6.13.2008

Oof

My lower back is gonna huuuurt tomorrow. -groan-

Had work today. The morning shift - 7 to 11. I think I officially prefer the morning shift, it's not NEARLY as ungodly hot.

We had that big storm last night, right? Hooch scrambled under my bed. I held the door for him to leave, but he stayed under there. So I said "okay. You aren't gonna leave now you'll be stuck in here all night." So he was stuck there all night.

Anyhow. After that huge storm the barn was sopping. Wet. I mean SOAKED. The dust was mud, and everything was damp. There was water in the feeding tubs for the horses that eat outside.

And guess what? There was a HUGE-ASS LAKE in one corner of the arena. I'm serious. The sand turned into quicksand, and there was a puddle of ankle-deep water.
So it was up to Micheal and I to drain said puddle. Which I fondly called Arena Lake.
So we went out there with a hoe, a shovel, and a broom and proceeded to drain the puddle. Trenches had to be dug from the dip in the sand that housed the water to outside the arena - which worked with minimal success because the grass and surrounding muck acted as a screen.
So we spent a good half-hour toiling away. I was raking out the sand from the main channel and scraping away the sand inside the draining puddle to keep the water flowing, while Micheal used the broom to push the water into the channel.
My lower back was screaming at me by the time we finished. The fact that I have a sway-back doesn't help when I have to do work like that. Oy.

And by the end of draining the better part of Arena Lake, my shoes were waterlogged and full of grit. Eew. I rinsed them out before I left - my socks were beyond salvaging.
But it's three and a half hours for which I'm getting paid, so it's cool. A job I enjoy, I can do without too much trouble, and my co-workers are amiable. Better than most jobs, so I'm not complaining.

5 comments:

Licensed Poet said...

I have a pretty useful back brace I used to wear when I worked for a scrap metal company at the Pilgrim State site in New York pulling copper and wire from old buildings... lots of fun stories about that, but anyway it was extremely helpful in making sure I didn't go home with back pain every day. If you want to you can use it; it'd probably help a great deal. :)

Desert said...

Nah, draining a giant puddle is a rare occurrance, so after this there shouldn't be a need for it. But thanks anyway. ^_^

Licensed Poet said...

It's good that it's a rare occurrence. I'd probably go nuts if I had to do that day after day. XD

Blaze said...

I've had to empty a pond full of rain water before too. I completely sympathize, its no fun and is a pain the next day. Sorry if I'm a little late on posting this. The crazy computer committed suicide and had to have the best doctor in town give it CPR and stuff. But its back now, so yay.

KDC said...

Yay we can both be like "work angst work angst" on our blogs.


I'm glad you like your job, though. It's been way too long since I worked at the barn.