Throughout my life, I've always noticed construction. It all started with my Dad, who has worked with excavation since before I was born. Whenever we would pass by a construction site, he would slow down, turn his head, and make assorted random comments like "those fellas are making a big mess", "they've got 4 CATs and a John Deere on that job", or "two 942s and a 952, all right!".
So, as much as we vowed never to be like our Dad, my brothers and I can't help but stare at construction projects and make our own random comments (half of which are just tribute to our Dad).
Anyway, the other day they were paving the road in front of our house. I couldn't resist going out and taking a few pictures. When they pave the street, they do one side at a time (even a street like ours where two cars can barely pass each other at the same time), I guess because it's really difficult for them to stop traffic from coming through. I noticed even why they put a log at the end of the street, people continued to walk over on both sides anyway. I usually have a mixture of sympathy and respect for the workers here. They really accomplish a lot with very little, and they do so much of it manually. At the same time it's sad how long it takes to do something that could have been finished so much quicker with more equipment. For this job, they broke the old pavement by hand, then set stones in place using wheelbarrows and shovels. After that, nothing happened for a couple of weeks, so we had just a muddy road with rocks in it. Then they paved the one side, and then the other. The only machine involved was the roller. The laborers work for usually a few dollars a day or less, so it's hard for those in charge to think of spending more money to be able to finish things faster.
They finished the portion in front of our house, but the rest of the road still has a ways to go. I think it was about this time last year when they started on the lower end, and it's been moving along bit by bit. As slow as it seems, Shillong is considered by many to have the best roads of any city in North East India.
Just for fun, the last picture is from our wedding day. From left to right: my brother Jeff, me, my brother Barry, my Dad, and my friend Phil Cunningham. The bulldozer just happened to be sitting on the beach where we had planned to take pictures. It wasn't there the night before during the rehearsal dinner. We couldn't resist.
