"Dean Meyer, you, you are an IronMan", an announcement that touched me deeply and I proudly reflect upon often. Most people do not get the imact of the event. Even after seeing bowel releases, heat strokes, and pain/suffering on tv, watching a twelve hour ordeal condensed into an hour ABC World Wide of Sports show (Hawaii). It makes eating the potato chips on the couch kinda hard. Kinda.
So when I am asked about it, I relate the effort/distances to what may be easier to grasp. Swim - 2.5 miles (Hey, it took an hour and a half), Bike - 112 miles (Basically, it is from here (StL) to Kingdom City), Run - 26.2 miles (People do get this one. Many have done one!). The follow up question is answered by a mantra that worked well for me: you deal with the impossible by eating the whale one bite at a time.
And it is so for this project at times. This week brings a lull in subcontractor activity but a continuation of all other tasks. I took on clearing out the root cellar and prepping it for a concrete floor. (I hope to turn it into a passive-storage, wine cellar) This 'clearing out' means basically, me and a shovel under the house. Over the course of a two days, I moved one measly shovel full of wet clay one at a time, up and out the cellar opening, onto the sidewalk. This amounted to...a shade under five tons. Then five more tons in scooping it up and wheeling it into the back yard.
Once the clay was removed, I shoveled in 1.5tons of compactable rock (today). Tomorrow brings the cement truck with 4.5tons that needs to be pushed, shoveled, and proded across the rock.
In four days, I will have moved 16tons of materials. I kinda knew it was alot of work; heavy stooped work with basically a shovel and wheel barrow. I knew it was going to be sucky work.
So, I used the one bite at a time approach and here I sit today: very freaking tired but on the cusp of a wine cellar for my project.
Dear friend: do you want to accomplish an 'impossible' task? Try it one mouthful at a time.
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