Inside [this house] Beats the Heart of my Madness.

I have reached the point where I've become frustrated with the building. The hostel is older and often Things patched along as it goes. Sometimes further back then I know. Then those things, having spent a long time doing what their supposed to be doing (i.e., being walls or toilets), decide it would be way cooler not to be those things.

Usually I can put my Predator face on and be happy.

Screen Cap. Predator movie, 

But yesterday it was madness.

In a matter of 5 hours, the radiator collapsed off the wall, pumping black radiator fluid, which I'm not certain is the same fluid that makes Guinness. After finally stopping it, we had to disconnect it from the pipe and the room was out of commission. The wall behind in ruins, and filled with horse hair (yes horse hair, I guess they used to plaster walls with it as a binding agent), I realized I'm fully booked for tomorrow. Calling a good friend/joiner/construction dude over, the patch of wall was torn away, leaving the lath exposed. It needs to be plaster boarded, smoothed and painted all in 24 hours. The carpet is trashed, which is most annoying to me.

An hour after this happened the leaky toilet turned non functional as the parts that were not mean for each other came apart, thus rendering one of the main toilets useless.

Quickly after, more minor, but the vacuum bag inside the vacuum exploded blasting dust all over one of the cleaners and the kitchen. Luckily no Henry was harmed in the process and we re bagged it.

Then last, but not least. A guest left the taps running upstairs and flooded the upstairs bathroom, pouring down into the other bathroom through the light fixture. This last act really brought home the phrase, "when it rains it pours."

The wall was repaired this morning, needing one more coat of paint after the putty has dried. The water has been moped, the sink unplugged, the sparky/electrician called and the toilet parts on the way. Henry is alive and well.

I'm usually good at compartmentalizing my work and not getting frustrated with hostel build/structure problems. But I was nearly at the end of my rope this morning. Its such a lovely, cosy hostel and it does my head in when I find half done and half shot work crumbling around me, its upsetting, not for the fact that its broken, but someone didn't take the time or the money to do a proper job of it in a place that takes so much wear and tear, and someone like me, who's really left with an unsure budget and unreliable company builders. I do the best with what I am given.

So I'm left with a mess and an option. Crumple and give up or roar in the face of it. I choose roaring every time.

Roar

DIY Repainting a Hostel Room

There is a lot of DIY stuff coming up, only because I have to do it myself. This time, though, it was working in the hostel.

Before and After

This week I painted a Hostel Dorm. Funny enough, it was the dorm I lived in for 6 months before getting the manager job, so I have fondness for its brilliant yellow walls, but they had to go. I didn't have the exact colour and the room needed an up date anyway.

I had some awesome help from my good friend Marie, and we had no end of fun and trouble. As you will notice(or not), the ceiling is chip wall paper. It was old and sagging and sagged worse when we applied a fresh code of paint. With a go a head, we pulled it down, chipped the remainder off and repainted on smooth plaster.

It took three solid days of trucking away at it before it was finished, or nearly, one wall still needs plaster but over all its so much fresher looking. I picked white for the walls because in a hostel people get food, gunk and scratch all over the walls, and its tricky and expensive to replace it with funky colours all the time. Funk in some places, too  much funk is no fun.

Want to see the results?

It was fun, though I have to say, the hardest part was working with Gloss paint. Its sticky as all hell. You have to wait a while for it to dry, but once it does, its easy to clean right off and really durable. But again, there was paint everywhere. I was neat about the room, but my skin, hair and nearly everything else attached to me was covered in paint.

The only shame was that I only had 3 days to get it all done. So this means I was unable to have the back wall plastered properly. Its still yellow and waiting for its skim and a paint.

Fun tip: Looking to get rid of glossy paint? Mayonnaise or olive/sunflower oil, no harsh chemicals needed.

Hope you have luck/adventure/success on your own DIY. I'm going to sit on my butt and smile now!

Special thanks to Andy from Up and Doon Guided Walks for covering me so I could get it done while not burning oot! He does some even cooler adventures than me!

Please, Ask Any Question....

My morning emotions.

"No, By all means, interrupt my breakfast/email answering/bed allocations/printer repair for your deliriously obvious question. What? Can't find the plates?  I'll show you where they are.  Follow me..."