On giving instrucions...
So my father is building a covered porch for my grandmother. Which would be fine, except he does what should take five men to build safely with only between 1-3 people. Of course you can add one to the person number if you can count the tractor as a person...
So at this point you should all realize that me and my mother are the other two people in that number. Which makes for intersting work. I mean he expects us to be as strong as he is, and read his mind, or know without him telling us what he expects us to do.
Which brings us to the topic of the title. Yesterday we were having to raise a large L-shaped piece and attach it to the house (Keep in mind that this is after both me and my mother had worked all day already). It was hers and my job to raise an at least a hundred pound beam over our heads and keep it from falling as he tried to drop the other beam into a hole. Obviously, frustrations on his side mounted as he realized that two short women just can't grow to get the beam as high as he needed it.
In comes the extension ladder... It became my job to get on one end and use said ladder to raise the end of the beam.
At this point let's make it clear that I have a healthy dislike for ladders. And I have NEVER used an extension ladder before.
SO of course I didn't use the ladder right. All I was told was to keep the top of the ladder holding the beam steady as it moved up the wall. No instructions as to how to do it. So I did what seemed logical to me, I scooted the ladder a little and used the extension together to prop up this beam. I guess I did it wrong, because my father had to come "fix" my mistake. Which seemed to consist of telling me that I had done it wrong, and move the legs back while keeping the beam up with the extension only.
SO then, with my mistake "fixed", he goes over to the pole that is dropped into the ground. And decides that it needs to be raised up some. SO he picks up on this heavy pole and tells my mother to throw some dirt into the hole. But the shovels are fifteen feet away, at least, around on my other side. So he's yelling at my mother to hurry while she is having to run and grab a shovel while he's holding up this pole. Why didn't put it down? It had been down before, so I'm still trying to figure out why he had to hold it up while she ran for the shovel.
To make a long story short, we eventually got this thing where he wanted it, and he got it atached to the wall. But geez, instructions would help... especially when there aren't enough people to do this safely. I grew up having to help with projects with minimal instruction, but you'd think he'd learn that things go better when he explains what he wants rather than say "do it".
Oh well... can't teach an old man new tricks.
So at this point you should all realize that me and my mother are the other two people in that number. Which makes for intersting work. I mean he expects us to be as strong as he is, and read his mind, or know without him telling us what he expects us to do.
Which brings us to the topic of the title. Yesterday we were having to raise a large L-shaped piece and attach it to the house (Keep in mind that this is after both me and my mother had worked all day already). It was hers and my job to raise an at least a hundred pound beam over our heads and keep it from falling as he tried to drop the other beam into a hole. Obviously, frustrations on his side mounted as he realized that two short women just can't grow to get the beam as high as he needed it.
In comes the extension ladder... It became my job to get on one end and use said ladder to raise the end of the beam.
At this point let's make it clear that I have a healthy dislike for ladders. And I have NEVER used an extension ladder before.
SO of course I didn't use the ladder right. All I was told was to keep the top of the ladder holding the beam steady as it moved up the wall. No instructions as to how to do it. So I did what seemed logical to me, I scooted the ladder a little and used the extension together to prop up this beam. I guess I did it wrong, because my father had to come "fix" my mistake. Which seemed to consist of telling me that I had done it wrong, and move the legs back while keeping the beam up with the extension only.
SO then, with my mistake "fixed", he goes over to the pole that is dropped into the ground. And decides that it needs to be raised up some. SO he picks up on this heavy pole and tells my mother to throw some dirt into the hole. But the shovels are fifteen feet away, at least, around on my other side. So he's yelling at my mother to hurry while she is having to run and grab a shovel while he's holding up this pole. Why didn't put it down? It had been down before, so I'm still trying to figure out why he had to hold it up while she ran for the shovel.
To make a long story short, we eventually got this thing where he wanted it, and he got it atached to the wall. But geez, instructions would help... especially when there aren't enough people to do this safely. I grew up having to help with projects with minimal instruction, but you'd think he'd learn that things go better when he explains what he wants rather than say "do it".
Oh well... can't teach an old man new tricks.
posted by Phoenixwaller | 10:20 AM
2 Comments:
Yikes, sounded like a great time. Instuctions are definitely a plus when it comes to things like that, or anything really that you are asked to do by someone who actually knows how.
Yeah, ton's of fun...
What makes it even worse is that I know how little instruction I am recieving now. And he expects me to be able to read his mind and just know what he wants because I'm actually an engineering student.
Out in the real world, I would hope to have a proper team for something like this. ;-)
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