Concrete Shooter

Phil and I took the boys swimming yesterday. Phil hasn't been in a pool since Christmas break, and he was unenthusiastic about another day in 100+ heat. A few hours cooling in the pool was restorative.

We then stopped by the hardware store to get a gun that shoots fasteners into concrete. The last time Phil used one, several years ago on a job site, he simply rented the equipment. Since then, OSHA has decreed that if a person is working for someone else, they have to be certified; if they aren't certified, that's a $25K fine (or something like that). So rental places don't rent them out anymore.

I don't know when we'll use such a tool again, but we now own one, shooting fasteners into the concrete to attach the flashing around the concrete; the flashing will shed water. Water tight buildings are good.

It's pretty neat. You load the chamber, press the flashing, and shoot. I mean, it's pretty neat if you're a guy. Yet another task I'm thankful I didn't have to do.

Today our friend Creigh came to visit. He helped Phil with the framing on the front. He was better at shooting (for some reason the fasteners went in further for him), so Phil let him do them all. They both put up some angle supports, which helped Phil: some of those tasks are tricky.

So good building progress, good fellowship.

I picked our peach harvest: 40 small fruits, about the size of golf balls. Good flavor, but just not much quantity.

The yellow jackets and hornets are greedily pursuing our apples now. The boys and I shared several. They are flavorful, but very dense (Phil said, "almost woody"). We think irrigation is in our future.