One that struck me on our building of a 25,000 s.f. commisary. The erection foreman called me and said the "frames aren't fitting right--they sort of lean to one side". I go to the job--the frames are all up and braced--sure enough it looked like it was leaning to one side! Digging into my vast store of knowledge, I deduced that one side of the rafter beams must be longer than the other--especially since the splich plates at the peak had a 2 inch gap at the bottom.

With the crew standing around, we debated who was going to shinny up the col. Hook a tape on the knee splice--shinny out to the peak and get a reading. One of the young recruits (brash-no good sense) settled it by VOLUNTEERING! He certainly was agile, went up that col. Like a tree climber with cleats, hooked the tape and crawled out to the peak--30 ft. above the concrete--held the tape to the splice--and silence-- I shout "what's it read?"--silence--A bit louder I say, "what the hell is the dimension?" another silence--then he spoke up--"Mr. Red, I don't know how to read no tape with all these numbers on it" !!!

Moral? Be sure you know what you're doing before you open thy mouth!

Good story to remind us of a good moral to live by. One that more people in this industry need to learn.
By George Seay