It's hammer time ....for me and Stanley!

Stanley is my new, 22 ounce. best friend ....a framing hammer from stanley tools, and he's got the best lineage; he comes from the 'Extreme Fat Max' family. A nicely designed tool is Stanley; well balenced and designed to reduce the torque and vibration delivered to the users arm while repeatedly striking some, hopefully inanimate, object. His head is magnetic, with a groove and a notch, and you can set a spike along his gnarly snout with the shaft resting in the groove, and the head of the spike cradled in the notch. The magnet holds everything, just so, and, voila, you can now start your spike with a fearless swing, seeing that your left thumb is never in harm's way; just too cool for an every day tool, is Stanley!

Keeping that left thumb out of harm's way is essential, as I learned before coffee break, my very first day with MISI. I'd been given an air nailer, and, with no instruction, was asked to start whacking some components together. I'd used a nailer, briefly, about 24 years ago at LOF, but they shortly thereafter given them up when they switched from wood to cardboard dunnage; so I'd never really attained the 'competant' level in it's use. There was I, happily nailing boards together, when a fellow came along, and suggested that I, "Put that piece of junk away, and use that nailer over there!" Now, the one I'd been using was a single shot, the only kind I was aware of. My new nailer was an automatic! Hold the trigger on this one, and a nail will be fired every time it's snout is depressed by coming in contact with anything! good point to be aware of! "Bang," went my nailer, as expected, then ..."Bang!" again, this time a surprise to me; and faster than a speeding bullet, a nail sailed the length of the shop ....with a chunk of my thumb tagging along!

Nothing too serious, and, I was soon back to work, just like that helmeted, talking head, in Monty Python's "Holy Grail". My Team Leader, Tom, of whom I'll tell you later, now took a few minutes to explain to me the intricacies of nailers. I felt much enlightened, and Tom summed up accordingly, "The first rule of carpentry," Tom said Sagely, "is to never stick your finger where you wouldn't stick your pecker!" Valid point; and Tom, (I notice), speaks with the authority of a man who can no long count past 9 without taking off at least one work boot!

The three men who put MISI together talk about the 'business we dreamed!', and it's great to be part of a dream ....untill it turns to nightmare! There's a certain amount of chaos in every dream, and some become nothing but; although MISI is experiencing a little chaos since it's main customer was taken over by GE in June, and their contracts went through the roof, my monies on this company for the long run. The very best dreams rise from promise to fruition and then ...go down in flames. You must look past what is left laying in the ashes; look instead to the Pheonix that rises from those flames. This business is well past it's kindling point and I can see it's Pheonix rising. I can appreciate the effort and long hours these three have put into their business; I am, after all, a ..."Son of Fire!"

Speak softly and carry a big Schtick! ....and sticks don't come much bigger than the 16' 2x10s I haul around at MISI, two at a time. The first of the three Brothers I met was Marty, who gave me my orientation the day I started the job. Marty is the Safty Officer of the company, and wears a white 'cowboy' construction hat. The day I started I couldn't recall my new saskatoon phone number, having just got it the day before, and told Marty that I would bring it to him the following day. At 6:50 the following morning I went to Marty's office and dropped my number off to him. As I left I ran into another fellow that works in the office; "I've seen you here but haven't met you yet," he said, right hand extended, "My name's Matt." And a fine fellow Matt turned out to be, but, as I extended my hand to meet his, Marty's voice boomed from his office, "Don't pay any attention to him James, he's the worst dog-fucker in the place!" I felt sort of sorry for Matt just then, and, as our palms met, I said, "Pleased to meet you Matt, and, if what Marty just said is true, I want you to remember this face, because, Buddy, I'm coming after your job!"

A couple days later, upon arriving at work, I notice Marty watching me exit the RT. When I enter the building he's right over to me asking, "James, what's a fellow like you doing with an expensive rig like that? Smiling, I reply casually, "I live in that truck Marty, and it was the best I could afford!" This verbal sparring continues, and, it's not just with me; everybody gets a turn. As I was leaving work on Wednesday of this week who sould I run into but Marty; we exchanged greetings, and Marty enquired, "How's that van working out for you James?" "Just fine." I smiled. "It's not giving you any problems?" he continued. "No," I replied, "I'm very comfortable out at the Trailer Park, and it gets me to work on time every day. And, the best part Marty, is that every day at 6:45, when I pull into this parking lot, your property values go up!"

Ray is another one of the three brothers, kind of a gruff fellow, but we seem to get along ticketty-boo. He's a little jokey, but not enough to irritate me. We were working on a sort of delicate operation one day, and Ray told me to step aside, while he showed me how it should be done; I had some mis-givings, but said nothing, Ray isn't my boss, but, he's one of the owners, and, what he says goes ....and I don't want him saying, "James goes!" As it turned out, he got it all wrong; surveying the fruit of his decision and action, he turned to me and said, "You never should have done it that way!" Uncool, but OK I suppose.

