of the summer with very little result, we realized that we were out of 40 grit pads.
Back to HD - a little aggravated.
Different guy:
"What's on the floor?"
Polyeurathane
"What kind of sander are you using?"
"That kind" pointing.
"Why'd you start with 40 grit? You should've started with 24 grit."
"Really?" I then realized that I was never going to get those 4 hours of mine and Bryan's life back.
Now, angry as a cut snake, I get back and put on the 24 grits. Much better, but that didn't do much to mollify me and our wasted hours.

We had to take a break, so we took in some excellent action on the football field of the Marlboro Shamrocks, the team for which my brother Joe plays. They won 21-8 with Joe kicking all 3 extra points.

Sunday - More Sanding! I now hate dust, wood, sanding pads and my kitchen floor. However, we were getting some noticeable results and the wood peeking through is quite lovely. After several more hours, we managed to smooth out the floor to a warm and polyeurathane-free wood. Back to HD where I complained about the incorrect 'advice' of 40 grit to start and thereby received a small discount, making the whole ordeal slightly less irksome.

Sealing the wood comes next but not until the weather is less tropical and our backs have recovered from bending over the sander and from repeatedly sweeping the floor. I do love homeownership :)

We did not find a roommate yet. My car is running ok. Our new washer and dryer was delivered today so I will have clean clothes at my own house. And I'm still loving my job. That's all for now.