Rejoists!

Today I worked with Edis again. And joy of joys, we got to actually put in some wood that will be permanent! Some pressure-treated (PT) 2x8 for the sill plate, the wood that gets bolted to the foundation and the floor joists sit on. I also had Edis mix and place some concrete around a drain and a small area near where the heating duct passes through from beneath the dining room and entry way to under the bedroom.

And as scheduled, Economy Lumber delivered the floor joists, rim joist and T&G flooring I'd ordered. It arrived with a mighty thump! (They do the normal back up and brake hard, and let the load roll off the back type of delivery). Unfortunately, it arrived just as the lunch I was preparing was ready (Cuban-style black beans and rice -- yum!), so I moved some stuff down while Edis finished up with the concrete, and we had a slightly less fresh lunch.

We'd had tamales (from Trader Joe's -- yum!) for lunch the other week, and I found out that Edis (and by extrapolating based on other observations, Naun) doesn't like spicy food. The TJ tamales have chiles in them, and come with sort of spicy salsa, so it was no surprise that he picked out the chiles and ate the rest. So I asked what foods he does like, and intersected that set with the foods I like, and we had pasta with marinara sauce. This morning when I picked him up, Edis had two "Honduran-style" tamales for me. I asked if they had meat, and he said they had chicken.

Today at lunch, Edis asked if I'd eaten the tamales he'd given me (not sure when that would have happened, since we'd been working together since we'd arrived), and I explained that I didn't eat meat, and he asked why. Hmm...how to explain why I don't eat meat, given my limited Spanish? I started by saying it's very complicated. It takes lots of land and water to raise cows, and they produce a lot of waste. Many cows aren't treated well (not sure I actually said that, but I said words to that effect.) It's better for my heart (I couldn't remember how to say body, and wasn't sure that would translate anyway, since I meant health). But I managed to get my point across, for probably the most complicated thing I've ever said in a language besides English. And promptly found out his little brother (who still lives in Honduras) doesn't like meat. He likes beans and rice, and has managed to get a little gordo eating it. But the upshot is that Katarina will get to sample the tamales, and I'll report to Edis and his mom.

And in an odd bit of kismet, while Edis and I were moving the floor joists, et al, down to near the addition so they wouldn't be swiped or get wet, and a neighbor I've seen walking before was stopped by the pile of lumber. She asked if I was going to throw away the strapping from the lumber (the floor joists were in one bundle, the rim joists in another, and the T&G plywood in a third). I said yes, and asked what she wanted it for, and she said an art project. She said she'd looked into buying some, but it was only available in large quantities, and she only needed a bit. So I went and found the other straps and gave her those, too. I'm doing my best to reduce / reuse / recycle for this building project (some of the 2x8 DF that's going to be the joists for the 'floor' of the lofts has already been used 2 or 3 times), so this was a great thing for me. I didn't have to wrestle the metal straps into the garbage (I don't think they'll take them for recycling), and she ended up with exactly what she wanted for her project. How cool is that?