rain turning to cloudy

The weather is clearing (as much as it does during rainy season), and the rain may stop in time tomorrow morning for the frame raising. Y called us and said that since next week is just as iffy--clouds and scattered rain--they're going to try to get it done tomorrow. We're meant to get a call by 7:00am, to tell us whether to head out for the site--or not. If it clears--or at least is not raining--they should get the frame of the first floor done by 10:30. The second floor and the roof cover, and all the various other things, should be done by the end of the day.

Above is the schematic for the horizontal framing of the ceiling level of the first floor. We have one of these pages for each level of the frame, as well as the side view. All of the joinery has been pre-cut, so it has to be put together like a giant puzzle--full-size tinker toys, only more precise.

Our driveway isn't large enough for a crane, so lifting the heavy hari horizontal beams to set them on top of the vertical hashira will have to be done by pure manpower. Not an easy task with high ceilings and large beams. One of the mothers at m's daycare center told me that she used to date a carpenter ("Totally stupid at figures when it came to paying a bill, but he could do all the wood measuring in his head," she said.) She said her ex-boyfriend told her the master carpenters were judged by how many people would come for the frame raising, and the good ones would have everyone dropping by to lend a hand: the plasterers, electricians, plumbers . . . everyone. If only a few people showed up, then it was accepted that the young apprentices would slowly drift away over time, looking for another mentor.

Ain't life a bitch.