I’m tired. I actually worked a whole day today, and it sucked. I got to the yard at about 10 after 7 (was running a little late). My buddy Chris was waiting in his truck, and says “hop in”. I asked where we were going, and he tells me “gateway”, which is a jobsite just down the street. It’s also one of the jobsites I hate working at, because most of the time we end up using a trash pump to pump water from a ginormous hole in the ground out to the street. So we arrived at approximately 7:20, and guess what? James, the superintendant at the site, tells us to get the pump up and running. So we proceed to take care of that, and then go back to ask “what’s next?” He gives a couple more bullshit jobs (adding stands under the trailer, scraping silt off of the sidewalk, jerking off), and then gives us our task that is to last the remainder of the day. Moving Ledgers. I wasn’t thrown too off guard, because we were told last week that we were going to be doing as such this week. But, we were also supposed to start on Monday, but didn’t (because of rain), and we were also supposed to have 2 other guys helping us. So we had to do all of the grunt work ourselves (typical), but also do the super’s job, reading the plans. So he taught us how to read building plans, which isn’t really too bad. Unfortunately, the architects and construction crews can’t seem together to set a standard, so the plans and the actual layout of structure don’t match. This made for some infuriating work conditions.

Let me elaborate a little about the whole job. Ok, so you have a foundation for a building right? On top of that is a bare concrete slab, which the framers add wood frames to. But in the formation of this kind of building, the frames are laid flat on the slab, then filled with concrete which they let set, then lift up with a crane to create a concrete wall. Now the ledgers are big metal rails, that hold up the roof. Before they pour the concrete in the forms, the ledgers have to be laid out in particular areas so that the builders can attach them at the same time. So spreading the ledgers was the task appointed to us. But there’s more to it. On the plans (and written on the slab) are “panel numbers”, which correlate with panels on the wall. This is where it got tricky. Most of the panels were laid out on the plans a particular way, but then were in a completely different spot on the slab. This is what confused the hell out of me, because I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t match. Well James tells me that it doesn’t matter if it matches or not, just to make sure that I get the ledgers next to the right panels. We actually almost got into it, because I was arguing my point, and he kept making comments that made me feel like a retard (“it’s not rocket science”). Anyhow, what it came down to was looking at the numbers written on the ledgers, looking those up on the plans, and then seeing what panel number they would lay in. Then finding the panel number on the slab, and then moving the ledgers appropriately. Those motherfuckers are heavy. Luckily we had use of a Skytrack (think big forklift), so we loaded up a few at a time, moved the skytrack, and then moved them by hand to the correct area. We did that from just before lunch (12) until we went home (3:30). The best part is that we get to do this for the remainder of the week, and if it isn’t finished, we get to do more on Monday. To top it off, he asked us to come in early tomorrow, so I actually have to go to bed at a decent time tonight. I don’t think that will be an issue.

On a lighter note, I rented a couple of movies last night, that me and my girlfriend watched in succession. First we watched “Troy”, which is definitely not worth wasting your time with. It was too long, drawn out, and was a bit on the boring side. I enjoyed the fight scenes, which were very gory, but the overall feel of the movie was just dull. Second, we watched “Without a Paddle”. Funny, but a little over the top for my tastes. Seth Green and Matthew Lillard are both very funny, and so was the other character, whose name I can’t remember, but the storyline was quite flaccid. I would recommend watching the latter movie for a laugh, but don’t expect too much. I would recommend renting “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle” over this one, though. The movie I really wanted to see was all out last night, so I didn’t get to partake. The Village looks like a good one. I’ve seen all of the Director’s other movies, and with the exception of “Unbreakable” they were all excellent. I just need to check this new one out, as I’ve heard mixed opinions about it.

Anyhow, that’s really all I have for today. Most of the other things I’ve talked about doing to the site will have to wait until this weekend for sure now. I don’t have the mental capacity at this time to write anything compelling. By the way, the update that is posted below, that is dated yesterday, was just uploaded today, but I left the date and all because it was written yesterday. Until next time, pasta.