What is wrong with us?

[Bill Barrett]

I hate to be politically incorrect, but I have some theories about this myself. I think this has a lot to do with most of us being men. I don't mean that we are males, there are lots of males out there who aren't men. Now I realize I probably sound like Tim the Tool Man, but I think there is some truth to this.

And I think part of being a man is not being afraid of a little physical labor and even being able to enjoy it.

My Dad tells a story of working on a Habitat for Humanity house one weekend and there were a lot of good intentioned guys out there. They were doing some digging around the foundations and this young guy in his 20's had been digging a few minutes and came up to my Dad and showed him a red place on his hand. He wanted to know what it was. It was a blister! His first one ever.

And while I'm rambling, I heard a radio DJ say something very funny but true about 7-8 years ago when a hurricane had missed the SC coast and how disappointed all the men were who had gotten chainsaws for Christmas!

Again, don't get me wrong about all this. I enjoy the projects I create for myself. They might be 'work' technically, but to me they are play. I still probably need to spend a little more time on the front porch though. Or maybe I should make the porch bigger and better............

LOL I think it's a personality thing, how you were brought up, etc. Also your dead a long time, better get it done now!

 

[riptides]

If I don't pass out from sheer exhaustion by Sunday at 9:00PM, to get ready for another "work" week, I have not worked hard enough.

I have 2.5 tons of patio stone that 1/2 way through laying, I don't like, so this w/e I will tear it up again, and do it over. After I get home from a 3 hour commute, because it is Friday on the interstate! Maybe I should leave now?

-Mike Z.

 

[LarryD]

I spent 20 years in the military and anybody who’s ever served knows that ain’t for the love of money. There were many 60+ hour work weeks and lots of complaining but looking back, I don’t regret a thing. In fact, I saw a whole lot more of the world than I ever could have working a job in Dallas.

Now I have a regular job that I try not to work more than 40 hours a week so I can get home and start work on the property/projects. Becky also thinks I work too hard and has to bug me take a day off and go visit.

I see my friends every week but as she points out, it’s usually to help them or help me with a project. I try to tell her we are visiting when we’re talking about how to cut rafters for a roof, or how long a chunk of steel needs to be to brace another chunk of steel. I get 7+ days of deer hunting a year, usually go fishing 5 or 6 times a year, and may even get a couple of chucker hunts in. I really believe I get some VERY good social interaction time without sitting in the living room. But I suppose it’s a genetic thing so I’ll leave the analysis to those with doctorates.

So I’ll continue to look forward to the next project, help my friends with theirs, and “work” until the ole frame tells me I need to slow down.