I had a great time at 2021 Shed Builder Expo in Grand Rapids! Thanks to each of you who took the time to visit with me on the floor and at my book signing.
Special thanks to those of you who purchased a book and support my work. If I could put Julian in charge of my book sales and marketing, I would retire soon!
I have been writing this little column since April 2016 and, to be honest, sometimes I struggle with inspiration.
I have not built sheds in about six years due to moving into a management position and so it seems I have shared all the stories I can recall. However, while visiting with the friendly folks at the Expo, I remembered why I started this journey. It is because I believe shed builders are fascinating people who have important stories to tell.
My goal is to represent those fine men (and women, if applicable) through my own experiences.
My guess is that the reason many of you flip to the back and scan this page is because you can relate. You may have never shared the exact experience, but you probably smile and nod as you read along. The adventures I have experienced here in southern Oklahoma are similar to things that shed builders encounter all across the fruited plain.
So, thanks to each of you who shared your stories with me. Thanks for telling me how much you enjoy my scribbled stories. Your encouragement motivated me to keep on writing. Never underestimate the power of your encouraging word!
Now for the story. This tale took place in a very distant time, long before my brain fully developed. One of my fellow shed builders and I were making our merry way toward our on-site location for the day with a fully loaded truck and trailer when the truck began to hiccup. After a few minutes, it was evident that we would not be able to continue traveling in this rig.
We were on I-35 just a bit south of Purcell, so we found a good spot to pull off the road and park. Since we are not the type to give up after hitting a little obstacle, we called another builder to bring us a truck.
Since we were still trying to build a shed by the end of the day, everyone was in a hectic state of mind. It was decided that they would bring another truck and trailer.
While we waited for reinforcements to arrive, we got busy unstrapping our load so we could quickly transfer all the materials onto the new trailer. It did not take us long to get the load ready to move. Then it was time for a quick nap.
Our backup rig arrived, and we worked feverishly to move the entire shed worth of lumber to the new trailer. We repeated the work we had done the previous day to ensure the load would ride safely to our destination. All the tools were pulled from their resting place on the onsite truck and reassigned to a new location on the spare truck.
Our friend agreed to wait on the wrecker so we could continue to our on-site destination.
I honestly do not remember if we finished our shed that day or not. What I do remember is Robert’s reaction when we told him what we had done. He shook his head incredulously.
“Why didn’t you just unhook the trailer from the onsite truck and hitch it to the other truck? Would have saved a lot of effort.”
None of us had a good answer. You may notice I did not use the names of my two fellow shed builders in this story. Let’s just say it was not one of our brightest moments.
Not every day in the life of a shed builder showcases our brilliance.