a week at walmart

Been an interesting week down here in SLC. Steve and his partner were asked to do an emergency cleanup job for the new WalMart they did the parking lot striping for in December. The store opening is next week and the parking lot was an absolute disaster. Debris everywhere, frozen into sheets of ice upwards of six inches thick in places. Larry and I needed money, the guys needed workers - so we've been working for Steve and Keith.
Larry's job the first two days was to work with the man they hired to use a huge bucket tractor and clean snow off. Lar's part was to pick debris out of the snow before the tractor loaded it in a belly truck to be hauled off. Yesterday afternoon he was allowed to use the tractor, himself, after the regular operator quit for the day. Larry thought he'd died and gone to heaven!
I, in the meantime, was using a hot pressure washer to break up ice. It really wasn't bad except the pressure gun leaked. It kept me warm but it also soaked me to the skin. My feet sloshed in my sorrel packs every step I took. But I'll tell you what, that little gun was a 'git 'er done' gun! I could cut through that ice like a hot knife through butter. It really was rather fun.
Then, wouldn't you know, it snowed last night?! So today there wasn't much for me to do. Keith was using my machine because his broke so I came back home after 2 1/2 hours. Supposed to snow tomorrow, too, so I'm going to sub out at Lake Ridge Elementary instead of playing in the snow. Larry will work with Steve, again, though.
All in all, it's been good. Nice to be out of doors for a while. There's nothing to do around here so I never go out except to haul kids around. This was a lovely change of pace. Thank you for the opportunity, Steve.
I don't think I'll ever wonder why nobody hears much from Steve, though. That man's a going machine! Gets his kids up and to school so Jenn can sleep since Ammon doesn't sleep through the night yet (likes to munch too much!). Then he's in Ogden by 8:15 to pick up hired workers. Down to the job site as soon as he can get there (this one is over an hour's drive away from Ogden), works at a run most of the day, quits when it's too cold to work any longer, takes his worker(s) back to Ogden then goes home and either babysits his own kids so Jenn can get out for a while or goes and referees area adult sporting events.
On top of that, he's got a bum knee. Wears a brace and hauls his crutches around in his car but doesn't use them. They 'd slow him down too much. If I work with him on Friday I'll try to remember to take my camera so I can post some photos to give you an idea of what he's doing. Today, while I was there, he did a lot of ice-chipping while I used a cold-water hose to melt the edges - in between stints on the hot pressure washer, hauling ice chunks off in a wheelbarrow and using a fire hose to wash slush off parts of the parking lot. When I left he was back on the pressure washer to give Keith a break. He talks about how, at age 30, he doesn't heal as fast as he did as a teenager. No duh! I can't imagine why.