Not Tar

I know it's not just tar they smeared on the wall. Tell me it wasn't just tar. It sure stank like tar last night, though. The air in our home was rank with a combination of tar(?), gasoline, improperly vented water heater exhaust, and basement dust crud. We slept with all rooms' windows cracked a little, and a fan drawing air out through the kitchen window. Whew!

We thought it was just the water heater exhaust, but Howie came up from the basement this morning after talking to the guys first thing, thrust a black-tipped index finger at me, and said "is this what you smelled last night? Smell this." At least he didn't ask me to pull that finger. But it was the same smell (again, better than the aforementioned alternative). Somewhat, anyway. Evidently two buckets of the stuff were left not too far from the furnace, so the warm air carried the aroma clear through the house. Yuck!

He tried to wash the tar off with soap and only ended up with it all over his hands. Rubbing alcohol? Nope. Nail polish remover? Yep! He came back in the bedroom, and his hands smelled worse than they did before. They were better once he washed the nail polish remover off with soap. Always back to the soap. Soap is good.

They made a lot of headway today, and weren't nearly so noisy with power tools. They've got the front, left side, and back of our house all done outside and have a trench dug on the right side. They'll put more stinky tar on, and plastic, then put drainage tile and gravel back in the hole before putting the soil back on top. The resulting grade is quite impressive; I know it will settle, but it's still a lot better than it's ever been.

Having been up since 8:30am (early for me, c'mon!), I'm struggling to keep my mind occupied. I'm also avoiding comfortable seating like the plague, because I'll be out like a light the moment I nestle down into a chair or the couch. So, I'm installing software and getting my system backed up - that'll keep me awake. Yeah, right!