Is that King Tut's Tomb in there?

Ain't it tough when you uncover the unfortunate choices of others that you now have to deal with?

I spent WAY too much time this afternoon in our shower. And I only wish it had been under some hot water. But no ... I was going to recaulk our shower. A quick job, it was to be. You know ... you get to a point to where you've used enough bleach to where the caulk is ready to throw in the towel. If it separates from the tile, removing it should be as easy as wheeling Britney out on a stretcher. Again.

So I get in there to start easily peeling away each precious bead of caulk, having done it's job and prepared for the caulk afterlife. Little did I know ... this caulk was heading for the underworld. At least, I was cursing it there.

Let's put it this way ... I broke one blade in the process, and at the end of two hours, I had stripped but not caulked a single bead.

For those of you who may be new homeowners, here's a little tip. TAKE OFF THE OLD CAULK BEFORE PUTTING ON NEW CAULK! A wise piece of information that the previous owners must not have read in Better Homes and Gardens. (Or perhaps they didn't discuss caulk removal in his magazine of choice. Not even a photo of caulk removal. Nada.)

It was so bad ... one corner had THREE layers of caulk. How did I know this? It was like going through an archaeological dig. I could tell by the strata and colors that this was no ordinary corner. And to top it all off, once I finally removed said caulks (yeah, plural), there was no grout in the corner at all ... it was a gaping hold between tiles. I had uncovered a secret passage. Was there money hidden in that crevice? No ... just wet caulk.

This was not the simple project I had planned to take on. Arrgh.

Fortunately, I had some tile grout. Now granted, it was about six years old, but after walking around with the tube in my hand, kneading it and rolling it like Play-Doh, I was ready to grout the gap.

So now our shower is posted as "out of order" for the next two days instead of one. But fear not, we will not grow ripe. We have other bathing options.

Homeowners ... please be informed. DECAULK before you caulk.

Sheesh.

Speaking of ... Play-Doh was the only time I can remember getting sent home from school. Or at least getting in big time trouble. In kindergarten, I tried to get someone to eat Play-Doh with me. I never could figure out why red Play-Doh tasted salty and not cherry flavored. But then again, so did the yellow and the green. Weird. Did you know that Play-Doh was originally invented as wallpaper cleaner? Now see, if I had known that, I certainly wouldn't have ingested it. Duh.