Scandals, Lumps, and Cat Hair

I spent most of Memorial Day weekend in bed, tanked up on Benedryl, prednisone, and hydroxyzine with a crazy allergy reaction which was possibly generated by Bondo contact, but most likely a result of adhesive goo used on me during a sleep study.

In my diphenhydramine daze, I managed to watch the first two seasons of Scandal. It may be the drugs talking, but at some point I decided this show was really just grown-up Buffy, with politicians and politics playing the part of vampires and magic. It's likely I'll keep trying to convince myself of that until I've can think of a better reason. In the meantime, it is my new secret vice, and Washington D.C. makes sense as a Hellmouth.

The break gave me some time to accrue containers in which I can mix Bondo (thank you, Traitor Joe's Mac-and-Cheese!), so I've been slowly continuing the fill work. Working with Bondo gives me a respect for cake decorators that even years of reading CakeWrecks and watching Cake Boss have failed to instill.  There is nothing easy about creating art with a spatula. And while Bondo may have a slightly faster drying speed than the type of sugar-based goo favoured by the decorating set, it still can't be easy.

Another thing that can be a pain with both Bondo and DAP is that they often leave edges and drips that are not entirely flat. You can see a bunch of those in this picture.  This isn't a big deal because they sand down quickly, but working on the floor once they are there means subjecting your knees and feet to the type of pain that is normally reserved for enemies of the state (or vampires). In order to avoid this, I did an extra pass sanding with 120 on all the big patches and gaps before the second round of Bondo.
The gaps are big enough on this section that it will take several fill/dry/sand sessions before they're full. The biggest gap between pieces is about half an inch wide, and at least that deep.


While I had Bondo mixed, I moved into the hallway to fill the cracks and some of the larger holes there. I forgot that I hadn't wiped the area down, and it was still pretty dusty. This keeps the goo from adhering very well, and added enough cat hair into the mix that it may now qualify as wattle and daub construction. I wiped up the areas I didn't Bondo so that I can apply DAP later to fill in some holes in the hallway tonight. With any luck I will remember I did so before walking barefoot on it in the morning and scaring my neighbours with (more) random screaming.