When he joined her on the couch, he flicked through the books and scowled when he saw the children’s picture book about road construction vehicles.
He held it up, then tossed it on the cushion next to him.“This is insulting.I know what these machines are.I work with them every day.”
“I know you do.Those are for me.”She tried not to respond to his anger with anger of her own.“I have no idea what the vehicles are that you work with, and if I’m going to help you with your Heavy Equipment book, I need to learn.I also got one on the history of road construction, figuring it might help me understand what you do a little more.”
The tension eased away, and his crooked smile crept back on his face.“I can teach you all about the equipment.Let’s start with this easy one.” He picked up one of the books and opened to the first page.“This is a dump truck.It’s used to put debris in after we excavate a site.Or sometimes we use it to haul fill to put under the new roads.”
She stuck out her tongue at him.“I know what a dump truck is, you fool.What about this one?It says it’s a skid loader.What does it do?”
“It’s also called a skid steer,” he fingerspelled the word.“There aren’t always signs that go with each piece of equipment, though I’ve kind of created a few myself to use with the guys on the crew.”
“Oh, cool.Can you teach me what they are, and we’ll use those during our sessions?”
His confidence seemed to shine brighter now that he was teaching her something as well.It hadn’t originally been part of her plan, but she liked how this worked out.
“So a skid steer moves dirt or gravel, and we use it for clearing debris or grading small areas.It maneuvers in a tiny space by skidding its wheels.It can actually spin in place, so it’s useful when you can’t get a bigger machine in.”
“Okay, great.What vehicles do you work with most?Let’s start there so I get a feel for what you do.”
“I use the skid steer, bulldozer, backhoe, wheel loader, and compactor most of the time, as well as drive the dump truck.It depends on the job and who else is working that site.You have to be trained and certified on the machines to use them.”
She pointed to the training book he’d left on the coffee table.“So that’s to help you get certified on more equipment?”
“Some, yeah.It’s also got training for measuring sites, interpreting drawings, grading and laying pipes.Also math formulas to get area and volume correct.My grandfather helped me a bit with that when I was down for your parents’ party.”
“That’s excellent.I’ll bet he’s a great resource.”
Evan nodded.“He helped me to get past the first test and into the job I’m in.I started doing all the grunt work and clean up, then worked my way up to doing more.I can continue doing the job I’ve been doing, but it would be nice to learn some new equipment and make more money.”
“So each vehicle gets you a higher pay?”
“Yeah.You have to train on them plus pass the test.Each certification bumps you up in pay.I wouldn’t say no to that.”
She winked at him.“Who would?What’s the next machine?”
Evan turned the page and pointed to the picture.“Wheel Loader."He described the piece of equipment and what it was used for, like clearing debris.
She looked at the front of the book.“Doesn’t a bulldozer also clear debris?”There seemed to be so many pieces of equipment that did similar jobs.
“You can use it for that.Absolutely.A bulldozer will also push any fill into holes as well as level the ground.Some of the vehicles have several functions, and we use what’s available and close by.”
“Well, that makes sense.Like this backhoe.It lifts stuff like the front loader.”
He nodded approvingly.“The backhoe scoops and pushes like some of the others, but it also has this back arm.”He pointed to the picture.“This is for digging holes or removing stuff we don’t want to be there.”
She loved how knowledgeable he was.Obviously, this was his job.He should be, but he really seemed to understand the intricacies of the equipment.
She repeated the name and job description of each machine several times and had Evan give her some examples of what he’d done with them.It was nice getting a clearer picture of exactly what he did all day at work.
“Now that we’ve gone over all the level one machines, should we take a look at that Level Two book?”
Evan growled but reached for the manual.He tossed it in her lap and frowned.“Go ahead.Teach me everything.”
She skimmed the table of contents and figured the chapter on safety would be easy enough to do.As she read the text, she interpreted for Evan.Most of the time, he made a face as if to say, “I know all that.”He even pointed out other safety rules that needed to be followed and why they were necessary.
“I know it doesn’t say it there, but we had an incident where…”
His stories proved his point about additional precautions that would make the job safer.She was glad he was aware of these because she’d be devastated if anything ever happened to him on the job.
