Momentum Stopper

Life is a series of episodes and pulses, moving forward with fits and starts until something actually get accomplished, and sometimes we find ourselves moving with an ease and confidence and grace that we call momentum, that mysterious sense of being carried along, like riding a bicycle down hill and with a nice wind at your back.

I had a growing sense of momentum all week, and by Friday I pumped up like prize fighter walking to the ring, except I had a sledge hammer and crow bars waiting for me. Within a few minutes I'd freed the other water line and was well on my way to the second wall. I was unstoppable.

Then I noticed something oddly familiar on the upper part of the wall.

The wallboard there is very soft, with a thin white layer of plaster and a brown fiber layer behind. Cheryl was just on her way up stairs and I asked her to come in for look.

"Is that asbestos?" I asked her.

She didn't know but went downstairs to check the Internet. Sure enough, it looks just like the asbestos wallboard in some pictures online. Of all the possible problems I might face, I just didn't see this one coming. Nothing to do know except close the door and wait for a contractor to come in with a haz-mat suit and finish taking this out. The momentum is gone. Damn.