Day 87 October 27, 2001

Have you and your spouse ever put up 100 pound collar ties 20 feet high in the snow, rain and/or sleet? Why no, you say, I don't even know what the heck a collar tie is. Well you haven't really lived yet. A collar tie is part of the roof system. It is a horizontal member, 6"x8"x8' or 12' in this case, that attaches to the rafters to help keep the roof load from spreading the walls out. Laurie and I used a rope, sling, pulley and winch to pull them up to the proper height and then I centered, leveled and nailed them to the rafters. I will come back and use 4 5/8" bolts on each end when I buy a drill that will fit in between the rafters. I routed a groove on top of some of the beams to hide wires in for the ceiling lights and fan. Laurie was her normal chipper self as the wind blew and sleet fell. She just chuckled. Every time I touched the scaffolding the wind picked up. I DO have super powers! I am WIND MAN! Able to fear tall buildings in a single touch! Able to cause the weather to change!

9 hours, cold, windy, rainy, sleety, snowy.