Speaks Construction - March 7, 2021
In last week’s Sunshine story, I mentioned that my hubs Laur “speaks construction”. He truly does. He’s had a few construction jobs. All of them short-lived, thank goodness. And the “thank goodness” is from his employers.
Don’t get me wrong. Laur can build anything! Seriously! Fences, beds, rooms in the basement, a hawk-house that turned into our kids’ fort, bookshelves… And the list goes on. But hubs is from the “good enough” school of construction. It will work – but it might be at a slight angle…
But there was a time that Laur got to work with the Pros! It was the Fall of 1988. We were not in good shape financially, having just bought a modest bungalow in the Lo Ellen Park Subdivision in Sudbury. We were fleeing two things: 1. A crazy next door neighbour – a story in itself, and 2. Laur’s need for the car – we only had one – to travel across town to his work site, Laurentian University.
A real estate person, Gerry, who attended our church learned of our stress and said, “I have the perfect house for you!” And it was. A block away from the Laurentian Conservation area – which also provided a very nice path to the university that Laur could walk in 25 minutes!
It was almost in our price range because it had virtually no backyard. I say “almost” because we were in a very tight spot. While Laur was bringing in money, I was not. We had three little kids and I could not make enough money to pay for their day care, let alone the other costs of the employment I would have welcomed.
But Gerry was persistent. Good neighbourhood, good schools, and Laur’s income was going to go up over the next few years. We bit the bullet and made the move – one of the best things we’ve ever done. And promptly, our used Mazda bit the dust. Gah! So we bought a new-used car we could ill afford. We were now cash-strapped.
And then Laur’s union went on strike… What?! Even if Laur could be the stay-at-home parent – an idea I really liked – I was “great with child” and nobody would have hired me at that point. What to do?!
Thankfully, our sweet neighbour – Mike (not his real name) – had a construction company. It was actually Mike’s house we bought. He and his wife had moved across the street because they had two teenagers and wanted a lot more space.
He offered Laur a job – “$11 an hour, but don’t tell the other guys. They are getting $10.” Minimum wage was $8 – so Laur was practically at management level!
Hubs had work boots already, and the following Monday morning he was out the door by 6 am – lunch lovingly packed by wifey. He didn’t get home until 6 pm – and was covered in dirt. They were working on a stretch of road on Howey Drive. Making curbs, repairing manholes, jack-hammering out old pavement, laying down new pavement, etc.
Laur had picket line duty and showed up in his construction clothes. He apologized for how he dressed and one of his buddies said, “Laur, this is how you always look!” True dat.
After about two weeks, the union and the management came to a deal and Laur was back-paid for those two weeks by the university, so we actually came out a few hundred ahead. Which was good because right around then, our (used) washer and dryer also bit the dust.
Laur’s best memory of that episode was one day when he was down in a manhole. Up above, some of his co-workers called to some young guys walking by. “You guys Laurentian students?” “Yeah.” “Well come over here. We’ve got a professor down the hole.” One of the students peaked in. “Wow! This is the first time I’ve ever seen a professor do any work!” He meant it! Laur thought that was pretty funny too. I thought it was HYSTERICAL!
And every time we went down Howey drive after that, Laur would point to the curb and say, “See that curb! I made that!”
Michelangelo would be impressed!
Don’t get me wrong. Laur can build anything! Seriously! Fences, beds, rooms in the basement, a hawk-house that turned into our kids’ fort, bookshelves… And the list goes on. But hubs is from the “good enough” school of construction. It will work – but it might be at a slight angle…
But there was a time that Laur got to work with the Pros! It was the Fall of 1988. We were not in good shape financially, having just bought a modest bungalow in the Lo Ellen Park Subdivision in Sudbury. We were fleeing two things: 1. A crazy next door neighbour – a story in itself, and 2. Laur’s need for the car – we only had one – to travel across town to his work site, Laurentian University.
A real estate person, Gerry, who attended our church learned of our stress and said, “I have the perfect house for you!” And it was. A block away from the Laurentian Conservation area – which also provided a very nice path to the university that Laur could walk in 25 minutes!
It was almost in our price range because it had virtually no backyard. I say “almost” because we were in a very tight spot. While Laur was bringing in money, I was not. We had three little kids and I could not make enough money to pay for their day care, let alone the other costs of the employment I would have welcomed.
But Gerry was persistent. Good neighbourhood, good schools, and Laur’s income was going to go up over the next few years. We bit the bullet and made the move – one of the best things we’ve ever done. And promptly, our used Mazda bit the dust. Gah! So we bought a new-used car we could ill afford. We were now cash-strapped.
And then Laur’s union went on strike… What?! Even if Laur could be the stay-at-home parent – an idea I really liked – I was “great with child” and nobody would have hired me at that point. What to do?!
Thankfully, our sweet neighbour – Mike (not his real name) – had a construction company. It was actually Mike’s house we bought. He and his wife had moved across the street because they had two teenagers and wanted a lot more space.
He offered Laur a job – “$11 an hour, but don’t tell the other guys. They are getting $10.” Minimum wage was $8 – so Laur was practically at management level!
Hubs had work boots already, and the following Monday morning he was out the door by 6 am – lunch lovingly packed by wifey. He didn’t get home until 6 pm – and was covered in dirt. They were working on a stretch of road on Howey Drive. Making curbs, repairing manholes, jack-hammering out old pavement, laying down new pavement, etc.
Laur had picket line duty and showed up in his construction clothes. He apologized for how he dressed and one of his buddies said, “Laur, this is how you always look!” True dat.
After about two weeks, the union and the management came to a deal and Laur was back-paid for those two weeks by the university, so we actually came out a few hundred ahead. Which was good because right around then, our (used) washer and dryer also bit the dust.
Laur’s best memory of that episode was one day when he was down in a manhole. Up above, some of his co-workers called to some young guys walking by. “You guys Laurentian students?” “Yeah.” “Well come over here. We’ve got a professor down the hole.” One of the students peaked in. “Wow! This is the first time I’ve ever seen a professor do any work!” He meant it! Laur thought that was pretty funny too. I thought it was HYSTERICAL!
And every time we went down Howey drive after that, Laur would point to the curb and say, “See that curb! I made that!”
Michelangelo would be impressed!