Hello. You guessed it. Today’s comic will be out tomorrow.

It’s entirely my fault. I couldn’t get the script together until Wednesday. That gave Codex One Whole Day to draw it. My only defense is that I was engaged in Deadly Home Improvements.

We’re getting ready to sell. It doesn’t mean we’re taking short cuts. We’ve got tools. Lots and lots of tools. Mostly with sharp edges. Did I mention I’m on blood thinners? What could go wrong? Codex is safely out of the house!

This week’s project: the master bath. That isn’t politically correct and I’m very torn up about it. I’d be less torn up if the diamond glass polish paste had arrived from Lowe’s. Gonna have to track down when it was supposed to arrive. Ordered a bunch of stuff so it’s all a haze.

I didn’t take “before” pics. Dumb. I should have realized the comics would be spotty – I did warn everyone – so something would be needed to fill the gaps. Like caulk.

Here’s the “after”. Looks brand new. It took a couple of hours to figure out the painting techniques to “fill the chips” and “diminish the brush strokes”. It doesn’t have to look “factory fresh” and I don’t have an air paint setup. It’s good. About 150% better than the 20-year-old facade we’d been living with because “chipped paint == character”.

But, today…

Caulking sucks. Removing old caulk sucks more.

Of course, we took all necessary safety precautions. You can’t burn your hand off with a hair dryer if it’s safely masked. That’s $CIENCE.

 

Once we masked the hair-dryer it became completely useless. Which we should have  hypothesized. Those things stop air from going in and out. It’s why everyone has seemed so stupid for the last couple of years. We did NOT mask the heat gun. It is not only more effective at making caulk pliable, but is far, far more dangerous. What’s the point of home improvement if there isn’t a risk of bloodletting, plague, or third-degree burns?

Remember: bandaids are like little masks for your fingers.

The trick is to heat the caulk until it softens, and then pry it out with sharp chisels, terrorist blades, or Codex’s good paring knife. Don’t tell her I did that, okay? She’s already tetchy about the burns, the slicing, and some minor blood smears. Of course, it was all worth it when the shining empty spaces ready to be re-caulked were revealed.

Look at that clean, sharp edge! It’s like an archaeologist did it, but without unleashing curses or a hidden spider cache. Codex is thrilled, mostly because she gets to sleep tonight. Comic incoming tomorrow!