After my first day of work in West Virginia, I am a redneck – bright red. Long hair is new to me. Since I am single again, I am trying to appeal to the guys who went to high school with me when the Farrah Fawcett was the fashion. So I have a lower maintenance variety of that style now, kinda Farrah unplugged. I realized that longer hair is hot to work in, so I tucked it into my University of Maryland ball cap. Being a novice with long hair, it did not occur to me to apply sunscreen there. My hair had been providing a sun protection factor that I had not realized. So today when we began the day with a light, steady rain, I was relieved because my burnt neck was still stinging.

The work I was continuing on the exterior walls was physical and so I didn’t feel cold despite the rain. My pink tool belt served many on my crew who were not wearing tool belts or aprons of any color. The five most needed tools today were my tape measure, square, pencil, hammer and pry bar. Pretty soon, my team and nearby teams knew I was supplied. People would walk pretty far for my handy little pry bar. It is so easy to set down your pencil or tape measure and lose it. I was being very possessive and it was helping everyone around me. If I didn’t have the needed tool, I could often anticipate it and acquire it if not already in my reach.

There was one problem with my pink tool belt in the rain. It rained so steadily all day that everyone and everything was drenched. It was like working in a wet t-shirt contest. I was not the winner either. Neither were my shorts. When it was finally time to call it a day and I took off the soggy suede belt, the dark pink dye had bled over onto my shorts. There was no laundry option at the center, so the shorts just had to dry and sit for days before laundering. The change is permanent. It doesn’t look too bad. It’s not in the back. If anyone asks, at least I have a good story to tell them.