May 24, 2016

The Early Bird Avoids Sunstroke

The neighbors are getting a new roof. The process started just after six this morning. I'm not complaining. I know what it is like to do that job. I roofed in the summer during my college years. I did not do much shingle work. Mostly, on those jobs I carried bundles of shingles up a ladder, wishing I was dead by ten o'clock. I spent nearly all of my time on big industrial flat roofs: schools, nursing homes, and one very large factory in particular. The work was hard, dirty, and dangerous. I also made a lot of money. I was pulling in $500 to $600 a week for a summer job. In the early 1980's that was very good part time pay. I also remember how brutally hot it got. We started early too.

I tell myself I couldn't do that work today and I would be right. I did help a guy roof his garage a couple of years ago and more than held up my end. I have no desire to go back to mopping tar. I'm way too old for that shit.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I use to do a lot of things in my youth that I can no longer accomplish or have no desire to attempt.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Concur. I got up on the roof a couple of years ago to mount a ham radio antenna and nearly killed myself on a job I would have had no problem with in my 20's, and just minor inconvenience in my 30's.

This coming weekend, a friend and I will be replacing the back door here at the house (frame and all). That's about the most strenuous home repair I envision myself doing anymore. I certainly can't get on the roof or in the attic or very far up a ladder, anymore.

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