So, I came onto the scene (didn't you know that construction sites are the sceniest places of all?) starting at the ground floor (pun intended... And for future reference, almost all puns on this blog are intended although I will continue to point them out when they are made for those who are slow on the "puntake" - and because I crack myself up, obvi!). ANYWAYZ, the building we are building is to be intended for industrial use and will be completed with three loading docks, 20,000 square feet and will be 20 feet high. No easy feat by anyone's measurements (construction pun) and not exactly glamorous either. But fun as hell for me!
So the crew and I have been working on digging the foundation and getting it set up for a concrete pour. Here's a photo of me killing it on the ol' Bobcat...
Can you tell by my massive grin that I "dig" this stuff? (Pun count: 3)
Actually I am terrible on the ol' Bobcat and only managed to pick up a quarter of a load for my max haul and killed the engine more times than I can count... leading to me being pulled from the task that I had high hopes would become part of my wheelhouse.. Sad day. But, I suppose, one must walk before they can run. And most importantly, enough about me and my issues. There is no whining on the job site and subsequently there should be no whining on the blog site either!
And here are some Instagrammed photos of the job site too. Bet that's a first for an Instagram!
There is literally dirt for dayz if there ever was such a thing...
Magic will soon happen in those boxes you see..
I've also created a Buzzfeed-style list for 10 interesting things I have learned about construction after day 2 on the job:
- A building is based upon grids, upon grids, upon grids, upon grids, upon grids... upon grids.
- TOW stands for "Top of Wall," T.O.F. stands for "Top of Floor" and TOB stands for "Top of Base" (some construction lingo for ya that I haven't quite yet found out why it's useful to turn into an acronym - maybe time will tell?)
- A mix of waste oil and "crap" diesel (which also happen to smell like crap) can be used to line the inside of the wood molds used for pouring concrete so that the concrete doesn't stick to the mold when the wood is removed - sort of a "Pam Cooking Spray" approach to pouring concrete - It's really amazing how much it seems construction is like cooking and also amazing how much I do not really do cooking, like ever.. Hmm.. And don't you dare say men/women's domains.. OR ELSE.
- Lunch is called "lunchee" and it NEVER begins a minute past the designated lunch time.
- Fashion is not a factor at work. At all.
- Men ARE actually MUCH stronger than women. Face it, it's a fact.
- "Getting your hands dirty" should be meant ONLY as an expression... because it does not even scratch the surface in describing the state of one's hands at all times on the job.
- Two showers a day actually is a thing. (My 3 showers a week can no longer cut it... Oops, did I just say that out loud?)
- Measure twice, cut once. Otherwise, you could end up VERY SORRY.
- Wear sunscreen. Because right now, I'm VERY SORRY I didn't.
And since most of you have probably already gone to sleep after reading about all of this stuff, I am going to follow your lead and do the same. When we wake up tomorrow it will be Friday (or maybe it already is for you, Reader, wherever you are in the world!)
