22 April 2012 - Springtime freshening up

Painted railing. Note drips on the bottom and overspray.

In the last week or so as it seems that winter has ended and spring finally arrived, I've noticed two interesting things that seem to be part of springtime freshening up around the city.

The first is painting.  Over the last week, I have noticed a strange (and unpleasant) scent that I couldn't quite put my finger on.  Then I nearly almost literally put my finger on it.  All over the city, metal and some concrete are being repainted.  I noticed this around my apartment/block when the big gates into the inner courtyard were nearly dripping with a fresh coat of black paint.  Some of the lines on the driveway were also repainted, though apparently immediately driven over.  The playground area metal was also repainted, in addition to the lower 5-7 feet of the buildings that are concrete but have a brown kind of stripe.   I noticed this near the office, too, where the railing next to the canal was rather wet-looking one day.

Freshly painted curbs & metalwork near home

I find this interesting for a few reasons.  First, there doesn't seem to be a problem with the old paint, other than that it is covered with a layer of filth.  Second, this results in a loss of clarity of (particularly in some metalwork) in the details and ornamentation with each subsequent slathering of paint.  And third, the manner in which the paint is applied is generally rather sloppy, in terms of making sure the paint isn't spilled onto concrete or surrounding rocks or other materials.

Powerwashing in action.  And what a difference!

The second area is powerwashing.  I saw this near my apartment starting last week and thought that it was just to clean off a sidewalk.  But I think it's more than that, as I have now seen a lot of water in the gutters and on the sidewalks and streets due apparently to powerwashing.  This includes not only cleaning of sidewalks, but also of the pastel-colored buildings and the difference is really quite striking.

Overall interesting and thought I'd share.