WISE OWL 42 OR OMAHA TAN . . . THAT IS THE QUESTION!

Mr and Mrs F hired a young painter who (according to the always tactful Mrs F)  “does exceptionally good work for a very reasonable price.”  However, he (according to the less tactful Mr F) also had  “too many balls in the air, ” which meant exterior painting went much slower than expected.  “In a phrase,” Mr F grumbled, “we got back-burnered.” 

However, in the completely objective and unbiased opinion of this ace observer of the human condition, the laggard progress on the exterior aesthetics of Mr and Mrs F's Affordable Dream House cannot be laid entirely upon the shoulders of the young Painter.  At least 44.5% of the blame falls upon Mr F and Mrs F for playing Prince Hamlet with the color swatches.  The happy couple couldn’t make up their  !$%#! minds.  One day they wanted the soffits to match the stucco, both Omaha Tan, with the fascia a darker brown to match the roof.  The next day it was lighter on the fascia (a color called Wise Owl 42) and darker on the soffits (Oxford Brown).   

Mr. and Mrs F soon became good buddies with Gene, the owner of Neumann’s Paint Supply.  They spent half a day experimenting with different colors for the exterior beams and T&G, finally choosing a blend Mr and Mrs F tagged with the pedestrian but descriptive label “1/2 Strength Dark Walnut”.  For the interior T&G, they spent a full day of hair-pulling trial and error before finally deciding on a special brew concocted by Gene in the waning minutes of daylight.   Gene lifted the quart can to the sky like Mufasa the Lion King and christened it “O Blessed Hope!”  Whenever Gene sees Mr and Mrs F’s RAV 4 pull into the parking lot, he ducks for cover.