Freezin'

Wow, it gets chilly working outdoors when the mercury dips into single digits. On the plus side, I have been exerting enough effort to keep warm. On the other hand, it is very easy to go past toasty-warm to hot-and-sweaty. And, when the windchill is 10 below, you don't want to get sweaty.

Last night I continued with the latest task, getting all the floor I-joists up onto the stud wall. With our latest snowfall (11.2 inches by my measurement) things can get interesting when carrying a 28-foot board that weighs about 150 pounds. I spent about an hour shoveling snow out of the way, then managed to hoist four of those varmints into place. It is pretty strenuous, especially the part where you climb the ladder with the I-joist on your shoulder. By the time I can set the load down, my heart rate is up around 150 bpm. I think about 30 bpm can be attributed to the fear-of-death factor - ice and snow, aluminum ladder rungs, gusts of wind, that little sign that explains that the ladder step you are currently using was not designed to be used...

So far I have 12 I-joists on the top of the wall, with 7 of those nailed in place and the others braced against the wind. My goal is to get another 20 up there by the end of the week. Once the Lego League season is over, I hope to have more working time available and make some real progress.