Record broken

"Shall we get to work?" Ephraim said.

A lot of the time after a meal, we forget what we're about while waiting for the other person to finish eating. One person will pick up a book and read. The other will finish their food, wash their share of the dishes, and sit down and start writing. Then the first will wash their dishes and sit back down. At each one of these junctures, one of us will say something about something that needs to be done.

Finally, one of us says the above sentence, and the other inevitably says,

"Sure."

Then we get up and grab our tools and start.

Today, we had already put in the last joist. All that needed to be done was to add some wood that goes between the joists to stabilize them (don't know if those thangs have a name but if they do I don't know it).

"Hey, while I'm screwing this one in can you measure the next one and cut it?"

"I'll measure it," I said. "But I've never used a power tool except for a drill." Now think about it, that is one achievement! We have moved all over the place, fixed all kinds of houses, made all kinds of tree houses and forts, and play-swords and knives and guns and staves, and yet, all this whole entire time, I have always found a way to not use a power tool. That's special.

But Ephraim seemed intent on breaking my record, for he said,

"Come on, all you have to do is press the button and then press the other button."

Well, it looked like there were only two buttons, so it couldn't be that hard.

And lo and behold, after making three cuts and five whirrings, the end of that board looked better than it did when Ephraim cut.

Bam. Record broken.