Dan Antion

Who Let Him Pick Paint? #1linerWeds

Shed Shed Doors Under the Moon

Since I am colorblind, choosing paint has never been my responsibility. One local hardware store owner used to say he wouldn’t sell me paint unless I had a note from my wife. However, when I made those barn door style shed doors last fall, I had to pick out the paint, if the doors were going to get painted in time to be installed. The installation date was fixed, so that the old doors could go into the dumpster that we had for one week, and I needed to put the first coat on before my wife could go with me to pick out the color.

The siding on the house is gray. The garage is gray, the shed is gray. The garage and the shed are going to be wrapped in vinyl siding next year and that siding will be gray. My wife and I agreed on a charcoal gray. Dark enough to make it look like we failed at trying to match the existing color. I wandered into Home Depot’s paint department, where I was heard to say (several times)”:

“Excuse me, is this gray?”

Pencil Point

The thing is, when I look at a rack of paint chips, about 1/3 of them appeared gray to me. The first chip that I showed the nice woman at the counter was a dark purple. The second chip was blue. The third… She finally said that if I wanted gray, I should look in the upper right side of the rack.

Pencil Point – yeah, that should be gray.

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, I’d encourage you to join in on the fun. You can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

The gallery includes pictures from my walk with Maddie on Saturday, including  a number of bits of melted snow that I thought looked like animals. there’s also one where she saw something that was evil. I didn’t see anything, but she barked until it left. Who’s a good dog?

Maddie dragged me out early for a walk on Saturday and she forced me to go the long way.
Bunny
“Personally, I don’t see it…”
Dog, perhaps bear, on its back with paws up.
The sun is at just the right angle on the wires and the chain fence.
I was hoping to get a better picture of this. Maddie had other ideas.
“Maddie! I’m trying to get a better picture of that leaf.”
“I’m prettier than that dumb leaf.”
Stars and stripes, backlit by the morning sun.
“Come on, let’s take the path behind the ball field. I’m sure it’s clear.”
The infield is ready for baseball.
“Come on, we can walk through this.”
Today is the first day of spring.
Some damage from the recent heavy wet snow storms.
I think this might be Sammy, begging for a peanut.
There’s a pile of snow that looks like an elephant behind that mop.
The elephant that Maddie was blocking earlier.
Kitty
I don’t know what is out there, but Maddie was barking like crazy until it went away – ghosts ???

 

77 comments

  1. Way to go Maddie! The long way is much more interesting. Look at that sun! And the wind in your beautiful red hair. Not to mention all the wonderful snow animals you found. Your Dad may be color blind but he knows great stuff whe he sees it. What a beautiful walk you two had. Thanks for sharing it. Pssst….and you are much prettier than any old leaf. But don’t tell the leaf I said so. 😉

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    • What she doesn’t say, and what I don’t photograph, is the hundred million times we stopped to SNIIIIFFFFFFFF – because she hadn’t been around the ball fields and other animals had “checked in” and she had to take note. But, when I stop to take a picture, especially when I kneel down, it’s: “you want to take a picture of me? Right? Right? Why are you pointing at the leaf?”

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  2. You must be a riot to shop with, Don!! Your stories always keep me laughing (which in these early morning hours is usually hard to accomplish) and I must add you are also quite humorous with your picture captions!!

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  4. I like all of your snow creatures, even if Maddie wasn’t impressed. So, has the latest version of the Nor’easter hit your area yet? How much are you expecting this time?

    It must be difficult not being able to distinguish many colors. I take it for granted that I can see all of the pretty hues of paint samples. Then again, when we were picking wall colors for the new office, it took some time to figure it out because there were too many colors. (Pencil gray was not one of them.)

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    • Thanks Mary – I wouldn’t want to be surrounded by Pencil Gray, but it might work for the doors, as the siding is going to be darker than the current paint job.

      Maddie did protect me from the evil spirits that were apparently coming toward us, so I guess I can’t complain. We are out there to get exercise, so I guess I should keep moving.

      The latest forecast is much diminished. Perhaps 3-5″ not starting until after work and it looks like I won’t be driving through it. March tries to be winter, but the calendar says spring.

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  5. I am sure color blindness is a challenge, and I apologize for laughing, but this post was a hoot. I was glad I didn’t have coffee in my mouth when you picked up the purple chip. :-) Love Maddie stories and her captions. Hope you both have a great Wednesday and that Nor’easter doesn’t dump too much on you. Is this winter ever going to end?

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    • Thanks Judy. They seem to be predicting less and less snow with each new forecast. We’ve gone from dangerous nor’easter to nuisance spring snow storm in 24 hours. It’s not starting now until after 4:00 pm.

      Purple seems to be the center of the spectrum I can’t discern. I own purple clothing (that I bought while shopping alone) and I might be wearing more and more purple, if my wife wasn’t picking out most of my clothes.

