The "Don't Dare Drop That Hammer" Story

It was an ordinary day. Lance and I were finishing up a job for Carol's Uncle Albert and Aunt Bea Greenly. Lance and I had a small part-time business installing siding in the evenings and over the weekend. Lance was my cousin Judy's husband at the time and he worked for a siding contractor. One day I asked him if he would be interested in helping me put siding on my mom and dad's house. Well, one thing led to another and we ended up doing three other houses on the block where mom and dad lived. Lance supplied the tools, materials, and know-how and I supplied the customers and labor. We worked well together. It was extra income that was needed for my growing family. Only problem was it did take time away from being with the family, but they could come anytime and watch us since I lived on the same street as my parents. Then other people started calling and asking if we could do their house. Before long we were busy most weekends. We first started with aluminium. Fun to work with and I learned quickly all the ins and outs of putting siding on a house. You start at the bottom and work you way up the house. If you were almost finished and dropped your hammer and dented the siding below you, you learned quickly how to repair it without removing any of the siding that was already in place. And ... it happened more times than I care to remember. Eventually we switched to vinyl when that became popular. Much easier to work with and you didn't have to worry about scratching it or denting it. Today we are finishing at the Greenly's house and I'm sorry to say it will be our last job together. We have spent the past four years working together, but Lance and Judy were having some problems and would be separating. Carol and I thought it was best to discontinue our working together to keep peace in the family. Today Lance and his new wife live in a house between my two sons in the west end of the county. He and my cousin are still friends and Carol and I see them at family birthday parties. Funny, but I never missed the siding business after I quit. It was just an extra income and I replaced it with something else. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.