My friend and neighbour, John, is always ‘up’ for work and chores, the more wretched and miserable, the better. John is one of those guys who likes to keep busy, dirty and ‘pushed’ to the limits both physically and in testing one’s ingenuity. Add sweat, blood, tears and lots of grease and pithy expletives and it simply does not get any better for him. And so, yesterday’s getting of the outboard was something he had been looking forward to. John and Jorge joined us at the end-of-the-road.

Sometimes I am one with a person, but this is definitely not one of those times. John’s work/pleasure/interest ratio is in direct opposition to mine but, of course, I am willing to exploit the hell out of his when it suits my purpose. Mine is so off the charts, it is unexploitable.

The downside, you would think, is that it should cut both ways – when he wants help with something grim and horrible, I should be there. Hah! I’m not that stupid! It is a small peninsula but I know the nooks and crannies well. And, even when I am there (no avoiding some things), he still attacks the job so that I am usually just an appreciative bystander. More like a recording secretary now that I see how this is coming out.

Anyway, when the going gets really tough, John likes to go it alone. Mind you, when the going gets cushy and soft and there is plenty to eat and drink, I am happy to share so it is not all bad for him. He eats well here. But I’d prefer to keep my sweat where it is, thank you very much. And I have suffered enough blood loss working as little as I do. If I worked like John, I’d be dead.

It is pouring when we get there. John is happy with that. We get the boat to the beach but the tide is where the bottom shallows off and we can’t get in as close as I should like. No problem. John wades in and half lifts the boat closer. I jump out, get the truck and back it down the hill. We unload the shopping leaving the engine for last. Then, wiggling and jiggling, we get it out of the back of the truck and onto the transom. Things went pretty smoothly, actually.

Typically, when undertaking something simple like getting six, light two-by-fours off the roof of the SUV, we encounter a knot we can’t untie, or the boat motor just threw a prop or it happens to be the time we slip while loading and get fully immersed in the sea. There is no such thing as a simple job – they all have challenges and not all challenges can be met easily although, it seems, that they can all be met eventually – so far, anyway.

The motor came down on the transom nicely but the holes in the engine bracket did not align with the previously drilled holes for the old Evinrude. That meant that the motor had to be tied on with ropes. So, we did that. Then we hooked back up to the little boat and headed home.

And the sea was getting up. A big storm was coming in.

We got back to the dock before all hell broke loose and tied up. The boats started bucking and bronking against their tethers. But they would be fine. It was the tied-on motor that threatened to leap off it’s tentative perch and sink into the black hole that formed the magnet for all things non buoyant just off the dock. So, another few lashings were applied and we went in to get warm and dry.

I checked on things later. They were still there.

The point? There isn’t one, really. People often ask, “What do you do all day?”

“Nothing, really. Just ‘stuff’. Seems to take a lot of time, tho. You know, getting the shopping, checking on things, tying up boats………..I dunno……………just stuff. But we need John to help with most of it. ”