Winter Layoff Chapter 11
| Winter Layoff | |
|---|---|
| Chapter 11 of 21 | |
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| Read this chapter | |
| Time frame | January 2006 |
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Locations
- Pass Christian, Mississippi
Characters
Summary
Jim and Bob whittled away at the debris pile, working their way towards the huge tree that sat on top of it. Given the small backhoe that they had the only way they were going to be able to deal with the tree by themselves was to cut it into manageable sizes, which was why they’d brought the chainsaw. The one that wasn't running backhoe and loading up the dump truck was chopping up big stuff - like the tree - with the chainsaw, or driving dump truck load after dump truck load over to the sorting / disposal site. And when the truck was off dumping the load the backhoe person was running the chainsaw.
It was well after noon when they broke for lunch and drove over to the volunteer food tent they’d seen earlier. While the menu was limited, the food was good.
The sun was going down as they finally got the stump and root ball sitting in the bed of the dump truck. They both rode in the dump truck, hauled it over to the collection point and dumped the load. Then they went over to the food tent for dinner.
Bob suggested using the pickup to do a beer and ice run out to the truck stop. Jim was all for it, and suggested that they save some of the smaller scrap wood each day for a small campfire.
Over beers in response to Bob's question Jim shared how he spent most of the previous summer on the Windmill Island house project, and that it wasn't just as a backhoe operator - it was that plus working with the mechanical people getting all the guts of the windmill system in place and working, other times he was an assistant superintendent. He commented that the completed house looks like it could have been built hundreds of years ago, at least in a way, but as you get closer and start to take a closer look at it, you find that there’s things those old millwrights could never have dreamed of.
Three days later the tree was finally gone, along with most of the debris on the house slab. On the fourth day they cleaned off the very back of the slab and found a nasty surprise – a big chunk of the far side of the slab had broken off and had been displaced several inches. They decided to call Ken in Spearfish Lake and let him know the status of the slab. There was a bank of pay phones near the food tent, so they headed over there to make the phone call and get a meal.
The phone call resulted in a decision to break up the slab, and be very careful of the plumbing connections out to the street. They would put a replacement house above the ground on pilings, and add a wheelchair ramp.
Ken gets Jim to guesstimate of another weeks work to clear the lot back to the boundaries, and to better clear the street. He reminds Jim to check on the utilities, what it will take to get them active, to telephone back to Spearfish Lake every few days and talk to Randy, Rachel or himself.
Also Mentioned
- David and Stacy Newton (not by name, but as the owners of the Windmill House)
