I Pass up a Fortune

I must be the only lawyer in Florida who would injure himself at Home Depot and then walk out and not bother them about it.

One of my safety sins is shopping for lumber in flip-flops, and I did it again today, and everything was going fine until I lightly nudged a bundle of planks. It came down on my left foot, opening a nice cut and leaving what will probably turn out to be an impressive bruise. They definitely had no business leaving that junk stacked that way in front of the two-by-eights, but it was pretty stupid to shop without real shoes, and I wasn't particularly interested in meeting the manager and being begged to sign waivers and generally being delayed. Bet I could have gotten some free stuff.

I am going to have some enjoyable stiffness for a week or so. If it had been a bigger bundle, I'd be at the ER. I guess I'll wear shoes next time.

I wanted a two-by-eight because I'm going to put it across three roof trusses and hang a chain host from it. That will spread the load out very well. I put a rope over the weakest place in one of the trusses and swung from it, and my fat could not even budge it, so I feel reasonably confident that I can raise the compressor half an inch without destroying the roof. As an added plus, I should be able to move the two-by-eight to a more central location and leave the hoist attached to it.

I picked up a cheap hoist and a six-foot sling. I'm hoping I can use the sling to make a deal that will hold onto the compressor, and I'll put a knot in the middle for the hoist hook to go through.

Damn it. I forgot to get wheel chocks. But I did get a regulator/filter for the compressor. I was confused by the fact that they came in both 3/8" and 1/2" sizes. I figured it should be the same diameter as the hose, so I went with 3/8".

Guess I'll limp out to the garage and get started.

By the way, people keep telling me to shore up the bottom chords of the trusses with temporary columns. The chords are about 12 feet off the floor, so that would be a pretty difficult job.