The Last Lintel

We finally put up the last lintel yesterday, after much measuring, hoisting up and down, and notching out the right-hand jam stone. The notching was particularly tedious because it had to be done with a grinder, instead of a rock saw, which would have filled the entire house with dust and carbon-monoxide and incurred the wrath of carpenters and electricians alike. We hear enough complaining from them as it is, about our noise and our dust and rocks always in the way. Still, we are not loathed nearly as much as the insulation guys. Everyone hates them and the clouds of noxious particulate matter they create. Yesterday I said to Garrett, the head insulator, "You know, I used to think we were the most despised people on every job site, but I was wrong. Now I realize it is you. Everybody hates you."

  "Yes," he said. "It is true."
  It goes on my list of jobs I don't want to do: roofer, insulator. There. There's my list.