#10 - The Slab: Confessions of a Cashier

Isn't slab such a fun word?  Did you know there are different kinds of slabs?  There ARE.  At least according to my friends at the building department.

But let me back up a little bit.

When I was a teenager, I worked at K-Mart.  Every kid that ever lives should work in customer service at some point before they turn 18.  There are zillions and zillions of life lessons to learn from working with the public.  Such as, some old guys get really, really livid when you don't have the ability to type in 45 cans of sardines all at one time.  No, I'm sorry sir, I can't use the quantity button.  Kmart management won't give me that authority, but if you would just let me scan these tins instead of arguing with me about K-marts policies, I could be finished by now and you could be on your way with your tins o' fish.  Yes, I know it's inefficient, but what can I do?  I'm 16, I'm making $5.35 an hour to scan stuff, so just let me scan your sardines, which, by the way, why are you eating them?  Maybe they're making you grumpy.  (All of this occurred inside my head.  Out of my mouth came nothing but polite words followed by, "Thank you for shopping at K-Mart.")

Also, that it's possible for a skinny woman to enter a dressing room with 1 pair of granny underpants and several other articles of clothing, and then to exit the dressing room 5 months pregnant carrying zero articles of clothing.  Saw it with my own two eyeballs.  She had stuffed those granny panties full of shirts!  These are the life lessons to be had.

Back to my point (I didn't intend to delve into my K-Mart Life Lesson Days, but here we are.), when I worked at K-Mart, I worked hard. My parents set a good example for us, they both have STELLAR work ethics and put 100% into all tasks they do both at work and at home.  Thanks to their examples, let's just say, I earned K-Cash on a regular basis. K-cash was paper reward money that managers gave out when a worker received a customer compliment.  I don't remember the details of how to spend my K-Cash, but that little wad of it in the pocket of my red K-Smock was a pretty niiiiice treat!  I did almost every job at K-Mart, and I worked hard at each of them.  But there was one boss -- she wasn't even intimidating! She had boss-like expectations, but she was nice!   But for whatever reason, every. single. time I was around her, I did something really stupid, ignorant or embarrassing.  Tasks I did exactly right all of the other times, I would royally mess up in front of her.  In conversations, my words would come out all wrong and I said the dumbest things.  I continually felt like an idiot.

It's kinda the same with my friends at the building department.  Where I continually make a fool out of myself for no good reason!  (Actually, I think they don't do a very good job communicating and everyone comes out not having a clue what they're asking.)

I called the building department to schedule our slab inspection...the one that we passed the other day.

Me: We're ready to have our concrete slab poured, so I need to schedule a slab inspection before we do that.
Her: What kind of slab?
Me: (panicking. oh gosh. here we go. don't mess this up. It can't be that hard! What kind of slab? What kind of slabs are there?) A . . . concrete sl--? A poured concrete slab.  (What is she asking me?!?)
Her: No, is it a basement? crawl space? one-story?
Me: OH! RIGHT.  No, no it's not a basement.  It's just a one story slab.  (The kind made out of poured concrete.)

SO MY FRIENDS!!! Our POURED CONCRETE SLAB is POURED!  AND IT'S CONCRETE!!   I am so glad we went for the poured concrete over the other kind.  It's way better.  Supposed to last longer too.

The trucks came yesterday (one pink truck, one green truck), and we were all fascinated by the process. We watched the entire time the trucks were here. There's something amazing about watching something you have dreamed about and waited for, for so-so very long take shape before your very eyes!

 

 

 

Three workers were here around 10 (same workers that have been here before for the other aspects of the footer and foundation). Matt took the morning off work (and then eventually took the whole day)--he had to monitor the effect of the concrete on the hydronic piping.  If pressure was lost during the pouring or working of the concrete, it would've indicated a leak.  But, the pressure held.  The pipes weren't harmed at all during this process.  The guys were here the majority of the day, so we fed their bellies and kept them hydrated.  Matt chatted with them a little bit.  One of the guys has been doing this since he was 15 which I think is great!  I change my opinion to include manual labor AND customer service.  Both should be required by kids before they become adults.

And that's that.  They did beautiful work.  They worked like a well-oiled machine.  And the cloud cover was PERFECT.  The weather could not have been any better for a day of getting a new poured concrete slab.

So very thankful for slabs made out of poured concrete.

So very thankful for the smooth process thus far.

Up next: FRAMING!!