Physically Taxing Weekend

This weekend I helped my brother Dave replace his roof. He called me on Thursday asking me if I could help him but I had to decline, as I was depressed that day. I asked if it could wait until the weekend and he said OK. On Saturday I was a bit depressed but I called him anyway, and he picked me up. On that day his son Alex's friend Matt was helping him (Alex was away, at a baseball tournament). My first task was putting old shingle fragments into a wheelbarrow at the back, wheeling it to the front, and emptying the wheelbarrow into a big yellow plastic garbage container (made of flexible plastic like a garbage bag). That was a hard job and I feared I would have to do it all day, but after 6 or 7 wheelbarrow loads I was told I could quit that and go up to the scaffolding to help out Dave and Matt. My job was to hand shingles to Matt, and make diagonal cuts in shingles which go at the edges of the triangle-shaped section of roof they were working on. I had a piece of shingle that was my template, and my brother called out the required length, which I would mark with a pencil on the board that was my table, next to the shingle to be cut. I would use the template to guide the blade of my knife. That job was a lot easier than the wheelbarrow job, and my spirits improved. It was very hot and sunny and I got a sunburn. When my brother gave me a ride home I offered to help him the next day.

The next day (today) it was just me and Dave. I didn't do much work today. I moved a large bucket-load of old shingles on a dolly and disposed of it at the front of the house. I helped Dave shake debris off a large blue tarp and tied a rope around it so Dave could lift it up to the scaffolding. I also helped move fragments of old shingles from the roof and also the scaffolding to a pile on the lower-level scaffolding. But most of the day I did very little work (and got very dirty, as the dirt stuck to the sunblock on my sunburned arms). Both days we got fed (subs on Saturday, Harvey's burgers and fries today). I was depressed on Saturday morning and that evening after I got home, but was not depressed for most of the rest of the weekend. On Saturday I found it incredible that professional roofers can put up with that job, day in, day out. But today I wasn't at all depressed and realized the obvious fact that if you're not depressed you can put up with just about anything. I might help Dave next weekend if he needs it.

Tomorrow I see my GP and find out whether the lab test that found protein in my urine was accurate (it often isn't). Next Thursday the 15th I meet with my financial advisor. I want to find out if I can afford to continue working only 3 days a week, and still have enough money to retire in 15 or 20 years. This Thursday Helen Posno is supposed to call me. I had a first date with her last week. I might be her computer tutor at Back to Basics on Thursday. So I guess I will wrap this up and go to bed, as I'm exhausted (but clean, as I showered earlier). My nephew Alex turns 18 in September. I want to buy him something special; maybe Dave will split with me the cost of a laptop. That's all for now. To all my American blog readers, and they are legion, no doubt, Happy Fourth of July. To all my Canadian blog readers, Happy Non-Long Canada Day Weekend (or, in my case, Weakened). See you later.