thoughts in the life of the unemployed...

In honor of Black History Month, I decided to read a book about slavery. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs is the one I chose. Jacobs, being a former slave herself, brings a very harsh reality to slavery. It's not that I didn't know how horrible slavery was, but I have never heard it from a slave's point of view. As I read this book, I was often sickened by the cruelty of certain slave owners ("cruelty" doesn't even come close to describing what they did, but I couldn't think of a horrible enough word for them.) I wanted to pick out a couple passages from the book to share, but there were too many to choose from, so I hope someday you'll pick the book up for yourself (from your local library, right, Jess?) and be amazed at some of the things slaves had to endure. Don't be afraid to look into our nation's past and realize the horrible things we did, if for no other reason than to determine that we shall never return to that state again.

I also just finished another book (I still don't have a job, so this is what I do with my time.) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. This book I would not recommend to everyone, but it is considered a classic. I'm still trying to decide what I thought of it. Any recommendations on what to read next? I'm on kind of a classics kick, so try to stick with a classic... ;)

Life is really a funny thing. We have our moments of being so excited to take on the world and make a difference, but more often than not, we end up settling for a predictable 9-5, Monday-Friday, pizza and a movie on Friday night, church and a nap on Sunday kind of life. Where does it change? When do we accept this new idea of what life is all about? Being at home by myself so much lately, I have begun to think about this, and I don't yet have an answer. The bank is hiring again for a part time job...should I apply? Where's the meaning in counting cash and persuading people to get an account that better suits their financial needs? I want to do something that means something. I don't necessarily mean I want to change the world, but maybe just a little corner of it. I always wanted to live in Africa...where did that dream go? Did it ever really die, or did it just get buried under "real life"? I don't know the answers to all this, but I want to. (If you have any words of wisdom for me, please feel free to share!) All I know is that I want to live a life with some purpose behind it. I have always loved those that no one else loves. I want to think I would have been one of the kind slave owners who helped set their slaves free and treated them like real people instead of a piece of property or livestock to use and sell for my own gain. Would that have been me? Will I ever really know? Harriet Jacobs describes the slave as inferior, but only because he was made to be that way by the white slavetraders and owners. If you treat someone like they are stupid, or inferior, or less than human for so long, they will begin to believe it, and then they will begin to be it. I hope someday I have the chance to show someone who is stuck in that lie just how capable they really are.

Anyway, I didn't mean to be depressing today, but I thank you for sharing in my thoughts!

10/12 Pitch

I may not be afraid of heights, but I sure like to keep my feet on solid ground. This realization was instilled in my brain quite quickly with my first roofing job. Maybe a 10/12 pitch isn't the steepest roof around, but I'm not sure it really matters when you're standing on any angled surface thirty or forty feet off the ground!
My first day on the new job consisted of nailing tongue and groove to 32" spread log rafters. After putting tongue and groove on as high as we could reach, I got to learn what a "toe board" is (a long 2x4, nailed to the roof so your toes have something to catch to slow you down just before you fall down and go boom). Lesson for day 1: Tool belts are handy, especially when the surface you're standing on is too steep to set anything on. Also, roofing kills your ankles, toes, and back.
Day two began with a big fork lift with an extendable boom, dropping trusses down from above, with 3 of us standing on 4" wide walls, trying to stay balanced while the wind rocked these huge trusses back and forth. The rest of the day was carrying 4x8' sheets of OSB from the stack on the fork lift, onto the roof, over to the next roof, where I kept doing a face plant because the roof was so steep I couldn't get any traction. But at least I had a tool belt. Lessons for day 2: (1)good balance does come in handy, (2)always check your cutting depth on your saw before you cut, so you don't cut through 4 sheets of OSB all at the same time (oops!), and (3)"new guy" will be blamed for everything that goes wrong.
Day three was insulating, driving 8" screws, more sheeting, and more picking on "new guy," also known as "Richard," who "new guy" replaced because "Richard" was making mistakes all the time (as was "new guy," hence the new name of "Richard"). Day 3 lesson: "Richard" still gets blamed for everything.
Finally, day four. More sheeting, more insulation, and rolling out "paper" (waterproof barrier). What did "Richard" learn? (1) don't cut a sheet of OSB and lay it down on the roof unless it's going to be nailed to the rafters immediately. Or else someone, like maybe your boss, will come along and fall through the roof, cuss you out, and make you go clean up all the trash around the house. (2) If you want to get off the steep roof because you need to stand on solid ground for a while, cut a sheet of plywood and lay it down on the roof, but don't nail it. Then, maybe someone like your boss will step on it, fall through, cuss you out, and make you get off the roof to go clean up trash. Works every time.

Really, the week wasn't all that bad, but I did make a few mistakes and learn some good lessons along the way. Don't worry, my boss is okay, and I don't think he's going to fire me anytime soon. For now, it's Friday, I have a 3 day weekend, and I won't be back on a roof until Monday.

saturday morning...

Praise the Lord for weekends!! For the last three days I have been the only one of the four of us not working...a big change from Diana being the only one working. Needless to say, one can only do so much cleaning, the dog can only go for so many walks, mom only has so many ideas on what can be made for dinner, and (now don't be too shocked) one can only watch so much M*A*S*H, so I've been going a little stir crazy. I don't think I have appreciated a Saturday this much in a while. This morning Nathan and I got up before the sun just for the purpose of taking some pictures in the morning light. So, since things around here are not too exciting, I'm just going to include some of the pictures from today...with commentary when needed! Enjoy!

I found my first shed! (And it was bigger than any of the ones Nathan has found since we've been here!) :) We have seen so many bald eagles since we moved. Before this year I had only seen one in my whole life, and now I don't even know how many I've seen! This one was just close enough to get some good photos! (I had to crop them to get these ones, but he was still pretty close!)

job update

Well, I didn't get the job at at Wells Fargo. No problem, that just means I have more time to find something I really want to do...not just the first thing that presents itself...although it was kind of nice to think one of us would have work so soon. So, as we both look at the next weeks to maybe months of unemployment, we are planning on making the most of it. This week (we were going to start today, but I'm a little sick) we are going to try to get out every day and do some hiking, or just something outdoors. This will hopefully keep us from overwhelming boredom. If this was summertime, there would inevitibly be more to do, but then again, we probably would have both had work right away if this was summer...hmmmm. However, we are not completely without leads on jobs. Nathan will hopefully have his Independent Contractor's License in another week, which will open the door for him to advertise his new business. There is also a couple at church who sounded interested in hiring him for some landscaping (namely, building a rock wall, which you can do in the snow.) For me, I have thought for a long time that I would love to be an accompianist for a school choir. When I found out that our piano player at church also plays for the high school choir, I thought I would ask her if she needed help, or if she knew of any way for me to do something like that in the future. She said she would put the word out, and that it actually might work out for me to jump in for the junior high choir because the present accompianist isn't very reliable. If this opportunity works out, I would be so excited! Also, she encouraged me to consider being a piano teacher as there are only two in the area and they are both teaching as many as they can take. That, my friends, is an intimidating thought, but a definite possibility. I also hope to find a way to sell some pictures here in town.