Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/355277
AUGUST 2014 16 THE JOURNAL BY GEORGE PORTER SERVICE & SET-UP The Road to Dumb is Usually Taken in Small Steps This is a story of how we need to take our own advise sometimes. Allow me to preface this sad personal tale with an anecdote about a frog. Have you ever tried to boil a live frog? Most people think this is a little crazy but if you really wanted to do it there are two ways to try it. The first way is to boil a pot of water and throw the frog in. This does not work too well because the frog will jump out like he was shot from a cannon. It doesn't take him long to figure out the problem and he takes corrective action im- mediately, he jumps out of the pot. The second way is to put the frog in the pot when the water is still cold and then turn up the heat till it boils. The frog never notices any change until he is cooked and then it's too late. It all began when I got a call to inspect a home "somewhere in the US". No details will be given and any similarity to a client is purely coinciden- tal. (But this did happen) When you do these things there has to be a coordinated effort on the part of several teams of legal council and the people whose home we are going to look at as to the date and time. This is all done in a very legal manner with official noti- fication papers etc. After many date suggestions and schedule checking the thing is set and every- one shows up at the spot, on time and on the right day. You get one shot at this so you had better be ready. Forget something and you don't get another chance. This is a no excuses; very official meeting and you had better have your stuff together. This was not my first, by far, so I was not nervous about too much. I had read the depo- sitions and kind of knew what to expect when I got there. Getting there was a chore though; it was 11.5 hrs one way. Do the inspection and then get home; it was a three-day affair. The home had moisture problems. (98% of the bad ones do) There was water in the crawl space as well as a sewer problem. So… I traveled parts of two days to get to the home and met with the assembled masses. (Let's call this step two in the commitment process. Step one was saying I would do this.) We then proceeded to inspect the insides of the home. We took pictures and measured things, poked and prodded things, and made notes and lists for about 2 hrs. (Step three, more commitment) Then came the time to go under the home. Keep in mind that after all this you can't just stop now because this is a big deal and if you quit now you really won't be able to say you did a proper thorough inspection. You need to do this and it is usually no big deal. I have been plenty dirty before so it is nothing to ever give any thought to. That is until I looked under there. OMG! (To quote the kids) This place had a sea of var- ious colors, mostly shades of brown and black, with tiny little islands of vapor barrier sticking up occasionally. My brain is telling me stay out of there but at the same time I have committed to people who depend on me to do this job. So I tell myself that maybe if I can get from one "island" to the other it won't be too bad besides I have done all this other stuff and spent all of my own time and resources to get this far and we are almost done. Just a little bit more and it will be finished. Walking away is just not something you can do at this point. (Step four in the process) So I put on my best Tyvec coveralls, rubber gloves, boots, and hard hat with light and enter with a bucket for my camera and other tools. Mostly I need the bucket to protect the equip- ment from the unmentionable fluids under there. As soon as I get in I can feel my suit leaking… badly! I take no joy in this sensation but think "Oh what the heck" so now I am wet and I don't have to try to stay dry anymore and can just finish the stinking job and get out of here. (Next little step in my small confused mind) So I just go where I have to go to see what I have to see and I notice that my boots are filling up and somehow my hardhat is dripping sewage right in front of my eyes… And I don't feel so good either. The sewer was open under there and the gas was pretty strong. It is then that I fully realize what I have done to myself. Nobody in their right mind would simply dive into sewage but when you take it in small steps, with lots of reasons why it should be OK, plus have a strong sense of commitment, you might. I was a boiled frog. But the story doesn't end there. There were samples taken of that fecal soup and they had some bad bugs in there. I was told that if I started having diarrhea and/or vomiting within 48 hrs I should go to the hospital immediately and tell them where I had been. Also make very sure my tetanus shots were up to date. It was a lot more than dirty under there. It didn't happen and it has been a month but there are still the parasites and other toxic critters that could show up much later. The point is that the job could have been done, by me, much better. There are coveralls that would have worked and respirators too; but I didn't have them. I was not equipped, I had not done my homework enough and I forced my- self to "bet more than I could afford to loose". I talked myself into what could have been a very serious problem. I dodged the bullet this time, but next time?... maybe not. Be smarter than I was when working on these houses. Don't talk yourself into a dumb move. If the thing was about to fall down I would not have gone under there. I could have gotten just as messed up with all that filth health wise, but I went in anyway… dumb! George Porter is a consultant to the manufactured housing industry. His Company is Manufactured Housing Resources, P.O. Box 9, Nassau, DE 19969, (302) 645 5552, Fax: (302) 645 1152, Web: www.george-porter.com. Some of his services are both in person and On-line training for certification in many states plus expert witness and investigation for the industry. T J