At least don't carry ladders for a block and a half and back again.
We had a contractor at the North Campus who didn't have his own ladder, and he needed access to the back of a steerable satellite dish about eighteen feet across. The center of the dish is about twelve feet in the air and it's out in the middle of the large field at that location. So I fetched a twenty-foot fiberglass extension ladder from the building, and took it back several hours later when he was done. It's a long walk. I was a little sore that afternoon, and maybe a little more so when Tam and I went for her birthday dinner.
Overnight, my joints stiffened up and my back started to hurt. Today, well, I can move around if I don't go too fast, but my knees and elbows are sore and glitchy. My neck and back are aching. I'm out of aspirin but I keep taking acetaminophen at the recommended intervals and it doesn't seem to be doing much. And we're not even going to talk about my fingers, which have been problematic for several weeks already.
So that's a job I'm going to have to be more careful about doing, and maybe not try to haul the thing the whole way at one go.
Next on the list, retrieving the twelve-foot stepladder from the basement where some other contractors left it -- the basement with the ten-foot ceiling. I'm not even going to ask.
Delegate! "The ladder that you need, since you didn't bring your own ladder, is located right here. Let me hold the door open for you while you carry it out."
ReplyDeleteHard agree. It gets worse when one is over 70. When I was a Correctional officer, we had a class on how to pick up heavy objects and I was asked how to pick up a barrel. I said "inmate, pick that barrel up and move it over there". I was 65 at the time. The contractor's failure to bring the proper equipment is not your problem.
ReplyDeleteLin
Oh, Roberta. You are a spring chicken compared to me, but I've not tried carrying a ladder cross-country since about 1963 - and, at that, my brother was at the other end of it. His in-laws had a hard time getting over the fact that we trouped along a major boulevard with that (wooden) ladder for nearly 1 mile, one way. But the in-laws used the ladder! I hope that you get the kinks and cricks worked out in good order - quickly!
ReplyDeleteI just went up to the 28-foot level of a 40-foot tower to remove some old antennas and finish a web cam install. My body is giving me signals that perhaps this 60+ person won't be climbing this tower in the next five years or so. At least I had proper PPE to climb.
ReplyDeleteOur North Campus has a big dish needing total rehab, not just filters. Think we're hiring a lift for that job.