Such is life.

We worked a Saturday, today, finishing the underground work for the Koi pond to be situated outside the Japanese restaurant. The rebar was criss-crossed so high, it was a veritable three-foot deep rat’s nest, and every step had to be calculated. The smallest misstep meant bruised shins, or lacerations from the tie-wire. In fact, several on our crew were bleeding from it by the end of the shift, and I heard that another journeyman caught fire from using the propane torch on the PVC…though the fire was promptly put out, as we had an extinguisher on hand. And the water….it was old, and nearly warm, so it rather tasted like drinking bathwater from a sock. I was glad I had packed an extra bottle of Gatorade.

Even with all that, however, I am glad to have worked. Saturdays are paid double, and we were kicked off the jobsite after seven hours, but clocked in for eight. Seven hours with those atrocious conditions, and yet paid for sixteen…I cannot really complain. Not only that, but the crews were so very small: twenty ironworkers or so, ten carpenters, and five electricians, so parking was not the nightmare it usually is.

One other note: In being rushed out of the area so quickly, we lost our Kliens—sidecutting pliers—somewhere in the mess of rebar. And now, I daresay, they shall be a permanent addition to the koi pond, once the concrete is poured, and we shall be out an extra thirty dollars to replace them.