Friday, July 18, 2008

Roadhouse Blues

I showed ya'll a photo of myself all dressed up but this is what I look like most of the time. I was a little dirtier than usual because we got to play rodbuster all day at work and that is a very grimy job. The rebar is covered with some kind of black gunk that gets all over you. I was trying to show how dirty my arms were but I don't think it shows much. No wonder I'm single! No man in his right mind would get near that. This was taken Thursday, the last day of a very hard week. Ten hours a day in the heat is very hard and I had a small spat with one of the foremen at the end of the day also so that just completed one tiring week. I try to always be cheerful and get along with everyone at work but he just pushed my buttons and we were all dog tired too, so I kinda had a small "come apart" as one of my buddies would say. I have been eagerly accepted by most all the men that I work with and they treat me great but this one has never liked me being there and takes every opportunity to criticize me. He will never give me credit for anything. So, yesterday he accuses me of always getting the easy work and avoiding the hard stuff. Anybody that has ever worked with me knows that I will do the crap jobs willingly and always try to pull my own weight. In fact, I was going to leave a gravy job for him and his crew and move over to the next panel to start one of the harder processes. So when he starts running his mouth he pissed me off. I was very proud that I did not cuss him but I did tell him, (kinda loudly, oops) and in no uncertain terms what I thought about his attitude and his role as foreman. All the other men got real quite. I guess I shouldn't have gotten so mad. Oh yeah, we now have to wear those stupid, neon yellow shirts because somebody thought that would keep us from getting ran over on the job sites. As a matter of fact, I spoke to my Mom this past week and she was telling me about a young man getting crushed by piece of heavy equipment just the other day on a job in her area. She always tells me about anything like this she sees. I just try not to say too much about the jobs I work on. She would freak if she saw some of the stuff we do.
The title of this post just refers to my frustration at having gotten so little done on my house these past 2 months. I have not been able to get anywhere as far as building goes. This place just seems like a stop in the road where I come to bath and sleep for a little while. I don't even eat here much. Anyway, I was really looking forward to my new 3-day weekends; get a lot done, ya know. Then Wednesday I get this call. I did the restoration on the structure you see in the photo above about 5 years ago. The committee that oversees it calls me in a panic; it has been damaged by lightning; huge chunks blown out of it and they've got people wanting to get married up here in less than 2 months. Can I please come look at it and give them an estimate on repair? So, there goes my 3-day weekends for the next while.
I've got lots of stuff coming in from the garden now and would like to preserve some of it and need to beat back the weeds and brambles too. Last weekend I helped Allen mow around Fred's place etc. and had to tend to my land and garden some, so that cut house time short. Maybe I should just relax some on the house until the end of August. That's not good though because then I have no house news to blog about and I know ya'll get tired of my work posts. I do have some bizarre events that I have been wanting to write about, perhaps I could fill in with some of that. I'm all confounded about exterior stain colors too. Thanks for all the suggestions by the way. They were all appreciated and have given me some ideas.
So, as I sit here and write I have been listening to the Doors. If they can't get you in a cool groove nobody can and Roadhouse Blues has always been a favorite.

*The Doors

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stop apologizing, girlfriend! Every word you write is golden. Yer blog doesn't have to be about your house exclusively. I find that more personal posts on my blog tend to get more traffic and more responses. Your readers are interested in the whole (lovely) package.

Also, I like those faux tassles on your boots. Is there a name for them?

MamaHen said...

Hey Pablo! Well, I enjoy reading the more personal posts, as you say, of other bloggers but mine get very few responses so I wasn't sure. My house posts seem to get the most response and that's what the blog is supposed to be about, ya know. But I guess all my regulars wouldn't keep coming back if they were not interested.

I can't believe you noticed the tassles! They actually do have a name; they are called 'kilties'. Justin boots started making a lace up riding boot with the tassles and it caught on with other boot makers. Now it's common to see them on regular work boots.

Robbyn said...

You're pretty much a wonderwoman, and any guy worth his salt would find you a real catch, btw.

You do so much and I know how frustrating it must be when your own homeplace gets put on the back burner to make room for the busy-ness of life. But you're my hero...wish I could do the physical things you do, but I'm just not in the shape.

Stay safe! The yellow shirts might help with visibility, but it's pretty funny how bubble-wrapped some folks think things should be :)

MamaHen said...

Hey Robbyn! Well, thanks! I'm glad I can do the physical work but sometimes it is not all it's cracked up to be. I have messed up parts of my body that I may regret later on and sport a myriad of scars from my hard headedness of insisting on doing such work. I think I try to do too much sometimes but don't see an alternative right now.
What's crappy is that their safety stuff has gotten several of us hurt at times! I tripped over my lanyard (tie-off rope) and cut my back open when I fell against a piece of steel. They don't think about that though.

Jenn said...

That's a gorgeous little faux temple. Try to convince the money holders that they need to invest in a lightning rod. Might not look pretty, but....

MamaHen said...

Hey Jenn! Yes, it is and has very nice little park area around it also. The temple actually has a lightning rod on it but I believe it is not connected. The temple was moved from another location and I think the rod was disabled then and never reattached or something along that line. I met with the people last week and told them they need to consult with a lightning protection sub and see what was what.