I have been either my boss, or someone else’s boss for the past 5 years. When I first started my company, telling people what to do didn’t come easy to me, but the more confidence I had in my decision (based on experience in the field and the fact that at one time I did the job I hired them to do) the easier it became to observe, direct and constructively criticize peoples work. After a few years running the show, I learned that many people work better under close supervision. When I say better I mean; attention to detail, no cutting of corners, deadlines met.
Now, I am the boss on our job site (I share this responsibility with Summer) and I have gone through the same confidence gaining evolution here. I have gained experience planning rough through finish electrical work, rough in through finished plumbing work, drywall, appliances, tiling, bathroom fixtures, fans, landscaping, painting, custom closet creations, hardwood floor installation blah blah blah. Now, I am not an expert in these fields by any means, but I am now confident in how the all of those little things effect the big picture as far as building a house.
So, you would think, that I would have learned my lesson by being a foreman on the job site at this point….but I haven’t. Last week, the neighbor hired a backhoe to excavate some rock on her property. Mark and I were on our way to Home Depot, and I asked what he was going to do with the large boulders. He said he was going to dump them somewhere, so I told him he could put the large boulders on my property and I will use them around the yard. He was cool with it and Mark and I headed to Home Depot.
When we got back two hours later, the backhoe and dump truck were gone, and they had dumped about 8 yards worth of broken up cinder block, dirt, concrete and boulders in our turnaround spot at the end of the driveway.
That’s a lot of rock to move
Ha! I should have learned my lesson and stayed on site to observe and make sure the job was completed properly. So, I spent about 6 hours pulling out the big boulders and rolling them around the yard to line the driveway and our turn around spot. When I was done with that, I started shoveling the dirt into a wheel barrel for transport, and realized that it was going to take me a week to get all of the dirt/concrete/block moved. Yesterday, another neighbor was getting some excavation work done with a back hoe, so I hiked on up the hill and talked him into coming down to our house when he was done up there (for a small fee).
I’ll post some pictures of the rock-scaping when I am done moving rocks! It’s back breaking work.
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There is just something about boys and wanting other peoples trash, just because it’s FREE!! Just about every guy I have ever known, no matter how rich or poor they are, will happily scoop up another mans trash…
More work - just what you need, right? I spend most of every day just moving things around - take a banana from here and move it….there. Divide a plant here…move it there. I make a lot of piles too…leaves, rocks, sticks. Sometimes I even consolidate piles. Yup - lots of work but man, what what were they thinking? Oh, that’s right - you need all those little rocks for inside cinder blocks when you start building walls. It’s good stuff, but figure out where your walls will be so you don’t have to move them again! katrina
Summer: Girls just don’t understand.
Katrina: Your comment reads like the story of my life for the past year.
We have gone from moving boxes of our stuff (living here while under construction) to moving rocks, dirt, plants, the lawn mower, the weed wacker, the hedge trimmer, the shovel, the pick, the compost pile …. and now the rocks.