Porch Blogging, Day Six

Maybe I don't want a back porch anymore. It's kind of a nice feeling to have a 10-foot wide, 4'+ deep *moat* in the back yard. Our neighborhood as some crime concerns, and nothing says safety like a *moat*. (Unless you're trying to take the trash out the back door.)

Or heck, maybe instead of a back porch, I want a whole new 200 sq.foot foundation poured. There has been almost enough excavation.

Friday night, I even got to sling a little dirt. They had three guys on the job, but one went home at around 6pm. (He was probably overcome by the still-ridiculous heat we are suffering.) Whether it was the temperature or the sheer scale of the work required, 6pm saw my backyard still full of dirt. The dumpster was not full, and yet it needed to be full before its pickup.

With two workers, these guys were going to be shoveling past 10pm. (They said as much.) When the Monkey Mama came home at around 6:15pm, I put on some gloves and went outside to help. First, I didn't want these guys out there with the baby sleeping and the Monkey Mama and me trying to wind down from the week. Second, the tight logistic window on the dumpster was due to the fact that I am working without permits, and the presence of the dumpster might attract regulatory curiosity. I wanted to help them help me. Third, I was pretty jealous of the work they were getting to do. Fourth, I was probably guilty about the work they were having to do. But even the contractor came by and started digging. (Making his crew work alone until 10pm is probably unsupportable.)

We were done in two hours.

Two hours of aerobic and anaerobic labor was just right. I got a blister and some scrapes, but it was a good workout and I was only minimally sore. I felt great the next morning. Of course, 2 hours is not 12 hours, and the relative cool of the evening is not the searing heat of the day. Anyway, they were glad to have my help. Having one live shovel can speed things up a lot, just in terms of the wheelbarrow logistics, etc.