Preventing Nose Icicles and Headaches

What is the difference between this picture



and this picture?



Six hours of mind numbing paint stripping at a temperature of 38 degrees. This wood is a nightmare. It is very dry and it splinters readily. Any ideas what kind of wood it is?



I plan to sand this floor to a paint grade and then paint it again since it is in bad shape. The only reason I am stripping it is because there are two layers of lac paint under that battleship grey color that will gum up the sand paper on the floor sander. It is easier and more cost effective to spend 4 days sitting down scraping with a heat gun and one day sanding then it is spending three days sanding and constantly having to change sand paper every 2 minutes.
I learned something today. Normally after stripping this much floor I have a headache. Today I have a cold so I stuffed some Kleenex in my nose to stop it dripping all over my floor and forming icicles on my lower lip and "voila" no headache! Of course my wrist and knees are sore.I wonder where I have shove some Kleenex in order to prevent that....