Working on a Weekend

It's the weekend. It's that day of the week where everybody is looking forward to. I am looking forward to it for many reasons. Ice-fishing is one. But I am not going to ice-fish today because I need to go to my friend's to help him fix his heater.

For the past couple of week I have been working on weekends instead of the regular weekdays. I have no problem with that because as I already mentioned in my previous posts, it has been awhile since I had a project. So working on weekends was a-okay.

Last year, I used to work mostly on weekends because that is the only days of the week where I can work without being interrupted and without interrupting anyone. I used to maintain a property for my former boss who was then vacationing in Florida with his wife the entire winter season. The property is a commercial establishment so obviously, the weekdays are busy and full of people. And since my maintenance work involved a lot of pounding and sawing and grinding and sanding and painting and repairing... noise, smell and dust were unacceptable. So, the weekends were the best days to work. It was then that I spent most of my weekdays as my regular working day. If you know what I mean.

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I'm in love again!

Starting a new project is like... falling in love for the first time.

I don't know about other people... but for me, starting a new project gives me mixed emotions like that of a young pubescent boy looking an a hot matured lady in equally hot and skimpy outfit. It gives me an indescribable adrenalin kick at my gut that makes me jump for joy.

Okay, I know this is too over-dramatic. "Very-Wifey" if I may put a tag on this. Or maybe I was too carried away. As what we all know, you only learn to appreciate something when it's gone. That is why when I had a long extended vacation from work... I really appreciate it because I have nothing to complain about.

Well, "falling in love" may not be the right words or phrase to describe my appreciation for the project I am doing right now... but since it is the month of the "hearts"... I might as well go with the theme. LOL

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of Backache and Sea Urchin

Backache! Who needs one?

One of the downsides of my trade as a carpenter is the big "P". Pain, that is.

I have been working as a carpenter for more than 15 years now. It may not be that long for a guy past his golden years but being able to still do hard manual work at this age is already a blessing in itself.

I started a little late in the construction business because I did a lot of scuba diving for sea urchins for almost 10 years prior to carpentry. I worked under-water diving for sea urchins for 8 hours a day and 7-days a week on peak seasons. And I consider that as the most exciting job I ever had... not to mention the pay. wink*

Scuba diving for me is not just a job but it's a hobby. And to be able to enjoy my hobby and make money out of it is a good thing, isn't it? But some good things never last... as the saying goes. Sea urchins became scarce and so the work hours. It was then time to find something else to do and move on.

And so I moved on and shifted to carpentry but my passion for scuba diving didn't die when I quit the job. And definitely I will be sharing more experiences and photos of my passion in the near future.

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Thanks for the Job

Work continues this week. Whew!

Our last project was done and we are starting on a new one. Thanks God! This is such a wonderful blessing. May work keep coming not only for me but for a lot of people who are also struggling like me. May work continue because we all have bills that are piling up. And may work become stable because we all need to survive.

Well, I cannot afford to whine about the economy since there is not much I can do. It's somebody else's job. It is not my job to solve that problem. It is my job to be grateful to whatever I have right now. And I am so grateful for my Sweetie for being patient, supportive and understanding of me and my shortcomings.

I just hope that the economy will improve and everybody remains positive instead of pointing fingers.

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Building Materials and Climate

It was brutally cold the other day. The temperature was around single digit but the wind chill registered at below 10 degrees. So it was really really cold. And Wifey was not very impressed. I couldn't blame her because she was not used to that kind of weather.

Wifey is from the Philippines which is a tropical country in Asia. Being a tropical country, the Philippines experience only 2 kinds of season - wet and dry. They don't have fall and winter.

The Philippines being a tropical country is a good place to do one of my favorite hobbies - scuba diving. But this post is not about scuba diving. I will surely share about it here in the future because this post is about building materials.

As a builder, we certainly build houses or buildings based on different factors. And one of the factors that we consider in the construction of a house or building is climate.

To state the obvious, we use building materials that are compatible to the kind of climate where the establishment will be built. We need to consider climate in choosing the right materials simply because the weather will affect the total functionality of the building.

In the Philippines, where the climate is humid, the major building material they use in building construction is concrete. Most houses and buildings are built using concrete materials simply because it is tough with rain. The country experience about 20 typhoons a year and flooding is inevitable specially in the city and lower elevation.

There are 15 different kinds of building materials available to use in the construction of a building. But having the knowledge of the kind of weather or climate does a place have is the initial step in deciding which building materials are appropriate in the construction of the of the building. Climate is a major consideration a builder should take to be able to build effectively and efficiently.

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