shop life - episode 2

My stake on the new location began in March.

For months Jason had been baiting me,

but things were too hectic to settle down.

A single slot inside was cleared out.

The larger corner section had been claimed the month before.

In exchange I wanted this spot!

This was like a Wild West land grab,

stake it,

claim it,

Clean it!

The kids really busted ass.

They've had a lot of experience moving chit around!

The task seemed daunting.

Fortunately it was mainly a lack of organization,

a relatively small amount of stuff,

strewn over a big area.

Uh yeah...

This is the guy that scooped the corner spot.

We'd show him who got the best deal!

In one day we had cleared a huge chunk.

At the time this was a big deal!

The following weekend we continued on.

And proceeded on to the next spot over.

The drawback was the dirt floor.

A fine silty dust that got everywhere.

The first remedy would be wood chips,

sourced from the local landfill.

Now the free mulch is crap.

Full of palm frond casings and junk.

The good stuff is ground up wood.

It must be a cash cow.

Separate free wood,

grind it to various particle sizes,

and sell it for $50 a bucketful.

Cha-ching!

The pricey chips are dyed red or brown.

We settled for the plain jane.

Again the kids kicked major ass.

We spread chips everywhere.

Super proud of their hard work.

Now projects could get resumed...

As summer moved along,

the wood chips moved as well,

mixing into the silty dirt.

Shoes and socks could not stay clean!

Pavers and bricks were transferred 

from our house to the shop.

Then in summer we got the motherlode.

Free rocks!

The kids again pulled through.

That was a blazing day!

We spread the rocks as far as possible,

redistributing the chips elsewhere.

Wow what a difference!

No more dirty shoes!

The drawback was dragging out the welder,

tough on the rocks.

For the summer it worked well enough...

TP