My first day at work was on the 1st of June. I reached the site at around 8am. Yes. Everything one can expect at a construction site was there: tools, bricks, dirt, heat, rumble, body odour, vulgar words, and etc. As a zero in constructions, the first task that I get is to transfer bricks by using a one-wheeled cart. Hmmm….simple isn’t it? That’s what I thought, until I finally get my hands on it. Damn it! 25++ bricks can actually be so heavy? And the cart was so hard to control. But the veteran workers made it looked so easy. And so, I was advised to take only 15 bricks for each go.
Well, I tried to make myself useful, just before I realized that I know nothing about constructions. So all I can do then was to push the cart, sweep the tiled floors and bucketing mixed cement. Yes, bucketing cement: shovel mixed cement into a bucket. Simple? Yeah~ that’s what I thought, until I finally get my hands on it. Guess how much a fully loaded bucket (which can filled up to 3 shovels of cement) weights? It was much heavier than I expected. Almost 30kgs according to my rough estimation. That’s when I conclude Rule No.1 in construction works: Everything is heavier than it seems.
Nevertheless, I grab every chance to learn. Anyone here knows how to mix regular Portland cement? The materials needed? The correct portion? Well, my observation had given me the answer. To get a cement mixture, the materials needed are: cement, sand, brown soil and water. Every 25kg of cement needs to be mixed with one-and-a-half cart-full of sand, a cart-full brown soil and about five to six buckets of water. The mixture will dried up as time goes by, this will then increase the viscosity of the mixture, causing it to be harder to be applied on to the walls. To over come this, water has to be added to the mixture if it’s to dry or viscous to use.
It was quite a tough day for a beginner like me. The environment is very messy, things are heavy and everyone stinks. But the funny thing is Rule No.2 in construction works: Everyone is smelly, everything is dirty, but nobody gives a damn about it. The most important thing is to get the house done in time. So everyone is too busy to care about the odour and the mess. It wasn’t so bad after all, as the other workers always keep a cheerful atmosphere, chatting about almost anything under the sun. From dirty jokes to politics, big or small, they talk about it. Everyone play their part, and cooperates. The progress of renovation runs smoothly, the boss is happy and bought tea for everyone.
The day soon came to an end at around 5pm. Although the tools are hopelessly dirty, cleaning still essential as to prolong their functioning life. After cleaning and keeping everything, it was time to knock off. It was so much and yet so little that I’ve experienced.
Yes, this is a common one-wheeled cart, which has been my “assistant” during my days at the construction site. Less than RM100 each.
No comments:
Post a Comment