Appreciation post: the old guy at the yard in Springfield who saved my bacon last month

I was picking up 800 face bricks for a garden wall job and my truck's tailgate latch broke right as we started loading. This older bricklayer, named Frank, saw me panicking and just walked over with a length of heavy-duty ratchet strap from his own rig. He showed me how to loop it through the latch points to make a temporary hold that got me home. Where do you even learn tricks like that anymore? What's the best on-the-spot fix you've ever seen or done on site?

3 comments

3 Comments

anna_foster4814d agoMost Upvoted

That reminds me of a plumber I worked with years ago. He fixed a cracked pipe joint with nothing but a C-clamp, a scrap of inner tube, and a prayer. Held for three days until the new part came in. Just a different kind of problem solving, you know?

thomas.tyler2d agoTop Commenter

Isn't that just common sense though?

mason3314d ago

Man, I love those old-school fixes. My best one was probably using a zip tie and a bent nail to keep a busted drill trigger going for a whole afternoon. Looked ridiculous but it worked. I once saw a guy prop up a wobbly sawhorse leg with a stack of paint stir sticks and duct tape. It's like a lost art, you know? Where do people even learn to think like that now?