I thought I would be happy when we started insulation, excited even. Well, maybe I am seeing it come together, but have you ever worked with fiberglass?
Those little fibers get everywhere. Being fully clothed in long sleeves, pants, gloves, a face mask, and protective eye (preferably), is a must. If it had been cold outside, I guess it wouldn't have been a big deal, but summer hasn't quite left us. When we stepped into the sunshine, after hours of work, we glistened like Edward in Twilight.
I've never realized how many little itches I scratch in a day. After three days of this hot, tedious work, I’d better not scratch that itch on my face or adjust my pants. Imaginary hidden splinters plagued me at night, even though we showered each evening and wore different clothes every day.
My job was to measure and cut the pieces of insulation, while Jerry fit and stapled them into the walls. Upstairs my workstation was on the floor. That meant I was on my hands and knees a lot with knives that didn’t like cooperating. Up and down, up and down as I handed Jer the pieces, my thighs got a workout. In the afternoon, we’d work downstair because it was cooler. Even though I was standing at sawhorse table now, the sun made wearing all those layers pretty miserable.
Jer didn’t have it any better. Up and down, up and down those ladders he went, especially in our vaulted area. He dealt with more fibers coming down at his face. A puff of air would blow unseen fibers into his eyes. He wore the safety glasses, but both of us had a time or two we felt like we needed to wash our eyes.
Jer had purchased an air-pressure stapler but it only lasted two hours. That left him to hand-stapled almost the entire house. Today, his hand is trying to recover. Like all the other steps of building a house, I thought this would be easier, but it was a lot of hard work. Still, the exterior walls are nearly completed and a couple interior walls are insulated. Let’s take a moment to be grateful. Pause.
Now on to the next steps. We still have all the ceilings, and underneath the house to insulate. You can’t see me, but I am heaving a big sigh for the work that lies ahead of us.
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