|
|
W.A. Coolidge Company is a full service construction company serving the Seacoast of New Hampshire, Maine, and Northern Massachusetts. The owners, Wayne A. Coolidge and Wendy A. Wentworth Coolidge have been partners since 1984. We specialize in high quality residential and commercial building, renovations, and restorations.
The Coolidge Company is about flexibility, innovation, and results. Our company will focus on your precise wishes in order to deliver cost-effective solutions to any project. We strive to offer superior quality by using and overseeing the best and reliable subcontractors and suppliers in the area. We believe that every project that we undertake will be completed within a timely fashion as if it was our personal home. We offer first class craftsmanship and attention to detail from start to finish. We want to make your dream project a reality along with providing a fun and memorable experience.
Feature Photo
This beautiful kitchen renovation boasts a lovely color combination of soothing blue cabinets and clean white countertops bringing a fresh, modern look to this space. (Dover, NH)
Quarterly NewsletterAcid Washed Jeans
Written by: Wayne Coolidge 
It was my junior year of high school, and I was on my way to take my SATs. But as I tried to start my car, it wouldn’t turn over. The battery was dead. My mom said to take the battery out of her car, and we would deal with it later. I swapped batteries as quickly as I could, started my car, and headed off for the testing center.
While I was driving, I happened to look down at my jeans. There were water stains across the top of both of my thighs. They must have gotten wet as I leaned against one of the cars during the battery exchange. I didn’t stress much as I figured they would dry before I got to the school. With the time it took to change the battery, and hitting every red light along the way, I got to the classroom five minutes late. I noticed that my pants had not dried yet, but I had bigger issues, the classroom door was locked. I knocked on the door until the instructor opened it. As I entered the room, all the other students’ attention was on me as I interrupted the class. I apologized, pleaded my case, and somehow struck a chord with the exam administrator that he begrudgingly handed me an SAT booklet and escorted me to a seat. A few minutes into the test I felt a light burning sensation on the top of my thighs. I itched the area and proceeded on with the test. But the burning intensified. I lifted the jeans off my skin and the pain momentarily eased. I continued with the exam. The burning feeling kept getting worse though. This time when I lifted the material off my thighs, it ripped the jeans. What the heck? Suddenly it dawned on me what was happening. That was not water on my jeans, that was battery acid. Over the next two hours, while I tried to concentrate on taking a test that could potentially shape my future, I watched my jeans literally disintegrate. There was a hole the size of grapefruit on each thigh exposing red irritated skin. Have you ever put hydrogen peroxide on a cut to disinfect it? I now know that pain is just child’s play compared to what I went through… Though I may have been the last student to begin the test, I was the first one to finish. I thought it was embarrassing walking in late and getting everyone’s attention? That would be nothing compared to getting up first and walking up to hand in my test with pants that were no longer existing. Waying up my options, I knew my best chance to alleviate the burning feeling was to get to the bathroom to wash up. I got up, held my head high, handed in my exam, and bolted out of the room. Now I don’t know who exactly was in the classroom that day, but I have a feeling that one of those students who watched me leave went on to be a very rich and fashionable clothes designer. Why do I say that? It was only a few years later that the craze that swept the country was ‘acid washed holy jeans.’ The worst part is that I never received any royalties! *Footnote: I scored almost 1300 points on the SAT that day. I was passed over by Harvard, their loss. How many of those college students could have performed that well with battery acid poured on them? Exactly! Thank you! |
