Day 35, Wednesday September 5, 2001

I wake up feeling almost as bummed as yesterday. I have no motivation. I won't lay a single block until I'm satisfied it will work out right. I will wait for the rep from the block company. I listen to my book and lay in bed. I finally get up at 10 and fire up the machine. I have a pile of stumps and debris to move. A few minutes in, the reps show up. I explain the situation and show them my concern. They patiently explain that nobody uses the "L" corner blocks because you would still need to trim some blocks. I ask why since 34 feet is equally divisible by 8 inches. They explain that NO ONE CAN KEEP ALL THE MORTAR JOINTS EXACTLY 3/8 THS OF AN INCH. It can't be done. Masons are not machines. They are human. They say build the corners as you would with 8 inch block and cut the last block in the row to fit. If the bond gets too far off, trim a block to bring it back in line. Sounds like a plan. They leave and I commence laying block. I build up 3 of 4 corners 4 courses high. I am a slow and wasteful mason, but the results are good. Only 950 blocks left.

11 Hours, sunny and spectacular around 75.