construction

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Construction In My City Has A Different Timeline

They say there are two seasons in Canada – winter and construction.

construction in my city has a different timeline

Summer is usually when all the road construction and repairs get done. But we have become lulled into living with lane restrictions and detours, some that last our entire spring and summer.

Here in my city, they are taking the construction season to a new level. 

Road construction now goes deep into the fall and, I dare say, into winter.

Coming back from our cottage in late August this year, we were welcomed home with work being done on an intersection close to our place. This intersection is so close that I use it every day. Actually I would have to go out of my way not to use it.

I thought the construction would help the flow of traffic and make things easier to get out of our subdivision, especially during peek hours. 

I did wonder why they were starting it at the end of the summer though. School was fast approaching and the traffic that the nearby high school generates makes it tough to get out of our community. It was obvious they would finish the construction after school started, which made me wonder why they couldn’t have scheduled it to start earlier in the summer when the intersection is not as busy.

Well, here we are rolling into December and they are still pouring cement and paving the road. And it looks like it will not help one bit with traffic flow … but hey, it will give bikers a nice lane to ride on. 

Maybe the city is sending a message right before the snow flies: Ride your bike; don’t take your car. 

I’m pretty sure that as the roads pile up with the white stuff that there will be fewer bikers … but at least they’ll have a beautiful lane. It may even get plowed. 

Why not? So much time and money has been spent on it, why not keep the lane open for the crazies who want to freeze riding to school or work. 

This intersection is taking so long to create and is such a pain, that I have a new Christmas wish. But it’s not a great wish, because it would mean I wouldn’t receive it until Christmas morning. And you know those construction workers will not be tying a bow around the stop lights for me on Christmas Day.

My worst fear is that this will go on into the new year. If it does, I will have to make a New Year’s resolution to find another way out of my subdivision.

Already I’ve had to find a few alternate routes that take me on a meandering drive through other communities. I am seeing a new side of the city.

I remember as a kid the agonizing wait for Christmas to come. Seeing the presents pile up around the tree got me hoping. Wondering what was in them created uncontainable excitement. 

I never thought I would experience those same feelings over the construction of an upgraded intersection.

Here’s the thing: It’s natural for us to have a timeline for things we want to obtain in our lives. Sometimes we have some control over them. But there are times when we want God to bring about something in our lives. It’s those things we must be patient for. God’s timeline is not ours.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you in a rush to see completed or come about in your life? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Mistake After Mistake

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a new project Lily and I are working on at our house. We’re putting new closet doors in our bedroom. (You can read that blog here.)

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At that time, it was mostly an idea to follow through on. I had taken the old closet doors off, and since then ordered new doors and begun the work of widening the closet opening.

It was going pretty well … up until last Saturday.

Our new sliding doors arrived and all I needed to do was set the door jams in the frame to make the finished opening the right size.

… It sounds pretty simple, but this is the very reason why I would never make it as a carpenter.  You see, I’m just not that good at getting things level and square and … precise.

I’m more of a rough estimate kind of guy. I also am much better at demolition than I am at construction. I had no problem taking off the drywall (though Lily didn’t like the mess), and I was pretty good and creative at removing a couple of 2×4 studs on either side of the opening.

That part went so smoothly, I even thought I kind of liked doing this project …

… until I remembered my mother’s words to me and my brother when we were young and had just broken another one of her Hummel figurines: “You two should go into the demolition business when you get older because you’re really good at it.”

… until Saturday. That’s the day I needed to put the door jams in. All that required of me was to make sure my opening was large enough, nail three pieces of wood together (two sides and a top piece), and shim it in level and square.

That’s it. It sounds so simple but it took so long! I had to call in the cavalry (my son, Mike), and even between the two of us, we worked all afternoon on it.

When it was done, the sides were pretty level and square, but the joint at one of the corners was splitting. I didn’t care at that point. I figured we could cover that up some how.

So we put up the tracks for the doors to hang on. That part was easy. But when we went to hang the door panels, we realized I had not calculated enough for the height of the doors.

They rubbed on the carpet so that it took a little effort to slide them back and forth.

I was pretty discouraged and didn’t know what to do. I really didn’t want to take that jam out after spend a whole day putting it in.

But by the next morning, I realized I needed to do it. So I did what I do best … I demoed the door jams and took out a 2×4 at the top and replaced it with a 1×4.

Now all I have to do is put in the new jam, and shim it level and square. Sounds simple, right?

Oh brother, here we go again!

Here’s the thing: When you make a mistake, the last thing you want to do is correct it. You try to cover it up, make do with it, even blame someone else for it. But the only way to really fix it is to correct the mistake. This applies to sin in your life too. Don’t cover it up; don’t make do with it or blame someone else. Go to God and correct it. Then you can move on.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you dealt with mistakes you’ve made? Leave your comment below.