Stuck On You

One of the pleasures I learned in Kindergarten was pasting. There were two kinds of paste. One was a grainy solid that was unpleasant to handle, and the other was Elmer’s Glue. At first, I was annoyed that the paste would seep out of the bottle and all over my hands when I only wanted a little dollop. I quickly discovered that gooey wet paste would soon dry, leaving a white film. It was hard to wash it off, but it was fun and pleasing to pull it off. Sometimes, I would use the glue just to take it off. The only thing I can compare it to today is peeling off the dead skin you get from a sunburn. Believe me, the glue is preferable.

With a dog running in and out of the house via the pet door, I had to think of a way to put a small mat on the interior of the floor to sop up the wet, mud and other stuff that got dragged in every time Evie, the dog, decided to go in and out. I bought two entrance rugs advertised to clean off paws before going into the rest of the house. Supposedly, the carpet was advertised as self-sticking in place. I didn’t see how one side appeared any different from the other. I placed it down firmly, stepped on it repeatedly and hoped for the best. The little rug went clear across the room.

I went to buy a rubbery mat to put under the rug to keep it in place, but it did not fare better.

I then went to my third option: a distant third: double-sided tape. I chose a side to be the back and put the tape around the perimeter. Then, I stripped off the paper and placed the rug securely. I waited for the dog to test out this one. It held! I was delighted.

The tape held through storms, vacuuming, and mopping the floor. Then, figuratively, the other shoe dropped. I bought two different little rugs, just for a change in the season. I had new tape prepared to install the latest decor. The tape was so stuck to the floor that it lifted over the top layer of veneer. There was nothing I could do. Sometime in the future, I will have to have the floors sanded and restained. Until then, I will use the tape to keep the rugs in place.