At some point I was driving on River Road from Guerneville to Santa Rosa passing a bridge under construction and saw a man with a nail belt on, something snapped in my head, I wanted that to be me. I had previously learned a few things, my father wanted to remodel his beach house in San Clemente Ca. during the year 1960. My friend Bruce was a trained journeyman in the Carpenter's Union and came to show me how to do the work. After we poured the slab (700 sq ft) the neighbor told us it would be a good idea to get a permit. I went on up to the Building Department and found two smiling men at the desk. When I told them the address and that we wanted to add two bedrooms, a den and a bathroom, one of them handed me a piece of typing paper and told me to sketch out what we had in mind. After I did that, he said "That will be $25, don't worry about calling us, show us the electrical work before you close the wall and if we want to see more we'll come by".
So that was the first time I poured a slab, set foundation bolts, plates, studs, joist, rafters and all the layers that make up a standard house. Bruce was very patient with me, and it is always a pain in the ass to take on wise-ass American youth and teach them a trade. I will always owe him for that. Listening to my theories and pontifications, observations and wrong-headed arguments with a smile, until he just had had enough.
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