tuckova

Squire Tuck went to a circus training camp this weekend (what they’re called
in czech literally translates as "concentration camp" but i think
perhaps we’ll just call it a "training camp", hm?) so Friar Tuck and i
scurried off to the cottage to do all the stuff we can’t do when Squire Tuck
is there, because we’re afraid he might be scarred by the experience.

no, actually i meant pulling the asbestos panels off the wall, gutter brain.

so we pulled the remaining panel off the wall. it was behind the stove,
so first we had to take apart the stove and drag the rustingly foul
parts out, and then we pulled the panel off. i say "we" but i mean
mainly Friar Tuck, although i helped with the heavy lifting a little. i
mainly was sorting the existing stuff into piles in the hopes that
perhaps now that the roof is done we can get someone to come and haul
it all away, so i’d like it neatly stacked for efficient removal.

i’m so mad about the asbestos: the roof was asbestos tiles and the wall
panels were impregnated with asbestos, and there’s even these strings
that the guy used to stuff into the cracks that Friar Tuck says are made with
asbestos. also there’s a lot of glass wool, but i’m not even getting
into that. i’m mad because trying to find someone to haul it off is
proving to be very difficult, and trying to find a place that will take
it isn’t easy either, and the quotes we’re getting from the places that do accept it are
really high.

everybody has a different idea for what we should do with it. my
favorite suggestion was "grind it up in a woodchipper and then
distribute it in a field somewhere"; the roofer suggested that we just
bury it out in the forest. obviously not doing either of these things;
nor do i plan to just dump it at some construction site in the middle
of the night (although that is a leetle tempting)– i have enough money
to pay for it to be legally disposed of, and i will, because i am an
upstanding person and because i enjoy criticizing others, which means i
can’t be too much of an asshole without being a hypocrite.

but i do think that other people are poorer, and perhaps less upstanding, and
are taking these suggestions, and are getting rid of their once totally
legal roofs by means less than legal, and it makes me incredibly
pissed, because i can’t even be that mad at them. who wants to spend
more than the price of a new roof on getting rid of an old roof? it’s
messed up.

in addition to frolicking in the asbestos, Friar Tuck also gave me some
better instructions with the chainsaw so i got to be all i am woman
hear me roar and slash through one of the three giant piles of wood.
the firewood is totally stacking up for the winter. i sawed everything
into nice, stove-sized pieces, and then we did a thing where i was
doing the stacking while Friar Tuck was axing the bigger pieces, and i had to
grab the piece and then turn to the stack while Friar Tuck swung the ax down,
then turn back and grab the fresh piece while he got the next log out,
and i remembered when the guys would make mochi in japan in an usu
(like a giant mortar and pestle) in front of the train station, and
while we were not nearly that efficient or dangerous i still liked
falling into the rhythm of work, repetitive work that requires your
attention nonetheless.

so: good weekend. although my everything hurts a bit today. i am a
pampered pale lady and did not realize that not having muscles didn”t
mean they wouldn’t hurt.