      Ironically, I think our neighbors have a purple shed :)

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  7. I’m so thankful Maddie scared of the evil, Dan. Otherwise, you might not be here writing this post!! What a good dog! I’ve often thought that if I had to be either blind or deaf, I always choose deaf. Of course, colorblind isn’t like true blindness, but still. However. having the name of the color on the chip has to help, except when they have fancy, confusticating names rather than just the actual color. :-)

    janet

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    • Thanks Janet. We are convinced something was there. The hair on her back went up, she growled and then she gave a powerful series of barks. Then she was fine, so I figured whatever it was, it went away. And I’m here to tell the tale.

      I had a brush with hearing loss last spring, and I’m not sure which I’d rather give up. I know that I would take being colorblind over the hearing situation I was in.

      You’re right about the names they give colors, some are absolutely no help. My favorite is the pamphlet they give you when you’re looking for “white” or “off-white” Oh my goodness…

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    • You might be right about Kitty, Pam. That’s half the fun with things like this. Unless your dog thinks you should be paying attention only to her.

      She does have a hard time with the wind and with static, but she’s cute!

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  9. Maddie–you are so much prettier than that dumb leaf. In fact, I didn’t even notice that leaf! In your defense, Dan, I have often brought clothes to a salesclerk to ask, “is this black or navy?” Gray? Cadet Gray? Greige? It is enough to drive a person nuts. Nuts? Snowy Sammy is so cute!

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    • Thanks Lois, and Maddie thanks you. Someone once said “if you can’t tell if it’s black or navy, it’s navy.” My world has a lot of shades of gray, it’s just that some are purple ;-)

      Maddie was way more interested in sniffing the ground around the snow creatures than guessing what kind of animal they were. I should walk by myself for photos, but I’d feel guilty.

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  10. Dan picking paint? Oh the humanity! Just kidding. I had a colorblindness wake up call not long ago when I asked a few coworkers for feedback on a potential book cover (the style I use for my 1920s books). One of them was colorblind (and I didn’t know. Snowing hard here. Take care.

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  11. Hardware Store Clerk: [pointing to sign instructing men to have a note from their wives before selecting paint] Did you see this?
    Me: [smiling] Yeah.
    Hardware Store Clerk: [frowning] It’s there for a reason.

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  12. Oh that is so sad that you’re colorblind. I’m sorry. I adore color, so I’d have been in that store for hours, first getting samples to bring home and try. Then back again to get the paint. Of course, your way is faster than mine, so there’s that!

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  14. As I’m waiting for the nor’easter to show its ugly head, this post really cheered me up, to the point of laughing! My son-in-law is colorblind, so I appreciate the difficulty it can cause. It’s also been a source of a lot of laughter. He’s a really good sport.

    The snow critters make me think of searching the clouds looking for familiar shapes. I agree with what you think each one looks like. You nailed it!

    Sounds like the redhead was trying to make up for walks you couldn’t take because of weather. Love her feathers flying in the wind. But seriously Maddie, you’re jealous of a leaf? However, who’s the good girl for protecting daddy from those invisible spirits!!!
    🔹Ginger🔹

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    • Thanks Ginger. We’re waiting for the storm but hoping it continues to diminish in strength.

      Maddie seems to think I should only take pictures of her. It’s like she knows she has fans out there. “Why show them a snow kitty when they can have me?”

      The evil spirit thing was funny. We have a street in town that our male setter would not walk down. Just one house that he wouldn’t walk past. We used to call it the “devil house”.

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  15. What a pretty morning for a walk. Maddie was smart to pick the long way. I’m glad she scared away the ghost!

    Gray’s and Browns and all their different shades can be tricky even when not colorblind! I had a hard time finding the right shade of brown for some the interior bedroom walls, and exterior of the house. I purchased little cans of colors to try on the walls before spending on gallons of paint.

    The snow critters- I saw your bunnies, and the Elephant, and a bulbous headed lizard, and an alligator.

    I hope the storm continues to get downgraded, and your commute is unremarkable, and you get home safely.

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  16. Hi Dan – wonderful to see Maddie, remnants of snow … and yes I can see your animals … and the colour blindness – difficult at times – still at least you know and just accept it and find ways round – cheers Hilary

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    • Thanks Hilary. It doesn’t bother me, except when I’m trying to read the status of equipment that uses red/green/orange LEDs. I just can’t.

      I thought the animals were cute. Not cuter than Maddie but worth a photo.

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  17. Some greens, really, you’re not missing anything. (My secondary-school uniform was a shade of green I detested). Well done on finding the pencil-gray (grey? I never remember which way to spell it, I know it’s different for American and British English.)

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  18. I have the same problem picking paint . Now they have sensors to match the old paint —- and , of course , the new paint won’t match the old despite the new technology . Ada waits until I’m almost finished with a paint job and then says : ” Maybe we should hire someone to do this ” . Very frustrating .

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    • Is that a comment on the color or your paint job?

      I’m allowed to paint, just not choose the color. I have an app that detects color and I have Benjamin Moore’s app, which doesn’t even identify a Ben Moore color off their own paint chip.

