Askew

Tom and Bryce (In between the trusses)  taking a rest after moving the trusses

The floor trusses

From the patio looking at the trusses.
The second to the last truss on the far right is the one that is two and half inches off!

Addition!

So let me write you a little bit about the irony that has happened this week. We have been working on a deck for the back of our home and we have been working hard. Lifting floor trusses is hard work for a little girl like me. Anyway, we had to laugh about what Elder Matt said last week in his letter to Tom about "doing things right the first time and the only time..." Well, the boys had measured and measured and marked the lines and then we brought those huge trusses over and placed them in their spot. Then we nailed them down!!!! Oh yes we nailed them with galvanized 16d nails. (Why in the world is there a "d" in there for penny?) Then we put a brace board across the top and screwed them in- and some of those trusses were a little crooked and we had to straighten them out, using a pipe wrench and those huge muscles of Toms. (This is why I call him Thormas- because he is like Thor, only stronger and better looking.) It was tough work. We had put everything in it's place and worked together to get things done. Then lo and behold, we went out this morning to start cutting the boards for the top of the deck and found that one of those trusses was off by two and half inches!!!! This was not the only truss that was askew. How in the world did this happen? Well, I just don't know.... I was the one putting the trusses on the designated line that the boys marked. Obviously, we have some more work ahead of us.


The moral of the story is: Always rethink and recheck what you are doing. Even if it seems pointless and you think that you are on the right path, it's always good to ask for a second opinion. (Especially if it is the advice of someone more wise than we are.) Then when it comes time to finish things up, you won't have to fix your mistakes. Some mistakes are easy to fix and some are hard. But no matter what the mistake is, it still needs to be fixed. It should be exactly like what Elder Matt said, about "doing things right the first time and the only time." It's too bad he's not here to join in the fun and laugh with us.


I think there is some line that goes, "The family that works together, stays together." Oh wait, its, "The family that plays together, stays together." I sure hope that one day we get to play on our deck and have some fun after all of our hard work!