Tim and are once again finding our work rhythm. It takes a while. He wants to be the man with the plan, and he IS the one with the most knowledge, but honest to pete, nothing makes me more frustrated than inefficiency, and having me stand around watching irks me to no end. For instance, when we were drywalling the ceilings in the two front bedrooms, I finally just got fed up and began measuring and cutting the next piece of drywall while he finished screwing the previous sheet. It makes him quite nervous, but I've got a good eye and my measurements are careful. It also makes the job go faster. He got over being nervous.
I did the same thing with the cement board outside. He'd be nailing up one piece and I'd be measuring and cutting with the chop saw. He was getting nervous. I ignored him. The first piece I cut, he said, (kind of snappishly for him) that it wouldn't work. "Yes, it will, I said and headed back off the porch to cut the next piece. I turned around and saw him jiggle the piece and it fell right into place.
I knew that it would. You don't tell him my little secret. I take my measurement and cut it 1/8th of an inch short. It insures that there is wiggle room.
So we worked on in this way, and we will continue working on this project until it is done. We have not blown in the insulation, yet. It was in the 80s last week. If you have ever blown in insulation, the last thing you want to be is sweaty. You will wind up looking like Bo Peep's sheep. It is also not a job you want to do with a stuffed nose and a cough. You need a mask. My job is to break open the bales of the celulose and feed it into the hopper on the back of the truck. Tim is in charge of getting the insulation where he wants it. We plan to do that on Wednesday. It will (please God!) be a one day job.
Anyways, we were working today and I moved a step ladder I'd been using totally forgetting that I'd left a hammer and crowbar up there. Yep. Right on my head. Both of them. Well...the crowbar came down first, but my lightning quick reflexes allowed me to have my arm raised to protect my head so that took the brunt of the hammer.
Lucky me.
In the interest of keeping things real, allow me to tell you this is not the first time I've done this.
Other than working, it's been a quiet weekend. The weather is beautiful and the trees have 'popped'. Blossoms and new leaves everywhere. I wanted to take pictures, but I was afraid to take the camera. There is always the possibility that I might set it down on top of a ladder or something and forget that I did so.
William did a first. He cooked supper. I supervised. I peeled the potatoes, but that's all I did. We made cookies, and took some of the dough to make ice cream bowls for dessert. While they were baking, he made the meatloaf. Once the meatloaf was in, I started peeling potatoes. He picked out a vegetable.
Everything turned out great and he was very proud of himself. The piece de resistance, of course, was his cookie bowl ice cream desert. He served his grandpa with a mighty flourish.
He was anxious to help work on the renovation, because he knows he gets paid well. He comes in quite handy. He carefully divided up his pay today. We did the math. He is 1/5 of the way to his virtual reality set. 20%. I know nothing about this, so any of you folks out there who know anything about it, feel free to advise. He's looking at a Meta Quest Oculus 2, which as I read about it, is adequate for a 12 year old kid new to this. Anyone with feedback or experience, feel free to weigh in. I would appreciate it.
Old news clip from Jan. 19th, 1914.
This happened a couple weeks ago, and it made me say, "Huh..."
(I have so many questions. and I would have had these questions whether or not I managed to drop a crowbar on my head.) Srill, it was a lot more entertaining to read than current events.
Late Edit. I forgot. Last time I posted a link, people overseas could not read it: The transcript from the above link.
York County, PA (Gray News) - A man in Pnnnsylvania was arrested and charged after police said that he led officers on a chase in a stolen schoolbus.
Officers with the caroll Township Police Department spotted the school bus wich was reported stolen Tuesday morning, driving through the parking lot of a Giant Foods and a Rite Aid.
Authorities said the lights on the bus were intermittently turning on and off.
According to the police, the officers caught up to the school bus and tried to pull it over, but the driver immediately drove away.
The driver, identified as 25 year old Tony Saunders, nearly flipped the bus over, and eventually drove into a neighborhood where he got out of the vehicle and started running through a wooded area.
Police said Saunders stripped his clothes off as he was running and was arrested naked.
According to the police, Saunders admitted to taking the bus earlier in the day after crashing a BMW.
He said he had put a dead deer in the back of the bus, explaining he planned to take it home to use as fertilizer for his garden.
Saunders was charged with fleeing an officer, stolen property, reckless driving and resisting arrest.
I wonder if in 1914 a glut of shortbread was noticed or any product with a high level of butter.
