Wood You Help Me?

A trip to the lumber store became a cultural experience this past Friday. Entering the warehouse looked like any other lumber store in the states. However, in addition to stacks of particle board, facia, formica, and pine planks, there were stacks of asbestos sheeting. Banned in the states, this material is used frequently for ceilings and roofing materials. In fact, our ceiling is made of asbestos. Thicknesses of boards are also different than what we’re used to in the US. After much thought Tracy decided on a bundle of 5-51 meter pine boards strapped together. Tracy will use them for facing on shelves for home, the office, and a fellow teammate’s house. Since planks that size would be longer than our car, we needed them to be cut in two. But the lumber store didn’t have a saw to do that. But, we were told to go outside and ask for someone to cut them. Sure enough, outside the store a man with a saw, Mr. Banda, waited eagerly to help us. After he and Tracy negotiated the price for sawing, the boards were carried to the car. I went inside a next door hardware store to buy 10 meters of rope to lash the wood onto the car. When I came out the boards were lying by the car, already cut into 10 pieces. This made me smile~so different, yet it works. Mr. Banda, pretty knowledgeable with knots, helped Tracy secure the wood to the luggage rack. By the time we paid him a tip for his help and the rope we didn’t know we were purchasing, the cost came to a little over his asking price. But, we’ll ask for Mr. Banda again~he was skilled, and the lumber made it home without sliding off the car.