Today was less eventful. We were back at Michael's house, and first thing when I got there I organized some left over wood in the garage. Meanwhile Michael went out to Home Depot and purchased some plastic and tape, which would be my equipment for the day. They're painting Michael's house this weekend, and so I had to prep all of the windows. Although Michael's house is only one story and the guy in the picture is painting not prepping, you can still see the windows covered in plastic in the picture below. This was my task.

Suprisingly, or maybe not, it took me all day to not even finish. I got about 3/5's of the way around the house before lunch. At lunch I chatted with Esteban about various sports and Mexico. I told him about the throwing events in track and talked to him about Catlin's soccer team. He is a soccer player himself and likes to play center mid or forward. "I like scoring goals and dribbling. I don't like defense," he told me. I explained that I was too slow and unskilled to play anything but defense. He found this funny.

Esteban comes from a town in Mexico about three hours drive north of Mexico City. He came to the U.S. and to Portland about 15 years ago. He's always asking me: "So, Eddie, what do you think?" or "what do you think, Eddie?" (some variation on that). I usually respond: "it's good," or, "I like it." Something else that people keep telling me, all four of the company's employees in fact, is that when I'm done working with them, I'll know that I won't want to work construction for the rest of my life so I need to go to college. In response to this, which I hear at least twice a day, I usually laugh (a little nervously).

I certainly wouldn't want to do this for the rest of my life if I never got paid, as is happening now.

This morning was difficult. I struggled to manage giant sheets of crinkly plastic as the wind pulled them from my grasp. Painstakingly, I learned to get the edge of the tape to line up with the edge of the window's casing. I swore aloud frequently but managed not to weep. By lunch I had a system down, big roll of tape in one pocket, roll of plastic in the other, balanced precariously on short ladder, weilding razor blade for edge-trimming, I worked more efficiently if still slow. I got about 3/4's of the house done by the end of the day.

Tool of the day: Scotch Blue Painter's Tape. Tears easily, sticks to anything (i.e. wood, plastic, glass, and my shirt). Couldn't prep windows without it.