Monday, August 15, 2005

best work crew ever

While riding a tall bike I get to see a side of Portland few ever do. Imagine riding around on a 5 foot ladder. I was coming back to the clown house after delivering some Dawg Snax and happened to notice the best work crew ever.
Rounding the corner, my eyes met a catastrophe in progress, kind of like watching a volcano rip a valley a new one. On each side of an almost windowless building, stood some young men on ladders. They had power sprayers, and were blowing a century's worth of lead paint chips all over them, the ladder, nearby trees, children...the whole place was hammered.
When I got to the other side, I noticed a pile of blue tarps, neatly folded in the back of a paint-chip splattered new truck. (The perspective from a tall bike allows for views into truck beds and dumpsters).
Maybe they didn't see the tarps under the eighth inch of paint chips...nice.
I rode on, wondering if the "Puddin head patrol" were gonna get fired or commended. I thought I had seen the best of it...I had not.
When I got to the next block past the disaster zone I glanced down and started laughing: those dunces and the sprayer had created a little river of lead paint chips that flowed down the gutter and traveled passed some children who were playing "Boats" in it, and into a drain headed to the river...glorious.
I wish I could have made one of them drink the crap they just added to the river.
Why do blogs lend themselves to bitching?

4 comments:

Rozanne said...

I don't know why blogs lend themselves to bitching, but they really do.

They also lend themselves to ranting and can be pretty darn cathartic!

Diana said...

Who knew the view from a tall bike could be so rewarding?

Anonymous said...

How can u tell if it's lead-based paint?

Dingo Dizmal said...

You can tell it's lead paint by how old the building is and how thick the paint is thats being chipped off.
they only stopped the lead paint 30 years ago.

Sorry I forgot your birthday song.