Started the summer job Wednesday. I'm working with a guy I met who is a general contractor. In addition to odd jobs around town, we're building a house from the ground up. I was hoping I'd get to see it from the very beginning but the foundation had been dug out and the blocks laid, something I wouldn't have been doing , anyway--Kelley contracts that out. Five or so guys get the whole 3000 square foot house laid in a four or five hours.

So I just missed getting to drive around a miniature earth compactor to pack the dirt in. By the time I started they were shoveling gravel in and making sure the base of the house was more or less exactly 3 to 4 inches beneath the top of the blocks so that concrete could be poured in thick enough to be secure but not so thick as to be a waste of money.

The day was about 90 degrees. Nothing compared to what's about to come.