The Bitch is Back

Early in my construction saga, I told the story of a good friend of mine who had been dubbed “The Bitch” by a crusty old carpenter who felt he was way too fancy to be on a construction site. The name stuck because despite eventually rising up to be a superintendent, he is still occasionally called “The Bitch” by people in the know.

I’ve been talking with him over the past few weeks trying to convince him and his wife to move out here to Tahoe. The construction market is a lot better here so you can make more money than the Midwest and the weather and scenery are infinitely better than back home. Toss in the limitless extracurricular activities available and it is easy to see how living here is thousands of times more appealing than the Midwest.

He talked with my boss, and they agreed that having him come out for a couple of weeks to see the area and work to get a feel for how we run things was probably the best idea. He flew into Tahoe on Saturday, and today he came to work with me once again.

It was weird working with him again after all these years. When I got my first fat-inducing office job, he stayed in the field. I can definitely tell that he kept at it because he’s pretty much a journeyman carpenter and clearly has a lot more knowledge and skill than me. Last time we worked together, I had more experience and he was the green one, seems like the tables have been turned.

I told him that I wouldn’t call him “The Bitch” at work or tell anyone the story, but that outside of work, it’s fair game. I had a hard time not calling him “The Bitch” but made it through the day without a slipup. I finished the day out at an even 170 pounds.