Historic preservation meet LEED-AP at the Montevallo hardware store

So, I was dovetailing my commitments to the University of Montevallo's alumni board meeting and doing my homework of documenting a historical interior for my research class. I decided to do lobby of the first school building, built in 1851, because that's where my meeting was. I remembered everything, but my measuring tape. So, I stopped into Holcombe's Lumber and Hardware, just across the RR tracks in Montevallo, to pick one up. And the man at the counter was asking questions of the two clerks about the smelly nature of oils or acrylics and which is less and getting no where, when I chime in... "I think you are looking for a low-VOC paint, it's really the volatile organic compounds that make the smell and are so bad for you, not the type of paint" Ummm, ladies are not supposed to chime into man-talk in a hardware store. The clerk informed me that he was looking for paint to seal a concrete wall. I didn't see that the use made a difference, so I just smiled and nodded. He then reluctantly agree that I was actually right and well... "concrete sealing paint doesn't come in low-VOC yet."

Mmm hmmm, that's what I thought, mister.