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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

When Was The Last Time You Did Some Honest Manual Labour?

Jeremy Torrie

Jeremy Torrie

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Golden leaves falling off trees today. A typical fall day up here in Canada (hence the funny spelling of 'labour').

I spent time chainsawing some massive dead birch trees from a cliff down at the beach on the weekend.

After "timber!' I cut up branches and sections of the trees themselves. Then I hauled them up sandy walkways to our cabin with a difference of about eighty feet of grade from beach up to our place. Some of these buggers weighted well over a hundred pounds (or should I say kilograms?)

Anyway, after two hours of burning legs, heavy breathing and sweating like a pig I took stock in where I was and what I was doing. Getting one's hands dirty and being truly productive.

Then I split a bunch of logs up for firewood. Kids watched and helped just a bit, but they understood this is part of the process when you want to live with nature and appreciate the seasonal cycles, and life in general.

Felt good on the soul.

Anyone else pulled away from the minutae that seems to make us all so 'busy'?
 
glad to hear it. i seem to be building or breaking something most of my days... perhaps that's why i don't get a lot of 'work' finished, lol
 
Some say I got some sort of serious letter combination, Not sure if thats the case but I tend to work longer hours than most and when I'm not at work I tend to work some more.
I find physical work very distressing. So in the little free time I got, I managed to renovate quite a few houses and also a ship. This is a picture from my weekend, raising walls makes me sleep well :)


Edit: Here is some boat pix aswell, that fiber glas dust in my ear is really comforting :) https://www.facebook.com/bjorn.benckert/media_set?set=a.94994643042.89495.543523042&type=3
 

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Björn Benckert said:
Some say I got some sort of serious letter combination, Not sure if thats the case but I tend to work longer hours than most and when I'm not at work I tend to work some more.
I find physical work very distressing. So in the little free time I got, I managed to renovate quite a few houses and also a ship. This is a picture from my weekend, raising walls makes me sleep well :)
Click to expand...

Why doesn't this surprise me at all? ;) From what you've shared here on refuser, this makes total sense, that you tick that way.
 
Great stuff Bjorn! I read a story of how a guy on the east coast took 30 years to build a wooden sail boat from scratch, mostly teak I think. The detail was incredible, and she's finally seaworthy.

As we get into winter I find similar smaller tasks. We have a 4,400 square foot house built 102 years ago. Amazing the amount of work one can do...but I find it's worth it. Technology these days blows away what they did so long ago. Wood shavings in the walls as insulation. Four inch concrete poured for flat ceilings over our front doorway and adjacent bathroom -good thing I was wearing my hockey helmet when I started removing that stuff...sure enough a 50 pound chunk came down!

And Mark, yes I know what you mean about on set or in the field work. I haul a ton of gear myself, particularly the doc stuff as I prefer the small crews. I like hauling light kits in one hand with the built camera in the other, or the Ronford legs, or O'Connor 2575B head, or any of the other bits we always have to travel with. I gladly pack-mule myself to the airport and with as much carry on as I can...but it is a different kind of work.

I really hope we can keep this thread going. Getting one's hands dirty. Blood pumping through muscles. And the feeling of accomplishment. Getting back to that work from the lake...after also splitting and stacking all that wood -about a cord worth- muscles are nice and stiff.
 
Björn Benckert said:
Some say I got some sort of serious letter combination, Not sure if thats the case but I tend to work longer hours than most and when I'm not at work I tend to work some more.
I find physical work very distressing. So in the little free time I got, I managed to renovate quite a few houses and also a ship. This is a picture from my weekend, raising walls makes me sleep well :)


Edit: Here is some boat pix aswell, that fiber glas dust in my ear is really comforting :) https://www.facebook.com/bjorn.benckert/media_set?set=a.94994643042.89495.543523042&type=3
Click to expand...

Ha! I think you mean "destressing" rather than "distressing" - almost opposite meanings! :smile:
Physical labour like working with building materials is very satisfying for me - not the same as lugging camera gear at all.
 
Jeremy Torrie said:
Golden leaves falling off trees today. A typical fall day up here in Canada (hence the funny spelling of 'labour').

I spent time chainsawing some massive dead birch trees from a cliff down at the beach on the weekend.

After "timber!' I cut up branches and sections of the trees themselves. Then I hauled them up sandy walkways to our cabin with a difference of about eighty feet of grade from beach up to our place. Some of these buggers weighted well over a hundred pounds (or should I say kilograms?)

Anyway, after two hours of burning legs, heavy breathing and sweating like a pig I took stock in where I was and what I was doing. Getting one's hands dirty and being truly productive.

Then I split a bunch of logs up for firewood. Kids watched and helped just a bit, but they understood this is part of the process when you want to live with nature and appreciate the seasonal cycles, and life in general.

Felt good on the soul.

Anyone else pulled away from the minutae that seems to make us all so 'busy'?
Click to expand...

Every time I have to take all the Gear that goes with the Epic out a remote location I do a LOT of manual labor... but last week I finished cleaning up a couple large pines that I cut down a while back - chain saw and a lot of carrying/throwing. Bjorn is right on... being physically tired is very good for the mind.
 
ericyoung said:
Ha! I think you mean "destressing" rather than "distressing" - almost opposite meanings! :smile:
Physical labour like working with building materials is very satisfying for me - not the same as lugging camera gear at all.
Click to expand...

Yes you are right, my english is not the best .And carrying camera cases is next to waiting for renders...
 
When I walk to a window and look out I see projects too numerous to mention that I really want to do. Then I turn around and look at the computers in my home and I see projects too numerous to mention that I really want... and feel an urgency to do.

I do occasionally spend an entire day taking care of outside projects when the air is filled with whatever it is that invigorates. And in the past, I really enjoyed the outside aspect of work. Lately it is more about getting the task completed using levers or pulleys or whatever tools may produce the most work with the least muscle soreness.

That's also pretty much how my inside work goes now. It is more about getting the job done rather than just enjoying the process. There was a time when my process of work was sublime. Nowadays it is more about completing the job and taking simple pleasure from the finished work.

I have a "problem" where I think up work and projects in numbers that far exceed my immediate capabilities to complete. So I seldom rest and am working or thinking awake or asleep. I am always striving.

I will add here that since attaching my lifeline to Red products, my "problem" of thinking up new projects has increased.

Life is good.
 
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Jeremy Torrie said:
Golden leaves falling off trees today. A typical fall day up here in Canada (hence the funny spelling of 'labour').

I spent time chainsawing some massive dead birch trees from a cliff down at the beach on the weekend.

After "timber!' I cut up branches and sections of the trees themselves. Then I hauled them up sandy walkways to our cabin with a difference of about eighty feet of grade from beach up to our place. Some of these buggers weighted well over a hundred pounds (or should I say kilograms?)

Anyway, after two hours of burning legs, heavy breathing and sweating like a pig I took stock in where I was and what I was doing. Getting one's hands dirty and being truly productive.

Then I split a bunch of logs up for firewood. Kids watched and helped just a bit, but they understood this is part of the process when you want to live with nature and appreciate the seasonal cycles, and life in general.

Felt good on the soul.

Anyone else pulled away from the minutae that seems to make us all so 'busy'?
Click to expand...

I had the craziest Summer but managed to step away for a day and build a workbench in my garage. It's funny because I spend more time using it as a data wrangling/backup and beer drinking base than to actually build or fix stuff.
 

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Ryan I think you need to build a special spot for a beer fridge, or better yet a keg and tap!

Of course beer always tastes THAT MUCH better after accomplishing something substantial with your hands...at least I feel that way. Or some other tasty beverage.
 
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