Day 34, Tuesday September 4, 2001

A loud banging woke us up from a sound sleep at 7:30. What the hell was that?? The block truck is here. We got up and dressed quickly. Its great to see a truck that big made it up the driveway. The driver has a wireless remote control for the lift. Cool.

Laurie had to leave for work as the driver unloaded the block. I asked him to put as much in the basement as he could while still allowing me to measure diagonals. He got 7 of 10 pallets in. I think there is 82 blocks on a pallet. He left and I was eager to start laying block. I started to lay the blocks around on the footing, but there were no "L" corner blocks like I had expected. No matter how I put the blocks down it doesn't line up like I think it should. I spend hours trying to figure out a way to do it. It starts to rain. Hard. I get soaked and frustrated. My chalk lines disappear. Disgusted, I head to the camper. Here is the deal. 10 inch block is different than standard 8 inch block. 8 inch block is a perfect rectangle; 8 inched wide, 16 inches long including a 3/8" mortar joint bottom and on one end. You can turn a corner by overlapping the blocks. When you overlap it it leaves exactly half a block. With 10 inch block, the blocks are 10 inches wide and 16 inches long. When you butt one up against another in a corner, it doesn't leave half a block to overlap. It won't make an even bond. Its hard to explain. I didn't want to have to cut blocks to fit. After much agonizing and phone calls to the supplier, It became clear that nobody uses "L" corner blocks. The book I have been following must be old or regionally different. The supplier says he will send a rep out tomorrow morning to show me how to lay the blocks without the "L" corners. I spend the rest of the day sulking and felling sorry for myself. A wasted day. I call Laurie and she cheers me up. She is an angel.

3 Hours, cloudy with rain.