Indolikaa. Dumbfounded.

[indolikaa]

So after another exhausting day of work, I decide I'd do the boss a favor and freight a load of materials to Holbrook. There's nothing more visually pleasing than driving between Snowflake and Holbrook, Arizona. Yeah. Right.

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating somewhat. An exhausting day of work for me is sitting in an office, from 7AM to 11AM, and doing very little. Talking to the cat, spending 4 hours on dvdrhelp.com, using their printer instead of mine to print labels and jewel case artwork. Much like a drive from Snowflake to Holbrook, my morning routine is rather boring. Or so would normally be the case. Not today, for destiny was calling my name. A reminder of humanity's fragile existence was waiting for me on the other side of 14-Mile Hill.

The drive into Snowflake presented an opportunity to test the mad ramblings of our superintendent. Never would I have believed it possible to shift the transmission on the Ol' Bitch without a clutch. After a brief run-up of the gears, me and the Kodiak were barrelling towards Shumway pass at nearly 70 miles per hour, and the road continued downhill from there. Placing my life in the hands of a man who cannot, even if his life depended on it, count to two twice and get the same answer, I nudged the tranny out of third gear and into neutral. To my surprise, the truck continued careening towards The Gap, unhindered.

It was at this moment that the reality of my life flashed before my eyes. Here I am, nothing short of a runaway truck, preparing to attempt a maneuver that, should it fail, will result in several tons of hat channel and cold-rolled channel being scattered over thousands of square miles of Navajo County. With a firm but smooth push, the transmission engaged in fourth gear, and the truck continued on its journey. The clutchless transition between forth and fifth also being uneventful, I began to relax and prepare my mind for the mental anguish that lay ahead: the Holbrook Flats.

With 'The Lap Dance Song' from Bloodhound Gang keeping the beat, I crossed 14-Mile Hill and began the 9-mile straightaway towards Hell, Reincarnated. It wasn't long before I spotted a car, pulled over to the side of the road but still nearly in the roadway. Now in this part of Arizona, it is not at all unusual for a parade of vehicles to pull over and assist a motorist in need. However, me being the only vehicle in sight (which is unusual, because not only is Arizona 77 a heavily-traveled road, but the line of sight reaches for at least 15 miles) I felt that I should do the right thing. Never mind the fact I'm going downhill with a full load of steel at nearly 70 miles per hour.

Not being too careful, my trusty Nine was readily available, should any problems present themselves. No such trouble here, as I find a rather attractive young lady at the wheel. Of a 2004 GMC Envoy. Or maybe it was a Denali. The only thing I could tell right away is that her vehicle cost more than my house, and the misses was in considerable distress. Was this an opportunity to put my EMT license to the test? Hardly.

It would seem that the misses was very upset with her husband, their bank, and life in general. You see, the family was closing on a mortgage to build a new house, and they had received news from the broker that was just too much for her to handle. Now you'd think at this point that we are dealing with a distressed young woman whose just been told that the American Dream is not within her family's reach. I can understand this feeling, as I have been there before. It can be an emotionally-devastating experience.

Wrong! Without prodding, the young woman let all her frustrations roll out to a complete stranger. She went on to explain that the bank had approved the mortgage, and at just under 6% with a 3% downpayment. Now I'm thinking to myself, "And just what the **** is wrong with this proposition?!" Oh, there was definitely a problem. The whole situation was unacceptable to her, and no amount of ranting and raving was apparently going to change the doom that had been placed upon her family. At this point, an incredulous Indolikaa has to ask her why the situation was unacceptable. Maybe her husband just lost his job? Or maybe the General Contractor grossly underestimated the cost of the project? I had no idea.

"They didn't give us enough money, and now our house will be the smallest in the subdivision!"

Uh...

[fmctm1sw]

good to see people are concerned with the important things in life

[Hatz]

OMG indolikaa.

Some people need to have a wake up check. What you should have done is slap her and told her to come to her senses. Who cares if its the smallest house.....tell her she should be happy she can get a house at all. Think of all the other people who can't afford anything at all. After all of that you should have pulled out that 9 and shot her tires out to give her something really to cry about.

Hatz

[The village idiot]

After all of that you should have pulled out that 9 and shot her tires out to give her something really to cry about.

[stiltman]

black iron and hat channel, sound like a suspended drywall ceiling?
But you didn't mention any wire so I could be wrong

[indolikaa]

black iron and hat channel, sound like a suspended drywall ceiling? But you didn't mention any wire so I could be wrong

Why yes, yes it is a suspended drywall ceiling.

Now I know how you got the nickname Stiltman!

[stiltman]

black iron and hat channel, sound like a suspended drywall ceiling? But you didn't mention any wire so I could be wrong

Why yes, yes it is a suspended drywall ceiling.

Now I know how you got the nickname Stiltman!

Yep, that's how I got it

But I never hung drywall, that's some back breaking work. I did the layin panel suspended ceilings...Least that's what the companys main work was. I mostly did all their fancy projects. Grid ceiling made out of wood, metal, glass....etc. I also did fabric coated fiberglass panels on wall and ceiling too. Jones Noise Control (9 years) and Allied Acoustics ( 6years)

I've been out of the trades for 6 1/2 years now....
All LAN and WAN stuff now.