Saturday, November 04, 2006
Friends in high places
Chaz and I have, with the help of a most kind neighbor, spent the last few days re-roofing the back part of the house. I have been dodging this job for near 2 years, but could not do so any longer, as winter is comming fast and the roof leaks. Now I have done a fair amout of roofing, having been a contractor in a past life, but I still don't like it. I like standing on roofs and other high places, the views are often good and the perspective is always unusual. I like the end result, but the process is not fun. Everything about roofing seems designed to make you miserable. Everything is heavy, sticky, hot and covered with scratchy abrasive stuff. You tend to cut yourself alot. You work in a sort of hunched over posture that hurts your back. You spend alot of time walking around on your knees over scratchy abrasive stuff. The weather is almost always too hot or too cold. And you always have to carry all of that heavy, sticky, scratchy stuff up a ladder. It might be more fun if it was done on the to the ground, though that would mess up the view. Falling off of a roof, always a possibility, is no fun at all.

The roof we are doing is very close to the ground and the pitch is not steep, so that part is easy. But because it is so flat, we are doing a "rolled-roof" which requires the use of large amounts of tar-like goo called lap cement. This is sort of like the sealer stuff people spread on thier driveways, but far, far more gooey, sticky and obnoxious. It is 100% impossible to use this stuff and not get it all over yourself and everything else you go near for 2 days. You spread this stuff with a wierd looking broom-thing that seems utterly the wrong tool for the job. No fun at all.

Perhaps all that explains why almost all of the roofers I have met, with only a few exceptions, have been either really crabby guys, drunks or both. Go figure.
thus voiced The A, Mistah @ 9:22 PM
+



August 2004

September 2004

October 2004

November 2004

December 2004

January 2005

February 2005

March 2005

April 2005

May 2005

June 2005

July 2005

August 2005

September 2005

October 2005

November 2005

December 2005

January 2006

February 2006

March 2006

April 2006

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006

November 2006

December 2006

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

May 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

June 2012

July 2012