Back to Burning Paint and 1989 Remembered

Where has the month of August gone? I must be in a masochist mood. After years of procrastination I finally started work on the front porch columns. Eventually I will put a “faux sandstone” finish on these. There is too much peeling paint and build up to even think of painting over the mess. Since these columns are made from cement, that acts like a heat sink making burning the outside paint very time consuming. The smell of the propane torch and burning paint brings back years of memories of doing this miserable job.

My last entry got me researching back through my paper journal from 1989. What a year that was. Reading back through those adventures and now having the hindsight of years of following other peoples journals and blogs: I think I can honestly say my friends and life are anything but the norm.

My old house in Lockport, NY was a great place. I cut my teeth in restoration working on that home. It was located just a few blocks away from Clinton St hill. This was the Rt 78 truck route through my city. In 1989 a total reconstruction project was undertaken to rebuild this street. It was a major pain for the city traffic flow to have this street blocked off for the months it took for the work to be done.

It was nice for me as that halted the constant truck traffic on my street. Joe and I would make forays to check out the progress of this endeavor. The roadbed was totally taken up. Dumped on the sides of the street were piles and piles of “hill bricks”. These paving bricks have a bevel on one edge. When this bevel was placed against the full side of the adjoining brick it would make an edge for traction.

Joe and I got bricking down to a science. We would wander around the detour signs, sort through the piles of bricks, and stack the best ones. Then our friend Randy who had a full size pick up would help out moving them to my house. At first we tried to be clandestine about this. We would be doing this fairly late at night around 9:00 – 10:00 p.m. There was all kinds of foot traffic enjoying being able to walk in the street without the aggravation of the heavy traffic. People were pushing baby strollers, couples were holding hands, and kids were running around with abandon. It was an almost festive atmosphere. We used to pretend we were in “bombed out Berlin” walking around the rubble. What a special period in time.

July 29, 1989 was a Saturday night. I did my ushering at Artpark. It was Dave Brubeck that night. When I got home Randy stopped by in his truck. I changed into old clothes and we loaded up and moved two truck loads of bricks.

We cleaned up, picked up some beer and headed over to Joe’s house on Niagara St. Noreen was present. She is a story unto herself. We unwound on Joe’s front porch enjoying the brews. We could hear the action from the Niagara Hotel, just down the street. This old hotel dates back to Lockport’s early years. It has always been a nasty dive place for as long as I can remember. The hard core drinkers always frequented this place.

It sounded like too much fun, so we all walked down to investigate. The bartender thought we were from Canada because we tipped!

There was the usual bizarre crowd out. A little fat guy was putting the make on Noreen. This big German girl with “green teeth” and body odor approached Joe: “You dance with me!” she bellowed as she dragged him out on the dance floor. Noreen, Randy and I are laughing our butts off. It does not take much to make Joe gag; the looks on his face are priceless as he tries not to wretch.

The next thing I knew this girl pulled a repeat performance on me and had me on the dance floor. I understand now why Joe was in such agony. She was nasty. It was Joe’s turn to laugh with Noreen and Randy! Joe had told her I was really interested in her, I had mentioned it when we walked in. That liar!!

I was able to break away and walk the six blocks home. Too much action for this boy!

This is another example from the past showing how bricks had a part in defining my life. I would not have it any other way.