Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/449123
78 • FEBRUARY 2015 • WORLD FENCE NEWS Fence job is for the birds continued from previous page morning. At first light, the concrete company calls and says they can't make the delivery – some big continu- ous pour somewhere else and all their trucks are tied up until noon. My slab pourer says he will have to reschedule, but can't get back to me for at least a week. This smacks of conspiracy! I swore I would never pour another slab myself 20 years ago! Oh well. I set the forms, and throw all the old, rusty chain link fabric I was going to carry to the dump on top of the plastic. Then I wait for the concrete to arrive. It comes at 3 p.m., three hours before dark. We pour any- way. The mix is a bit too wet, but it flows nice and don't set up too quick so we can trowel it nicely. Then the wind comes up and blows leaves all over the slab. They embed themselves in contact. We can "float" some of them out, and will have to pick the rest out while we are troweling. (The rest we can bury.) My wife, Loice, does our finish work. The slab won't hold me up, but she is 150 lbs. lighter than I am, and she makes some insinuations that I "rigged the mix" so that she would have to do it. (Completely un- true, of course.) She is nearly finished when the wind picks up again – at least 50 mph this time. It blows some "air plants" or moss balls outta the trees, and they all land on the slab. They proceed to make tracks everywhere they land. Loice goes back to Square One, and starts over. She is nearly finished again when – "Crack!" – a large limb breaks off a tree. You all know where it landed, of course. It left beautiful, deep bark impressions when we pulled it out. It was dark when she finished this time around. She says she don't know what it looks like, and don't care. She'd had it! The next a.m. the slab is beauti- fully smooth. We stretch the fabric, hang the gates and throw the dogs in the pens to see if they would escape under the fence. The fabric was set 3" off the concrete, as specified. I've seen large dogs get out of places an octopus could have trouble getting under! But there are no es- capees this time, not even the beagle puppies. The customer never did notice that some of the framework was "slightly not level." The wind must of moved some of the posts the day we set 'em. So we just loaded the fence up with a lot of tie wires and extra bands – it confuses the customer's eye so he doesn't notice slight imperfections. Hey, guys! Send me a dollar every time you use this trick yourselves! "Do you need a draw for materials?" he asks. Well, hell yes! I got about 15 cents in the bank and the trucks are running on fumes. This must be my lucky day! He gives me cash instead of an out-of-town check, like the previous "bird cage" customer did! Details have been released on the West Coast Regional Fence Show 2015, scheduled for Sept. 10-15, 2015. The location will be the Peppermill Resort-Spa-Casino in Reno, Nev. As well as exhibitors of fence, deck, railing and access control prod- West Coast Regional Fence Show 2015 dates and location are announced ucts, the show will feature a range of education seminars and live demos. In addition, the AFA's Certified Fence Professional exam and Certi- fied Automated Gate Operator Install- er exams will be administered. A golf tournament will be held on Sept. 10 at a course to be determined. For information on the tournament, contact J.T. Lawson of ci Fabrics at 619-661-7166. Also on Sept. 10, a hosted exhibi- tor reception is scheduled. For more information, contact the following individuals: • Kent Bailey, chair, booth sales, 800-382-9700 • Brad Howard, co-chair, booth sales/marketing, 206-255-3387 • Dick Boyle, education, 503-201- 3751 • Anthony Ortega, entertainment, 408-649-9153 • John Krueger, security, 503- 595-4716 • Zach Eichenberger, exhibits, 925-784-5906 • Barry Marrs, exhibitor liaison, 916-869-0408 • Mike Wenisch, registration/ marketing, 916-635-6061 Check out and link to some of the best web sites in the fence industry on World Fence News Online! www.worldfencenews.com POST & RAIL FENCE EQUIPMENT • Tenoners • Dowelers • Pointers • Domers • Gang Drills • Sanders • Chopsaws • Peelers Dyna Products 6228 60th Ave. • Evart, MI 49631 888-820-3962 VC-04 Portable Dowell/Tenon Cutter SECURE GATE SYSTEMS, INC. Original Manufacturer of Preassembled High Security Emergency Egress Gates Opens Every Time with Patented Reliability Toll Free 866-725-6995 • www.securegatesystems.net