still at it

i have become very boring. not so much bored myself, but boring to others. we have rented scaffolding so as to reach the last high parts of the house in order to remove the siding and replace it with shingles. i feel the meter running on the scaffolding so i push myself to stay at it whenever possible. the high parts are four gable ends. two face north and i have completed them. they were comfy to work on even though we have been having rather warm sunny days. the last two, one facing west and one east, and both higher then the first two, are impossible, at least for this retired carpenter, to work on in the sun. i'm working on the eastern one now and it is broiling hot till about one pm. i putter around in the fall garden, distracted by my impatience, till i can get to work. when i finish that and move to the western side my workday will be reversed. early to climb up the scaffold and work till noon.

they, whoever that is, say that time flies when one is having fun. shingling is a sort of fun, but working ten feet off the ground demands all my attention and then some. time flies by in those circumstances too. i pay attention to, in order of importance, not falling, doing the job correctly, and staying calm and relaxed. i have a bit of a tendency to clench every muscle in my body when i'm up on a ladder or scaffolding. music helps. have i mentioned kpig?

that's me of course. putting up the last of the shingles on this gable.

i'm still up there, standing about eleven feet above ground level.

i could not work out a way to remove the siding, apply tarpaper, and put up shingles without moving the scaffold several times, so i invented rails for it. easier to move than disassembly and reassembly.

my other unpaid gig is bookkeeping for the local affiliate of habitat for humanity. after i was three weeks on the job, which meant about 6 hours of being there and learning the ropes, the director went off to south america for a month's vacation, leaving moi to take care of deposits, bill paying, and data entry. i am flattered that they recognize my competence, but i go in two days a week instead of the usual one, and must rummage through old transactions to figure out how to handle many things. their spreadsheet (excel) for tracking mortgage payments is very rudimentary and barely adequate, so i can't stop myself from working out ways to improve it.

and so, between planning scaffold placement and movement, along with actually putting shingles in place for my home project, and contemplating a proper database for mortgage transactions while keeping the books accurately up to date at habitat for humanity, my thinking area is fairly full. i haven't time to be bored, but i'm sure i seem a dull grind to others. robin rescues me with invitations to go see the salmon, or just take a walk around the neighborhood. her suggestions that i fix dinner are welcome also, as that takes me right into another realm of relaxation.

i reckon that the shingling will be complete, at least the scaffolding part, in about two weeks. the director at habitat will be back then also, so i'll be down to one day a week there. relief is in sight.

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