Back Cracking
Jun. 28th, 2002 08:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolphins_logThe garden walls are finished! ..well almost. I've got a couple of bricks to split so I can get the edges trim. I got home Wednesday night and jumped right in on the second wall at about 5:30. Laying the foundation has become so easy after doing it three times. I got smart after a few moments in the hot sun and went in to find sunscreen. I'm getting some color on my face and arms now, and it isn't red.
So at about 8:30 I was sitting on a brick and slowly digging along the side of the driveway slab toward the street. I was bushed. Dirt had caked up all over the my sunscreen arms, legs and face and I had twigs dangling from my hair. I intended to take the wall about four feet short of the street. The top of the wall leveled off nicely at that point and could fade away to ground level. As I was digging I notice a pair of feet standing on the sidewalk. I look up and here was one of my new neighborers. [We have a number of new houses in since last Summer]. I don't know his name, he's chinese and doesn't speak english. He points to the work and smiles and nods.
I point out to the various walls and try to explain how it's getting easier. The next thing I know he's picked up my mattock and is digging toward the street. I try to tell him where I was going to stop, but he's not listening. He makes it look easy, no big swings, just light chopping. My next door neighborer drove up and got out of her car. She looked at me and asked a question with her eyes. I just shrug. What am I going to do?
So he dug a perfectly edged and level hole and handed me the shovel. I dug out the loose dirt, laid the foundation and leveled out the brick. ..and he picked up the mattock again and kept going, forcing me to keep going. So much for being bushed.
In the end we took the wall to the street. I have to admit, it looks better. He forced me to make it look right. I shook his hand and said thank you to which he responded "thank you thank you yes." Makes me wish I spoke another language. But then how far would he have gotten if I said no? Interesting how a language barrier can be helpful.
So at about 8:30 I was sitting on a brick and slowly digging along the side of the driveway slab toward the street. I was bushed. Dirt had caked up all over the my sunscreen arms, legs and face and I had twigs dangling from my hair. I intended to take the wall about four feet short of the street. The top of the wall leveled off nicely at that point and could fade away to ground level. As I was digging I notice a pair of feet standing on the sidewalk. I look up and here was one of my new neighborers. [We have a number of new houses in since last Summer]. I don't know his name, he's chinese and doesn't speak english. He points to the work and smiles and nods.
I point out to the various walls and try to explain how it's getting easier. The next thing I know he's picked up my mattock and is digging toward the street. I try to tell him where I was going to stop, but he's not listening. He makes it look easy, no big swings, just light chopping. My next door neighborer drove up and got out of her car. She looked at me and asked a question with her eyes. I just shrug. What am I going to do?
So he dug a perfectly edged and level hole and handed me the shovel. I dug out the loose dirt, laid the foundation and leveled out the brick. ..and he picked up the mattock again and kept going, forcing me to keep going. So much for being bushed.
In the end we took the wall to the street. I have to admit, it looks better. He forced me to make it look right. I shook his hand and said thank you to which he responded "thank you thank you yes." Makes me wish I spoke another language. But then how far would he have gotten if I said no? Interesting how a language barrier can be helpful.
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no subject
Date: 2002-06-28 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-06-29 02:23 am (UTC)That is a very cool story. ^_^
Do you know his name at least?
I was listening to Dave Niehaus interview Kasahiro Sasaki the other day. Of course, everything goes through an interpreter, but when Dave congratulated him at the end of the interview, Kasahiro responded in English: "Thank you my oh my!" ^_^
Here's my entire command of Chinese
Date: 2002-06-29 06:29 pm (UTC)Shay-Shay = Thank you