Because it's there.....

Hey again.

As all of you know, I am a Volunteer Fire fighter.

Every year, The Luekaemia and Blood Cancer foundation do a charity drive to raise money.

It's the Sky Tower climb. 51 Flights, 1103 steps. 750 Firefighters. Sounds easy? 

Well when you consider we are wearing our structual gear, and a BA set (Breathing Apparatus) and sucking a cylinder dry at a great rate of speed it's not so easy. And YOUR CLIMBING THE SKYTOWER!

          I'm in my third year of doing it. And a little over it, and I haven't even climbed the tower yet

It's the training.

You start of easy, just level two's (structure gear) nothing else. And climb stairs.  In our case we do Bridal veil fall steps.

There is 261 of them, Designed and built by a 9 foot tall man with a stride of about 4m.                                They are uneven, long, short, steep, shallow and lethal. And no place for a man of my stride.

We do that 4 times. 4 X 261 = 1044steps.

It's a nasty start to the day.

Then we move onto the Raglan surf steps. 99 of them, built and designed by a hobbit. So small you have to take two at a time which means you need to be 7ft tall to not feel the lactose acid build up in your legs. Now we wear a BA on our back, an extra 25kgs. Heavy and Uncomfortable.

We do that 18 times.  18 X 99 = 1782steps.

It's a real nasty start to the day.

THEN! we move onto the Wharf steps. 66 of them. Designed well enough to get into a good stepping rhythm. Only problem is there is no rest time as the short walk back down allows no time to rest or get your breath back so by number 20, your lungs are screaming, your legs shake, your hot, And your beathing with a mask on and trying to save the 180Bar of pressure in your cylinder, 

                            (By the way, you need approx 200bar to get to the top of the Sky tower)

1320 stairs later you are knackered. You collapse on the ground and try to breathe normally and trying not to puke. And clap each other on the back and know in 2 days, it's time to do it all over again.

              Put on top of that the fundraising we are asked to do, it is a big ask. Is it worth it?

Hell yes. I have seen first hand what this cancer does to a small boy, His Parents, His Brother, His Family.

Every cent we raise goes towards this foundation, Every drop of sweat I make is nothing compared to what people with this cancer go through, So I will climb more stairs, 3 times a week, for four months,                                                  until May 23 when I climb the Tower.

So If your reading this, and you have a spare dollar or 10. Please consider that we do this not for us, but for those who cant. So donate to our team. Please.

Brett Soanes.

John Oetzel.

Dirk De Ruysscher.

Daniel Mills.

Leanna Darby.

David Thompson.

Stephen O'bryne.

Nigel Mcleod.

https://secure.leukaemia.net.nz/registrant/TeamFundraisingPage.aspx?teamID=84399&langPref=en- CA&Referrer=http%3a%2f%2ffirefightersclimb.org.nz%2f#&panel1-2

The body.....

No. Not Elle McPhersons amazing body.

Mine, or what I like to call the unit of failure.

You see in a week I have to have another repair job done on another part of me, This time my arm.
Well in fact my left elbow. Tennis elbow decompression.
I have had to many Cortisone shots to hide the pain and the damage.

As a builder, we use our body as everything from a digger to a forklift, let me explain.
We dig footings, lots of footings. Most houses would have a total of about 75m to 90m approx of lineal length. X's that by a conservative estimate of say 18 to 20 homes that's 1.8 kilometres of footings dug.

Then think of the lifting, a sheet of Gibb is about 15 to 18kg. 100 sheets in average house that's 1800kg, Then X's that by houses built, holy shit that's 36.000KG!
That's equivalent to lifting a fully laden concrete truck!
Then Joists, Bearers, trusses etc etc etc....

So the body takes a beating, Shoulders, Knees, backs, elbows......
I have been building since I was 16 years old. I'm now 42. That's 26 years.

Okay so some benefits are your stronger, fitter, you work in the sun, fresh air and you the customer get a lovely quality built house.

Its not so bad,
Its just the fact that when you get up in the morning things take a while to warm up.
My knees pop, And I mean so loud my wife hears them in the lounge.
My shoulders need to be gently told they need to move.
My ankles crack when I take a step.
My Back needs to be slowly straightened so it doesn't cramp.

I have had repairs to most joints in my body, My doctor says my knees will be shot by the time I'm 50.
But do I care, No,

I have built houses that look amazing
I have seen more sun than the average office worker ever will.
I don't breath recycled air.
I have created homes for people to live in and call their home.
I have travelled the world because of my skill.

Would I do it all again the same. Yes I would, Because I'm a builder, And I build shit you cant.

Builder.

Points, But not for scoring a try.....

As you all know, I'm a builder.

A damn good one, I have nearly 26 years experience in the trade.
I have built Homes, Offices, Hospitals,Garages, South Pole stations,Play grounds,Fences, Retaining walls....

You get the idea.
Now to do this I completed a Building course, an Apprenticeship, Then sat Trade Certificate Carpentry and Passed.
So, I was a Qualified Builder.

Then along came The Cowboy's, Guy's who liked the fact that you could build a house, make load's of money, Rip off the customer with a crappy build and move on. And who had no qualifications at all.

Insert leaky building syndrome here >

Everyone got shitty, Builders, Government, Local councils, home owners.
So the Government came up with a brilliant idea. Register all builders, Make them prove they're Qualified.
Then make them gain points, by reading. Not by building.
Great Idea. Get rid of the cowboy's!

Licensed Building Practitioner.  Mr Mcleod you wish to be registered
Me.   Yes, Yes I do.
LBP.  Are you Trade cert Qualified?
Me. Why Yes, Here is my certificate.
LBP.  Great! Can you prove you can build a house correctly?
Me.  Yes, Just built one, All done and to code. Nice 4 bedroom. Double glazing blah blah blah....
LBP. Can you prove you built it?
Me. Ahhhhh yeah, I did it.
LBP. Can anyone else?
Me.  My wife, she watched the whole thing, My Friends. Isn't my trade Certificate enough proof.
LBP. No. Has to be another builder, Sorry we will need to assess you.
Me.   Assess me? How.
LBP. I am sending you a document you must read and understand, then I will ask 10 questions about it.
Me. About construction?
LBP. No, about the regulations of building a house.
Me.   ?????????????????????????????????Bloody hell???????????????????????????????????

So to get my license I didn't have to build a damn thing. I have to answer a quiz. And every two years I have to gain 24 points. Points are collected by reading building magazines (yes Builders can read) And by attending trade displays or shows.
1 point for an hour of reading.
1 point for each hour of learning.

BUT NO POINTS FOR BUILDING A FREAKING HOUSE!  Really? the main thing we do, signed off by council and yet we're not allowed to use this as a great way to say "look what I built, A compliant house to code"
It's a great scheme, executed poorly, a bit like the search for WMD's in Iraq. Look's good on paper But nothing is there.

Don't get me wrong, Great that the cowboys have gone, but the point system is a little like the Duckworth Lewis in cricket, you think you have it in the bag, But your not quite sure........

Builder.