Elwood general bucket store...
E>Dan
We Keep this bucket on the window because
when it rains it leeks in this corner.
While renovating earlier this year we fixed the ceiling
of all its leaks and swellings and
we were under the impression that our landlord was doing the same with the roof!
But no, in fact, when he climbs up on the roof with his shaky little ladder
he just moves tiles about to different places..
and now we have not one,
not two,
not three,
but FOUR leeks,
and after our big weekend down pour,
we now have a ceiling full of holes
and another set back to the Tea house!
22.11.09 10:31
Petty much if we dont
get roof fixed we're
fucked, the floor is like a
skate rink
E>T
T was away for the weekend
and being the weekend
I could not really get a hold of anyone.
My main concern was the unsealed part of the
new bench that has jut been put in.
Under srict instructions from Dan the Chippy
we were not to get it wet,
and it was wet!
The drips at first fell heavily into the buckets
and made a manic melody
but then as the rain got heavier the drips became a constant stream
and my job consisted of changing them before they over flowed.
But look how gorgeous the benches look with their new red stain...
I did call my friends dad, who works with timber,
and he was very calm when telling me how to dry the benches out,
which in turn made me feel a whole lot better about not wrecking all the new work.
Actually I also just needed council.
As I mopped away
I questioned why we were even bothering to do what it is we are trying to do.
Why not just throw in the towel and move on...
I was busy in the store today
customers streamed in like the water from the holes in the roof..
Yet in between mopping and changing buckets
I seemed to be hugged by many people over the counter,
I was capable but also carried.
We, the customers and I,
debriefed about how and why we chose to live in this urban environment.
How it's not always easy to break away from the status quo
or to fit in with it either.
I listened as people, I know only really over the counter, shared their 'stuff'
and on more than one occasion I held some ones hand, or was hugged,
or was treated with kindness
and concern.
I could say if I wanted to,
that I wanted to cry,
that I was disappointed,
that I was frustrated,
that it was funny,
that I didn't always know what to do,
or
that I did know what to do,
and thanks,
and its o.k, and yep, this is life...
and then in the middle of the choas
I held my friend Kate's very new new baby 'Willem',
me with a new born, a tiny tiny thing.
He was crying at first, and I had the inertia I have with all babies,
I thought, 'Shit, I dont know what to do here to make it stop'
but then I just held him high, up close to my chest
and I whispered things like,
' its ok, yo keep crying, you're just letting us know where you're at'
and I walked calmly about with him in my arms
and I kept serving people
and in all the choas, tiny wee Willem stopped crying.
Just before I passed him back to Kate,
I looked at this little little human
and realised the part in me that wanted everything to be o.k for him
was the point.
That was my day at work today.
