We found something these kids are REALLY good at!

Destruction!

Thats destruction with a capitol 'D' and that rhymes with 'T'
and that stands for......

Tired!

And thats what I am. Tired. Whooped. Done in. All out.
Beat. Wiped. Spent. Shattered. Utterly drained.

You know, about an average day.

Today, we began demolition on our theory room risers, preparing the space to build new ones. My partner and I will spend much of next month doing so.

The old risers, all three tiers of them, were dilapidated. In several spots they were falling in, and patched in several others. I half jokingly referred to them as 'My Retirement Plan'. Jump up and down just here, and I get a very long paid vacation at school expense while I recover from injuries sustained from willfully neglected facilities.

They have needed full replacement for five years. Instead we got one sheet of plywood and a handful of used nails to patch them. (only half joking, as we only got half a sheet of plywood and had to buy our own nails).

Last year I tried to shame them.... asking for some used lumber and a box of nails, saying we would fix them ourselves with our students. No soap.

This year, this summer..... they get replaced. Or, so they promise.
My partner and I put in our bid to do the work ourselves, as we want it done right.
Not half assed the way it was before. Luckily, the director is on his way out. Looking at our theory rooms a few weeks back, he said "I don't want people saying I left this place all fucked up like this". So, to salve his pride we get to fix our floors.

The theory rooms looked like this, this morning:



It's a double theory room, for a double class. Mirrored one side to the other.
By mid day, both sides looked like this:



We (the boys and us) took the risers apart. Big hammers,
REALLY big pry bars, a sawzall with demolition blades, and other
assorted implements of destruction.
By the end of the day one side looked like this:



At the end of the day, the theory room floor is now stacked
outside, waiting for salvage/disposal:



My partner and I intend to salvage what lumber we can, as it's a
safe bet the school won't get us enough to do the job correctly.
In addition, I brought my own tools in for this.... sliding miter saw, table
saw, and other power tools. The school owns such items, but getting them
when we need them is problematic. The people who have them... have them.

By tomorrow, both sides will be demolished and cleaned up. Then.... we
wait for the promised materials to show up. That might be a long wait.
We've already decided... if they pull a normal admin stunt and fail gloriously
to do their simple jobs, we'll paint walls and floor, then reset the rooms without risers.

Today.... I probably did things I should not have. Considering I fell off a boat Monday and bruised ribs, I maybe should not have been horsing pry bars and floor sections like that. But... had to prod the youngens to get the work done, and you can only lead from the front.

That said... tonight I pay the price. Whimper.