I Know Jack
As part of my never-ending quest to do silly things, I spent
yesterday jackhammering asphalt. Someone has to do it,
I suppose.
It's not as much of a stretch as it may seem; my father was in the
asphalt paving business. I worked for him for a bunch of years before
leaving for good about twenty-two years ago. The scary part was
the muscle memory was there. After a few minutes of "what the hell
are you doing to me?", my body kind of said, "Oh...yeah, I remember
how to do this stuff."
As an aside - why does it seem that so many musicians
have day jobs and/or skills that are hazardous to their hands??
Anyway, someone I know needed her front and back walkways
removed. So there I was, jackhammering away, with
Master L running around making fun of the way the thing made
me shake. He did help carry some of the rocks away, though.
Knowing him, he was mentally measuring how
much taunting he could do versus how much 'helping, to make
up for it', and balancing it perfectly. That's my boy.
This project was like an archaeological dig: the geniuses who
paved the back walkway had paved right over an old cement drainage
aqueduct - which was why the walkway had a huge crack and hump.
Things that are buried tend to rise. Didn't think of that, did they?
Nah - "throw a few inches of dirt on it, it'll stay down" - um....no.
It doesn't work that way. We took out the parts that COULD be
taken out.
When the first bit of it was uncovered, I thought, "Hooray! It's the top
of a pyramid....call the university....they can dig out the rest".....but,
well, it didn't work out that way.
The unfortunate thing, for my friend who owns the house, is that some
OTHER genius built a back staircase onto the house and put one of the
support columns directly on the buried aqueduct. So someday, that's
moving. But maybe it will be 50 years.
I did come to the conclusion that my next-door neighbour would
REALLY hate having a jackhammer working away all day. So,
when it's time to re-pave MY place, I'm probably going to
do the removal and prep myself!!
Because, "She Don't Know Jack" - there, a cheap reference to
the CD you and everyone else you know should own. HA!
Well, only the back walkway got done yesterday, and the
front was scheduled for today....but it's raining. Ah, a rainy
day: the outdoor-labourer's vacation.
yesterday jackhammering asphalt. Someone has to do it,
I suppose.
It's not as much of a stretch as it may seem; my father was in the
asphalt paving business. I worked for him for a bunch of years before
leaving for good about twenty-two years ago. The scary part was
the muscle memory was there. After a few minutes of "what the hell
are you doing to me?", my body kind of said, "Oh...yeah, I remember
how to do this stuff."
As an aside - why does it seem that so many musicians
have day jobs and/or skills that are hazardous to their hands??
Anyway, someone I know needed her front and back walkways
removed. So there I was, jackhammering away, with
Master L running around making fun of the way the thing made
me shake. He did help carry some of the rocks away, though.
Knowing him, he was mentally measuring how
much taunting he could do versus how much 'helping, to make
up for it', and balancing it perfectly. That's my boy.
This project was like an archaeological dig: the geniuses who
paved the back walkway had paved right over an old cement drainage
aqueduct - which was why the walkway had a huge crack and hump.
Things that are buried tend to rise. Didn't think of that, did they?
Nah - "throw a few inches of dirt on it, it'll stay down" - um....no.
It doesn't work that way. We took out the parts that COULD be
taken out.
When the first bit of it was uncovered, I thought, "Hooray! It's the top
of a pyramid....call the university....they can dig out the rest".....but,
well, it didn't work out that way.
The unfortunate thing, for my friend who owns the house, is that some
OTHER genius built a back staircase onto the house and put one of the
support columns directly on the buried aqueduct. So someday, that's
moving. But maybe it will be 50 years.
I did come to the conclusion that my next-door neighbour would
REALLY hate having a jackhammer working away all day. So,
when it's time to re-pave MY place, I'm probably going to
do the removal and prep myself!!
Because, "She Don't Know Jack" - there, a cheap reference to
the CD you and everyone else you know should own. HA!
Well, only the back walkway got done yesterday, and the
front was scheduled for today....but it's raining. Ah, a rainy
day: the outdoor-labourer's vacation.
posted by Mr. L at 8:27 AM
9 Comments:
wanna fix my driveway?
Do I get airfare, tool rental expenses and lodging?? LOL
The guys who are building my new studio have had several months of "vacation." And the rainy season just started. This week. Before they could pour concrete. The bastards! In Florida, when they tell you they're gonna come on Tuesday, you have to ask themn which Tuesday.
Jackhammers make me giggle.
I just cruised through this page of posts, and I love the one on the bottom, about playing at a nudist colony and knowing if they like you! har. Quite a visual there.
okay, mr.l! i listened to a few excerpts from the cd, and i'll just assume that you are the "L". i ordered the cd, and am looking forward to listening to the whole darn thing. so the name-dropping paid off, at least once!
Bud: How did that old comedy routine go?? "First, we'll come in and rip your house apart...then we'll disappear for at least five weeks...don't look for us, you won't find us!"
Lisa: Yeah...well, I shouldn't be too distracted, since that body part doesn't do much for me!
Melissa: Actually, no, I'm not THAT "L", just your Lugubrious host here. In that band, I'm actually known as "A" - which, just like "L", has nothing to do with my name at all!!
Oh, and THANKS for buying the disc. How did I submit that without saying that?!? I should be ashamed... :)
Don't you just hate uncovering the corner cutting ways of previous workers? I swear, if I knew where the previous owners of my house lived, bad things would happen to them.
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