Solar Powered

You only have to mention the word 'rain' and they come to a grinding halt.

At 6.00am I got a call from Rick who I am paying to dig a fuckin' big hole today and the conversation goes something like this.

Rick: 'What's the weather like where you are?'

Me: 'Dry'

Rick: 'It's been raining all week and I don't know if I can dig in this weather, it was dry yesterday morning at this time and we ended up having showers on and off all day'

Me: Well, I'm up for it if you are'

Rick: 'How steep is the access to the site?'

Me: 'Steep'

Rick: 'We might have a problem driving onto the site if it is wet and we can't dump the soil in this weather because the mini tippers can't get up the hill in the wet'

Bla bla bla bla....................

this conversation went on for ten minutes and I am looking at blue skies and thinking to myself, why don't you just give it a try and if you can't do the job, go home.

Fact: It has been raining all week

Another fact: Today it isn't

I know, lets get up early and make up an excuse to stay at home and earn no money, or we could go back to one of the 5 jobs that we have half finished this week and move some soil.

No, I like the sound of the first option.

If you miss your slot for digging then you get put back for one week, so my pool will get dug next week instead. Oh, by the way I forgot to mention, I have sold 4 pools this week and arranged for Rick to dig one every Friday for the next month. Roughly translated into pool builder's terms, it means that every pool gets pushed back one week. I don't let one person down but everyone in the chain. As I am selling more pools, I need a contingency plan and find someone else to dig for me.

Rick makes one phone call to cancel and I have to ring Mesh & Bar who are delivering the steel to cancel, the plumbing supplies to cancel and the boxer and steeler to let him know that I don't need him on monday then ring the client to give her an update. When Rick tells me that he can dig my pool I have to make another half a dozen calls out of necessity to get back on track.

This doesn't happen when it is sunny so I have come to the conclusion that Queenslanders are solar powered and can't cope with rain.

They have a lot to learn from the motherland.