A friend recently gave me four full-length telephone poles. I need them to build the uprights on a new building, or at least a proposed new building. It won't be a building until it is built.

Sadly, telephone poles are very heavy and awkward, not to mention dangerous to use. Even so, they make very good supports for the corners of buildings, including ones like the building I hope to erect in the near future.

Since I needed to round up some help to move them, I started to call a few friends and told them that I needed to move a few pieces of lumber. I didn't necessarily plan spell out what kind of lumber. "Hey, telephone poles are lumber, too," I thought.

But, since back injury and possible death could befall them, I decided instead to tell the truth.

"At least it's not a piano," one told me.

"Actually, they are heavier than pianos," I pointed out, suddenly wishing that my penchant for making unnecessary comments was not so prevalent.

Once we arrived there, we soon realized that no one was home. Actually, we found out a little before we arrived because I called ahead and saw them escape while I was waiting for my help to arrive. Who could blame them?

Anyway, one of my friends is a former lineman and he said the poles I had were fairly small ones. So, after cutting the poles down to about 16 feet, we hefted one end and wrestled and pulled them up onto the back of my truck. We used the truck to do most of the lifting whenever we could and soon had everything loaded and ready to go.

It's nice to have friends who are willing to lend a hand. We always try to help each other with difficult jobs. That's just the way friends get things done.

If it weren't for the kindness of others, some of my projects would never come to pass. Another dear lady has offered me some lumber from her garage, which I hope to go and fetch soon. She offered it to me earlier, but somehow I don't always get everything done that I need to get done.

Anyway, with one 2x4 selling for between $3 and $4, it is awful hard to turn anything down.

Upon making a few phone calls a couple months ago, I received a good price on a professionally constructed building. I even had a good part of the money to pay for it, but I had to use it for other purposes.

I needed a lawnmower, the family needed dental work and gas to drive back and forth for visits isn't exactly cheap. Neither are meals in the city, which are required most times. With a big car insurance bill, the cost of filling up the oil tank and other costs looming on the horizon, I decided to try and cut corners and build the thing myself.

In my way of thinking, using mostly scrap materials and donations, I should be able to build my new building for less than one-fourth the price of having it built by the professionals.

So I decided to use what little money I have left to buy materials. I have already been purchasing some lumber, like the treated lumber to use for posts and floor supports. Being the kind of person who tries to save almost everything, I am trying to round up some of my materials that are lying around. I bought some rafter ties when Lowe's Hardware was going out of business here, and I usually keep five pounds of every kind of screw you can imagine around the house. I also kept the windows

I took out of my living room and a couple of glass doors that have been out behind my house for about two years now. Those will save me a little money. I also have a little bit of scrap wood here and there, not to mention the stuff people give me from time to time.

In making recent purchases, I have paid as much as $28 for one board. Of course, it was a treated 2x12x16, but that still isn't what I would call cheap. I figure I can get my telephone poles stood up and square and get the framing placed in between them, I should be able to pay for the materials for most of the walls and cabinetry one piece at a time.

Any man who wants to build, garden or farm, keep bees, maintain his own machinery or generally piddle around, needs a building to work in. Besides, how else could I get a ‘quiet time' with the whirring of a grinder or the hum of an air compressor to set the background music?

There is a certain kind of peace that only can be achieved in a workshop. Tools can be neatly organized, supplies hung on pegboards on the wall, shelves stocked with paint, oil and other automotive fluids and benches set at the ready for any kind of work.

I don't really have the time to get another big job under way. We all know how easy jobs are to get started, but getting them finished is quite another story, isn't it? Anything worth having is worth working for, in my way of looking at it.

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