Delighted!

The lads were here today. Angry Bob, Wally, Joe, Jeff, and Bruno.

We drilled six holes, poured concrete, set the saddles for the posts, and fixed the ledger board to the house. I'm thrilled with the work that was done!


Jeff (L) and Joe (R) used the auger I rented. Six holes were drilled to a depth of 40 inches. They were done in half an hour!

I have some skilled and strong friends, Ms J. I mentioned to Bob at work that I had reserved an auger and asked if he might go with me to fetch it this morning.

"Whatcha doin', Dale?" asked Jeff.

I told him I was preparing to build a deck.

"I'll help you, you old prick," he said. "You'll only hurt yourself."

"Can I help?" asked Bruno who was standing nearby having a smoke.

Joe offered his assistance as well.

"But I think you should buy us all breakfast first, eh guys?"

So the six of us went to The Canadiana for breakfast. They made me pay, Ms Journal.

"It's the least you can do, Dale," said Wally.

"Yeah," Joe added. "We can always count on you to do the least."

We laughed and ate and told stories, Ms J, the way men do, with lots of cursing and bawdy talk. Then Jeff and I went to get the auger while the others assembled my new wheelbarrow.


How many railroaders does it take to assemble a wheelbarrow? At least four, apparently.

Men are strange sometimes. I asked for some help and I got help. Lots of help. I'm not ungrateful, Ms J, but I wasn't really allowed to do much. I wanted to participate, but the fellows just sort of took over. It's true the others were more experienced and physically stronger than I, but I wanted to take part in the project too.


Bruno broke up some old bricks and rocks to put in the holes. "You'll use less cement that way."

Jeff and Joe mixed the cement in the wheelbarrow and poured it in the holes. Bob and Wally shoveled dirt around. It was hard, heavy work, Ms J, and they did it much faster than I could have done it, and they seemed to enjoy the hard work. Testosterone fairly flowed down the driveway to the street.


Jeff dumped the wheelbarrow while Joe directed the flow of wet cement. That's the same Joe who is our union rep and who accompanied me to my investigation. Angry Bob was elected foreman.

The language was pretty colourful, I must say. It reached a crescendo when I pulled a sixteen foot plank across Jeff's shins.

"What the f%## are ya doin', ya f%##in' homo?"

That's just Jeff, Ms J. He always talks like that. I apologised to him and then went next door to suggest to my neighbour, Cathy, that she might want to close her doors and windows until the lads were done. She laughed it off, but soon closed her windows. Later, Wally sprayed Angry Bob's bare back with cold water and I heard Cathy closing her doors.

"C'mon, guys," I begged. "Let me do something. It is my deck, after all."

Bob handed me his drill.

"Be careful," he warned me. "The f%##er's heavy. You'll have to push like yer havin' a baby if ya wanna go through that f%##in' brick."

Jeff said I wouldn't likely know how to push like I was having a baby and offered what he considered a better simile.

"Push like yer havin' a great big s**t," he said. "But don't do it fer crise-sake. We all gotta walk around here, eh?"


They did let me drill some holes in the wall to mount the ledger board. Bob and Joe watched me closely while Jeff used my c*%#-s*&#in' camera to take the f%##in' picture.

Anyway, they were here about three hours and I am really pleased with the work that was done. We've got a really good start now and the most difficult part is done. I thanked each one separately and offered to make them lunch. They all declined saying they wanted to go and shower and change their clothes before returning to work.


Jeff and Bruno and Joe and Angry Bob, after the work was done. Bob stayed pretty calm throughout. We were all thankful. I know Cathy was.


"Push like yer havin' a baby," he said.

I don't know who'll come back tomorrow, Ms J. I'll be happy if only one of them returns. At this rate, I'll have a deck in no time!

***