ReplyDeleteStealing a schoolbus to put a dead deer in to make fertilizer for your garden...sounds like the kind of story that would make the front page of the Northern Territory News if they were short on crocodile stories.
LOL. Such a crazy thing to steal.
DeleteSounds like you and Tim have served your apprenticeship in renovating property Debby? Hats off to you for being so practical and I am sure you are a great help to Tim.
ReplyDeleteWe do alright. We've been doing it for probably 15 years now, and this is our tenth house.
DeleteI see your method of working together....I hate standing around waiting..I have to be doing!! The worst thing is having to hold a ladder...which you know is necessary...but frustrating when you can see jobs calling out to you!!
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing more annoying to me than having a big project and an inefficient plan. We were helping an elderly lady move once. Her friend had nearly everything boxed up. It was just a simple matter of getting the stuff loaded onto a truck. She had four people to carry those boxes and furniture. Her husband stood there as we all watched her sort through boxes finding the ones she wanted loaded first. After a half hour of this, what started out as a pretty small job was turning into something that could go on all day. The boxes were labeled. I instructed the husband to go stand on the truck. I told the rest of us to start hauling the boxes to the truck and the husband could sort them inside the van (which was way bigger than needed). The woman was a bit miffed, initially, but we had the job done by lunchtime. Tim and I were working for free, but she was paying the two men by the hour, and I think she was very happy to be done.
DeleteHaving a good "cutman" on projects would make them go a lot faster. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't fit that bill and readily admits it too.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest daughter got an Oculus for Christmas 16 months ago. She and her younger sister played on the thing for a couple months and I haven't seen it since. Part of the problem is they are too cheap to purchase any more games for it and grew tired of the games they had and part of it is they just aren't big into video games and never have.
Old newspapers are full of stories like that that make me scratch my head and ponder on them. I guess that is part of the reason I like reading them.
Well, if you get a notion to sell that, let me know.
DeleteIf I tried to help P in the way you help Tim I think it would end in a case of mariticide.
ReplyDeleteMatricide was a new word for me. Tim is a machinist and he is very precise. He agonizes over things. If he ever found out my little secret, he'd probably be upset. But, once we get to work, he is grateful for the help.
ReplyDeleteYou have a good work routine and William did a good job.
ReplyDeleteHe was so proud of himself. He took pictures of his plated meal and, later, of his dessert and sent them to everyone.
Delete2 of my family members have gotten Virtual reality stuff and only used it for a short time until the novelty wore off. Also, don't use it in a room with valuable, breakable things as you can knock something while you are swinging around at the game you are playing (like a chandelier - true story).
ReplyDeleteWell done on the team work with Tim (and William)!
Good to know...
DeleteAlways a nice feeling if your work flows smoothly between two people.
ReplyDeleteSure beats matricide!
DeleteI have helped with blowing insulation and had the "load the hopper" job. You are absolutely correct. It's not fun to do in hot, humid weather (which it was when I did it).
ReplyDeleteI have done it twice before. Both times it was sticky hot.
DeleteThat Saunders dude had himself quite a day, didn't he? Keeping him under close observation for a while might be a good idea..... I hate it when I move a ladder with a tool on the top step.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, Jim, you made my day. I love discovering that I am mot the only lunkhead in the world.
DeleteOh gosh, what a post and double OUCH to metal things falling on your head. Never good! You must have been seeing stars . . .
ReplyDeleteAs for the stolen butter, I was waiting for it to suddenly thaw and they had a trail of melted yellow to follow . . .
As for the chap who stole the bus - WHY strip naked? Did he have a point to prove?!!!
I have no answers. That was crazy.
DeleteYou’re both such troopers!! Hope it all goes smoothly and is over soon…! So sweet to hear about the dinner William cooked, good for him- and you! And I’m awfully baffled about the school bus and the dead deer… he was trying first to transport it in his BMW??? Ayyy…! 😂
ReplyDeleteXo Ricki commenting above
ReplyDeleteThis story left me with more questions than answers. And it was not due to taking a crowbar to the head.
DeleteA crowbar AND a hammer. Ouch.
ReplyDeleteThe crowbar was a big one. Luckily that was just a glancing blow that left an impressive knot. I got my arm up before the hammer hit. My arm actually hurts more than my head. So. I was lucky. I guess you'd call it dumb luck.
DeleteLOL -- that is a crazy story. This is why I love local news. It's so colorful!
ReplyDeleteGlad you avoided getting hammered!