"What are those steel toed slippers? Yeah! They must have their safety slippers on!"
We probably came a little ill prepared for this job. However in defense, we are pretty good at working in slippers (flip-flops). I haven't worn any shoes other than slippers since I've gotten here and for the most part no shirt either. No shirt no shoes no problem.
After pouring a small concrete slab in the morning, Andy, Gio, and I went over to a friend'a house to help hang their rafter beams on their second story extension. Our friend Princess (a nickname given by Gio) and her husband have a house on five acres over looking a river surrounded by old tarot fields. Coconut trees sporadically dot the old tarot fields that are surrounded by the lurking canopies of the dense jungle. It's a tranquil place that is only interrupted by the bleats of their goats.
In the heat of the day we began to work. Gio hating the sun hides under his hat and long sleeve shirt as we got directions for the task at hand. Among the stack of building materials were four thirty foot beams. Our task was to get them from the ground to where they belonged three stories up.
On the second story we use a come along and guide ropes to lift each beam individually. As the beams are cranked up the side of the house, the beams are just feet away from the old house and one mistake could do thousands of dollars in damage. It was a slow task as we tried to keep the beams from swinging like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. Beads of sweat dripped down my body not from the heat but from the stress of moving the beams.
As we got the beams hoisted to the second story, we then picked them up to bolt them into the third story. I was more than thankful that we got the beams into place without anything going wrong. Even if a slipper or two slipped off.
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