Today, we poured a quarter of the slab. We were without Percy, the Peruvian Machine, who had to work at the fishery on a day shift. Besides, we all felt that Saturday´s 2 tons of concrete mixed by hand was too much, especially since we nearly missed the baptism.
Today, the guys took the initiative. While Mr. Daggett and I were mostly concerned about finishing the forms, with Peter Johnson´s steady hand at the combi (mallet), the Brophy students took charge of the whole mixing process. Before I looked up, they had mixed and poured two batches.
It may not seem like a big deal, but if the eyes of all the workers are not on the pond of water that settles inside the batch (sometimes called "the volcano"), the water could flow out and with it the concrete, the most expensive part of the mix, without which the pour is weakened consderably. In past years, Mr. D and I could expect at least one of these disappointing events a day. Yet so far with this great group of guys, no ¨lava flows.¨
