Laying Pipe / All Night Long

So I wasn't laying pipe, and I didn't even sing that song although I did sing a lot.
Yes the working debacle that started Monday has made for an interesting week. Our homebuilder shafted us by giving away all the filler jobs they'd assigned for us to other crews while our next house was delayed even further. So on immediate notice we had 2 weeks of no work. Kyle had planned to go on vacation in 2 weeks and bumped it up and left early, and I had to scrounge. So I checked with a framing crew down the street since there was 3 guys working on 2 houses and they excitedly and eagerly gave me their boss' phone number however he, along with 6 other guys, had just finished everything in Strathmore and were coming to Chestermere to jump on those houses so they wouldn't need any more help. I'd talked to Ian (after making sure WCB would be covered - you know just in case of a repeat of last year's knee nailing) but he didn't sound very confident and I wasn't able to get a hold of his partner Trent all day either. I called my uncle Mike who is a home builder and he said he could get me a frost package and a deck and probably some other work. Trent later called back and I could work, just not right away since they would have a day's lull too.
So Monday I had a half day.
Tuesday I had no work. This wasn't bad because our carpets were supposed to be installed in the morning and I could move all my stuff into the new room in the afternoon after running some errands, except that they forgot to come. Ah well, I did have lunch with my Dad - he even paid! I also got financing for an iMac that will arrive Friday or so, so I can get going with the music!
Wednesday I had no work. This wasn't bad because our carpets were supposed to be installed...
But they weren't. Although I did get to scrape off a large section of cat-urinated-underlay. I went to JLYS and got my shopping done for the bachelor party (slightly over budget but still very cheap over all).
Late Thursday morning I got the call, the frost wall package was on its way and so was I, to Black Diamond. Now Frost Wall packages can go either way for work and time. Once I did 3 in two days, and last time I did 1 in a day and a half. Are the studs a fixed length? (this will make cutting them much quicker) How many windows are there? (Less is faster) Are there funky jogs and height changes? How big is it? And the big question for this job:
Is the stupid concrete so hard that my stupid concrete nails won't pierce it!!!! (Oops) ?
This was fine, after all, after I got all my studs loaded into the basement and set about cutting them all, I began singing. I sang made up songs to God, songs I knew, songs I changed. And I sang a lot about patience (now I know you're all thinking Be Patient, Be Patient but I didn't).
Now after discovering the concrete was impregnable, at least without explosives (which I didn't have), a very keen impression came to me. Sherry asked me to pray for an impression but this wasn't what she was hoping for. I needed to persevere in hope. It would be intercessional prayer for Pam, who I'd sensed needed to preserve hope, and it would be very needed for me to maintain sanity. So with every single nail, and there was a lot, I prayed that God would sink it. And as nail after nail bent, it gets harder to pray, but I did. Not always joyfully... Sometimes it would go something like, "DAMN IT YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! No, not you God - the nail, sorry. Alright God this nail?" And many times I would sing praise songs even while the nails were bending because I still loved God and trusted him, even if he wasn't telling me anything (which I was also praying for), and man oh man was I thankful when the one in 15 or more nails would go in. Yes, while Pam thinks it would be fun to job shadow her friends, I think I would scare most people if they were watching.

Side note of discovery at 9:30 or so: Kiwi skins are fine, even if you don't rub off any of the fuzz (I was smart enough to take off the sticker though). I needed some extra sustenance...

I was getting irritable towards the end though. It's hard not to get grumpy when you're nearing 16 hours of work and you've been in a dark concrete cave with a head-lamp on dim and the only muffled noise other than yourself you hear through your ear plugs is a very oppressive air compressor. Mostly I decided it was better not to talk when I got that tired and I was a little hungry and irritating timed red lights prevented me from getting home sooner (I was calm, and not even speeding for the most part, just easily incited).

Anyway, this morning was nice. I woke up at 8 after going to bed at almost 2, and jumped out to give Sherry a quick call about possibly meeting her for lunch. I left a message and then did my morning Bible reading and study when Nathan called and wanted to go out for breakfast, which was perfect. Got to go for a run and then write this, and now I need to either pack for the weekend or attack my room transfer.

Some of you might be still curious as to why I wouldn't just go home after say, 8 hours. Well if you consider packing up and setting up tools again with the extra travel back and forth, you're looking at almost 3 1/2 extra hours of non-productive time for work, and I knew I needed to be at Jono's for the bach party departure Friday afternoon. So staying and finishing was the better alternative. Besides including a partial day next Friday, I'm missing 4 days of work on a pay cheque I was hoping to do some shopping with.

The drive out to Black Diamond with the fresh snow and the clear view of the mountains was incredible by the way.

God Bless You, Even If You Didn't Sneeze, But Twice If You Did

9:25 Thursday. Today I got fitted for my Tux for Trevor's wedding, and I priced out the menu for his bachelor party next weekend. I'm OK, and I believe it. For the last few weeks every day I come home seems like a transition from work to more work. There's so many good things every day that brighten life up. I read Pawns by um, someone, let me go find it and tell you...

The Pawn by Steven James. Fantastic! A muchly appreciated birthday present from my parents.
I know you're all sick of hearing about Sherry and her unending wonderfulness but this morning I was grumpy and she came downstairs just as I was leaving and kissed me goodbye and life was cheery.

Tonight was delightful. I stopped writing my blog when I went in search of the book because Andy invited me for prayer in our prayer room. Yes, we have a prayer room. It is open Saturdays, for all 24 hours, for you. How exciting is that? Anyway, we had a very life-giving time with the celtic daily book of prayers with some bonus spirit-led personal stuff.

I am so much more peaceful. MMMmmm.
I priced out the menu I've planned for Trevor's Bach Party Weekend and it came out for a steal of a deal's budget. Especially since I wasn't being thrifty at all.
If I can promise anything it's that it will be tasty.

Ah yes and I was going to throw an invite on here too. For a few years now I've wanted to read the Bible chronologically, and Sherry gave me her chrono Bible complete with daily reading break-downs to do it in a year, so I'm going to. Starting next week! I've purposely left this weekend unscheduled so I can get a few necessary things done and be more organized. Anyway, if you want to join in on it, I'll email you the week's worth of readings.

Alas, it is nearly eleven. Goodnight.

Sherry's faster than you think

Good morning. It's Saturday, when I have my "birthday party." Although who said anything about that? Anyway, I've enjoyed Saturday already. I woke up rested and lay around praying a bit. Next I showered and semi-got ready. I'm just in shorts but that's so I can marinade in body butter so as to combat dry skin.
There's a fire downstairs but I don't get to see it yet. I was told to wait on the couch, except this is what I planned to do until 9:00 anyway. So long.