The framing's started--we're further along than the photo shows, nearly all the outer walls up--so the work has been steady. The two other guys on the crew have framed buildings before--one of them in prison--so I'm the new guy. Some things I've picked up, so far:

• wearing gloves is a sign of weakness
• only girls carry fewer than four 2x4's at a time
• shooting yourself in the finger with a nail gun is a source of humor, not a reason to go home for the day
• Steel Reserve is only six bucks a 12-pack, with nearly twice the alcohol content as regular beer
• A good framer only needs one swing of a hammer to sink a 3-inch nail.
  

Kelly has been doing this work for more than twenty years, through bust and boom times. His family's lived around here for 3 generations, so he knows a lot about the town. He loves to talk and tell stories, so between listening to him and the constant jokes and teasing from the other guys, I'm finding the days go by pretty fast, so far.