Harder than we anticipated?

     Our last pour was last Tuesday, and our next anticipated pour should have been that Friday  or the following Monday.  So, what has happened since then? We poured last Tuesday and started prepping for our next pour on Wednesday. Thursday's temperature, -4 degrees and the winds were blowing about 25 mph. I am not sure what the wind chill factor was, but it was freakin cold. We did manage to stick it out all day though. But, when it is that cold, it is difficult  to get much done. Jobs don't stop though, and you do what you can to be productive. When your job is outside, you work in the cold, in the rain and in the heat, that is just how it is. But, when you work on an island, you don't work when the seas are rough.

     Thursday  night I drove home to keep an appointment, up at 3:30 am, called to make sure the ferries were running, and headed of to work. By the time I got to the ferry an hour and a half later, they were canceled. I must admit, when you are in a hotel all week, having Friday off, is not that bad, but it doesn'the help the job much.

     No work on Friday, now means our Monday  pour gets pushed to Tuesday. Tuesday was not the best day, the tides meant a truck on the 2 pm ferry and the 3 pm ferry. The 3 pm would get to the island by 3:30, start pouring about 3:45, and he would probably miss the 4:30 ferry. My thought was, big deal, so he gets on the 6 pm ferry, and I get yelled at by the concrete company. Well come to find out, the 6 pm ferry is not big enough to take the mixer back. So, pour half of the wall, or wait?

     Given that it is cold, and we have to pre heat the formwork before the pour, and heat after the pour, I decided to wait until I can get two trucks out here. Wednesday was out, no trucks Wednesday,  so Thursday or Friday. I put orders in for both days, just in case ferries get canceled on Thursday,  I still have Friday  as an option. This is now, over a week with no concrete.

     Now the office is getting nervous and I believe, irritated, but at what or whom? The tides look good for next week, weather looks good, temperatures look good, so hopefully, we can pour some concrete. I hope the office understands,  me and my guys don't want to be here any longer than we have to. We want to go home, hotel life sucks.