marianne asks for some translations:
>Bitterroot (v good book, isn't it) Chapter 12,
section on Tommy Lee Stolz:
>"He'd had a good life dry-walling"
>"Even that one-bit he did on a road gang in the Keys
wasn't bad."
********************************************
hi marianne,
dry-wall is a construction material. it comes in 4 foot by 8
foot (and longer) sheets, somewhere between 3/8 and 1 inch
thick. its a gypsum compound (something like plaster but
softer and more pliable) sandwiched between two heavy sheets
of paper. its applied over a skeleton frame for interior
walls in a building, and it becomes the smooth sur- face of
the wall and ceiling. "finishers" apply a paper tape and
thick white paste ("mud") to seal and smooth the edges where
the drywall meets, and then its painted. sometimes a texture
is added to ceilings.
dry-walling is the process of applying the drywall to the
wall frame. so the "he" in the sentence had worked a life in
the construction business. its hard work. i worked as a union
drywaller during the long summer vacation from school.
as far as the feller (male person) doing the one-bit, well,
i'm not sure about exactly what that is, but its most likely
a jail term. i'm fuzzy. a "road gang" could be hired people
working on a road, but my guess is that its a reference to
convict labor on said road. when you're talking the "Keys" in
the U.S. you are referring to the long stretch of small
tropical islands that extend out below the southern tip of
florida. i just got back from 10 glorious days down there
with the family. boating, scuba diving, snorkeling, para-
sailing. wahoo! seen a big nasty 4 foot baracuda. seen
several stingrays close to 8 foot long (i'm counting his
tail).
hope this helps, miker
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