I was out in the yard one day, sorting out an order of lumber for Tom, and, if I might say so myself, had a healthy sweat on, and was too caught up in what I was doing to pay attention to what was going on around me. A voice boomed out, "You should at least look like your're doing something!" and laughed. Without looking up, or pausing in what I was doing, I replied, "Can't Man! If I ever did, they'd expect it all the time!" His laugh boomed back to me, and he said, "I was talking to the other guy! Back in the shop I asked Tom whom that might have been? Tom told me that that was Terry, the brother who started the business. I told Tom of our exchange, and he said, "You maybe shouldn't have said that!" "I was working Tom, and he was laughing," I replied, besides, as a fellow I've always admired, Wavey Gravey, once said, "Never Prank a Prankster!"

Irregularly Scheduled Musical Interlude!

"When you're down on your luck,

And life ain't worth a ....well ....Fiddlestick!

Sniff Glue!

When the day is done,

But you gotta' ride on!

Sniff Glue!

She's alright! She's alright! She's alright!

Sniff Glue!

If Eric were dead, he'd be rolling in his grave now!

The two men who run the business are Q & T; I'll tell you a little about them, but, keep it on the QT! It was T who gave me my interview, and called to say I had the job. A little clarification is here necessary; I'd applied for the position of 'carpenter's helper', when T called, he told me I'd got a job with the flooring team. I was, then, in no position to quibble; so I said, "Fine!" When I started, I was working as a Carpenter's helper; never did any flooring at all. It near killed me, but, the work, dispite the subsequent protesting muscles, was engaging, made me think constantly, and I enjoyed it. The last couple of days I have been the flooring crew! The job is easier by far, and there is some thought required, but, dull and slow! And Glue! You are working with the adhesive stuff constantly, and quickly! It's impossible to avoid getting the stuff on you ...and nearly impossible to get it off! You know you've had a great day flooring when, undressing in the mobile privacy of your mobile home, you toss your overalls against your bedroom wall, and ....they stay there! I wish I worked on the window crew! At least with Windows you can 'cut n' paste' with your keyboard!

They may have hired a fellow with a dubious sense of stick-to-it-ness, but, I'm a very sticky sort of chap now; and I'll stick this out till we see how this shakes down; but ....and it's a big but, there's rough roads here in Saskatoon ....and those overalls still drape gracefully above my extra bed, and this pasty situation has a look of permanence about it! The worst of the matter is that I can hardly bring myself to shake hands now with new acquaintances, for fear that I might gain a life long companion; forever thereafter, when travelling on foot, one of us would have to scuttle along backwards! It's a little too much, at 49, for a man to spend 40 hrs per week on his knees! I can't take it! I'm afraid that I'll come unglued!

Back to T whom I haven't yet got a satisfactory read on; my first impression was a quiet, serious fellow, but things are getting a little more complicated. The fellows I work with tell me that T used to be laid back and easy going, but that, in the last month or so he's changed for the worse. They aren't sure whether it's because of pressure, ambition, or a combination of the two; but all agree that it adds to the tension. I'm too new here to have an opinion on the matter, but, I can say that he's never caused me any grief.

Q is another matter; I liked this fellow right off the bat. He's got a charming Leprechanish appearance, with curly reddish brown hair, and a matching bit of a beard. His sense of humour is laid back, and never, that I've seen, intended to give offense; and to me, that's a sterling quality. The "Q", I believe, is for 'Quizical', because, in conversation, as you speak, you get the impression, from his eyes, that he's weighing your every word! We were having a coffee one afternoon, and Q joined our group; someone mentioned that he looked tired, and he admited that he was, that he'd been at the shop til 2:30 the previous morning, and back in for 7:00 this morning! That on top of an endless stream of 12 to 14 hour days! "You know Q?" I chided, "You just don't seem your' usual opptomistic self when you don't get your proper rest!" Q laughed, as did the others, and someone threw in, "I've never seen you lose your temper, How do you keep your cool when everything is going wrong?" Q thought about it for a moment, and, you could see that he weighed his own words as carefully as he did your own, finally said, "I have a very bad temper, but I can't let it go in here; at home however," and he paused here for effect, "my cats are terrified of me!"

A few days l was in Q's office at the days end, and I enquired as to how his day had been? "I've had just the worst day," intoned a weary looking Q, "I bent the tailgate on my truck!" I had to enquire, and I did, "How'd that happen?" "I was bringing a load of stuff from the old shop," said Q, "and the weight of it, pressed against tailgate, popped the latch! I lost half my load! It was lying on the highway behind me! It was rush hour! ....I was so startled that I braked abruptly, and ...my hat fell on the passenger seat beside me! Q paused here, with much the same look on his contemplative face, as I'm sure was on Murphy's, when Murphy finally realized that, He, himself, was an oppomist! "My cup of water," pondered Q, "tumbled from it's holder ....and landed ....upside down ....in my hat!" "Q" smiled I, "that sounds like something I'd do, and, between you and me ....I find that hard to respect in a fellow!"

Q's a good fellow to work for/with, and I do enjoy his sense of humour, but, I made a Waldorf salad this afternoon, and, it's sitting in the fridge as I type; I can assure you of one thing ....it ain't going to eat itself! For the time being I must allow my new friend Stanley to idle while I toil on; perhaps, with time, I'll get a different job ....and, the two of us, can get ....hammered! I will type you some more tomorrow; in the mean time, there's things to see, and people to do ....and, I'll tell you all about it!

James (B. stuck up!) Mackay