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  20. It seems that Maddie and Theo can detect the same ‘ghosts’ that we can’t see … except Theo of course doesn’t bark. He will take off like a bat out of hell and stomp along the fence line like he’s on patrol duty. Clearly ‘something’ has trespassed and he is not amused.

    … and don’t feel bad about the whole gray and purple thing. Apparently I too have the same issue – and others, with certain hues. If it involves a colour selection, you can be certain Gilles and I will argue about it. I used to think it was Gilles who was the problem … until we hired a decorator once.

    It was humbling.

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  22. It’s so nice of Maddie to make sure you get plenty of exercise. I have a hard time picking paint too and I’m not colorblind. There are just too many choices. Pencil Point sounds perfect, and thank goodness the name actually describes the color – some of those paint names are crazy.

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  23. I love how Maddie “hair” is flying all over her head. Must be the cold. Mine does the same :)
    She’s lucky that you take her out, even when the weather is more challenging.
    And colors can be so tricky. My husband and I often use a different color when describing a room at home. What’s light green for me can be light blue for him or my gray is his beige.
    We still find our way home :)
    Look like the snow was melting, but considering what I heard from Maryland you probably got a fresh blanket today.

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    • Maddie really wanted to go for a walk, Evelyne and she didn’t seem to care that it was well below 20 degrees when we left. The sun felt good, but the wind was strong and I was thinking of cutting it short. When we go to the park, she pushed me into the driveway, as if to say “we’re going the long way!”

      We didn’t get hardly any snow from this last storm – so lucky! I guess it veered out to sea. I’m hoping that was winter’s last attempt.

      When we first bought our house, I used to tell everybody it was orange. Apparently, it was beige.

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    • So you have lots of conversations that go: “no, you can’t wear that shirt with those pants” or that sweater, or something, I’ve heard that all my life :-)

      Maddie loved this particular walk. She caught up on all the sniff spots.

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      • He does pretty good to be honest. Learning of his color blindness when he was four made so much sense and relieved a lot of fears I had about his ability to retain information. However, it saddened me to see him struggle for a few years. I just smile when he points to reds, oranges and pinks as the prettiest colors. Those make sense to him.

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        • I’m glad to hear that.

          I didn’t realize I was colorblind until I was about 22 and applying for my first job. I discovered that they could choose not to hire you because of that, since electronics are often color-coded. Up until that point, I just had bad taste in clothing.

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  25. Not sure which photo I like best- the snow bear, or Stars and Stripes, or the tree. These are all good. I enjoyed the story. Color blind in the paint department must be “challenging”.

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    • Thanks Jennie. Usually, I’m not alone in the paint department – or the clothing aisle. The gray might be a bit dark, but it’s in anticipation of darker siding going up this summer. I keep trying to get the perfect flag photo. It’s hard. I see it, with the right light, but of course, it’s blowing like crazy and the picture is never the flag I saw.

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  26. I’m going to make you feel so much better here – Hubs, who is also red/green color blind (and an architect) once did a rendering of a shopping center. On the rendering, he colored the roof of the McDonald’s building…green! Oops! ~ Lynn

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  27. I usually pick a greenish color and people say it is “gray.” I see green as gray, khaki usually has tan and green for me, too.
    Anyway, I love the way the sun going through the snowy scene gathers purple, blue and I see red!! 😀
    Yay for Maddie and Dan! 🐦 🐦

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  28. Pencil Point is good :) I need to write a post about Sassy’s colorblindness sometime. I truly find it fascinating.
    That Maddie is a good, good girl!
    I thought about going out to photograph some things in the snow, but I didn’t actually do it. Cheers to you for sharing yours!

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  29. You have to wonder why they don’t just call it grey, or even charcoal grey. No, it has to be “pencil point”. Which beats “sea foam” and some of the other ridiculous names they come up with. What’s so wrong about saying the color in question, along with some appropriate adjective to convey the shade? But no — we get low-rent poets confusing the colorblind!

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    • Ha ha – that’s the best description ever of the problem with paint. “Sea foam” – they forget that my family vacationed in the shore of Lake Erie in the 60s – not an image I remember fondly.

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  30. The confusing thing about colors is that every brand make their own color names! What I have began to do is if I want something very particular, I take a pic on my Ipad and bring it to the store with me.
    You and Maddie seem to have a lot of adventures. Ever though of doing a dog post or meme?

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    • I have a color app on my phone that tells me in simple human words what the color is. I could have saved a few trips to the counter if I had remembered.

      I did one post “by Maddie” – I worry that she’d be way more popular than me 😏

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  31. My brother is colorblind but only with greens and blues, often getting the two switched. Gray is a hard color to pinpoint even if your eyes can see the difference. Often it all depends on the lighting where you’re looking at the color.

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    • I’m better with blues and greens than reds and greens are difficult. This has been a problem, more than once with technical equipment. Servers and storage arrays use very small LEDs that can be red, green, orange and yellow. I can’t really tell the difference.

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