The longest day of the year, Summer Solstice, started at six this morning.

The weather has been typical for late June in the Ozarks… as in… nearly indistinguishable from the instructions on the back of a pack of cake mix: Preheat to 350 and bake. So the Fockers and Morrells were all milling smartly about at daybreak.

By 8:00 a.m. or so, the truck was unloaded out front; home, garden, housewares and electronics were scattered festively ’round the parking lot; Jan and Kendra had set up an employee break room/satellite executive suite out front between the ice machine and the Big Focking Monkey; and the Morrells had made visible progress on the warehouse out back.

Jan and Kendra conduct a top-level strategy meeting

Wall One: Up and Away!

Shortly thereafter, the daily game of Focker Chess began in earnest.

Doc & Kendra demonstrate the Parade Wave: Elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, touch pearls, wave, blow a kiss.

The Fockers moved merchandise and trucks and customers and carts around and around (and around) in the parking lot while Doc & crew tied rebar on the side of the building and the Morrells hammered merrily away out back.

Construction Porn Stars Tie Rebar on Loading Dock Lane

By the end of the longest day of the year, a full truckload of merchandise had been assembled, priced, picked up and put down somewhere else (at least nine focking times–as is tradition;) Loading Dock Lane was ready to pour; and the Fast Boys at Morrell Construction had the east wall of the warehouse framed up and were running for the southern border.

Turning the South Wall Corner

Doc and crew started tying the rebar for the slab on Thursday.

Step One

By the end of the day, the first mat of steel was done. There are actually two mats of steel in the foundation but the second one was done on Friday so it’s not pictured because all the Big Focker Paparazzi were attending the regularly scheduled Friday afternoon safety meeting at Henri’s.

We told Doc, “Hey, Saturday is all our day off. Just tell us what time to show up with the beer.”

“One.”

So, by the time we called in the order to Mr. T’s pizza and showed up with the Budweiser and Shiner Bock, this is what we saw:

Buff boys buffing

The crew started at 6:30 am, under the watchful eye of a couple of visitors from the motel next door. By 2 pm, when the job was done, the crew was done in.

Trail's End

Kendra assumes the position while Jan & Pam do laps

Next week, Morrell Construction will start putting up the building while Doc & crew roll on with the loading dock.

Now we’re really rolling.

Just look what fell off the truck last week!

Bungling Through the Jungle

A few wing nuts, a bit o’ electrical tape and voila! The BFM has his very own lighted palm.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch….

All the Focker’s have been spending a lot of time hauling heavy things around (and around and around) in the hot sun while the construction project continues. Among the many exciting things that happened since we last tuned into the Focker channel:

Shack V 2.2 got a lovely Hansel & Gretel-style door:

Nibble nibble like a mouse, who is nibbling on my house?

Seriously. If there is a more ridiculous door on an industrial building out there somewhere? Send pictures!

Lately, we’ve been calling the construction site our “ivy covered cottage,” what with all its rebar picket fence and Hansel ‘n Gretel door.

But, hey.

Harrison Overhead Door gave us a great deal on an abandoned special order. If you’re in the business of giving people great deals, whadda ya gonna do? [insert shrug here]

There’s been too much Doc & Leroy running around in the hot sun/grade beam action to adequately illustrate here but we are now at the point where they’re ready to pour up the loading dock.

Don, the Don, digs the truck dock

Mostly, it’s like going to work at the Grand Canyon every day. It doesn’t do to walk out any side or back door at Focker’s these days because every service exit heads off a cliff.

But, after all the months of planning and engineering and city meetings, it’s getting real now. Clearly closer to done. We’re getting itchy to go shopping and fill all the new spaces up.

Stephen & Jan ponder 'bout the gravel pile

As usual, lots of things happened on the building site while All the Fockers were too distracted to take pictures. This whole unloading trucks business is really cutting into our Construction Porn blogging time. But… work continues.

Outside, Doc and Crew prepped and poured the first two grade beams.

Moon Over the Southern Border

Inside, the Fast Boys from Morrell Construction finished up Shack v 2.2, the
Freakishly Fast Girls from Shewmaker Painting put a lovely finish on the interior drywall and Stephen the Zenmeister electrician hung the fixtures. So we’re ready to start hauling stuff around in preparation for the store expansion come Sunday.

Outside progress on the warehouse is stalled by our traditional Ozark Monsoon Season. It’s raining cats, dogs, pigs, and enough chickens to fill a Tyson production line for the next 52 years.

Donny, the Don, is standing by with a wide selection of really big Tonka toys…waiting for Doc to say, “Go! Dig the next big hole.” Or waiting for the Ark to float by. Whichever comes first.

Donny. Standing by.

We know that Doc is always respectful of customs and rituals so we weren’t surprised when Doc showed up for work on Cinco de Mayo–appropriately dressed in a festive sombrero.

The load of steel from Darraugh arrived shortly thereafter and Kendra did an extremely impressive job of getting the extremely heavy, long, awkward, wobbly bundles of rebar off the truck and on to the ground without nicking a single tree or bystander.

Kendra, Clark the Focklift, Doc & Donny

Then everyone got down to the daily game of Focker Dirt Chess–in this case, digging up the dirt that had just been put down for grade beams on the warehouse foundation.

Leroy & Donny dig the big ditch

All you need is a little Finesse

Chris obligingly poses for a Construction Porn photo

By the end of the day, the tomato cage orchard? Gone. Championship horseshoe pits? Gone. The building site was ready for a whole new game.

Let's play Whack-a-Mole!

The day began with a traffic jam as we continued the game of, “Let’s see how many large pieces of machinery we can wedge into a tiny bit of space.”

Then again, parking anywhere in Eureka Springs is notoriously problematic.

Typical Eureka parking lot

Drilling continued and, by mid-afternoon, the building site was a veritable orchard of tomato cages.

All ready to plant beefsteaks

Long pause… while everybody waited for the concrete truck to show up.

We could see concrete truck after truck going by on the highway. Several strategies for diverting concrete trucks on to our building site were discussed, debated and discarded. Calls were made. Rumors flew. Eventually, we learned that all the concrete trucks were headed to a chicken house in Hindsville, so everyone continued to mill about smartly until….

Thompson Redi-Mix rolled in, at last, and Doc’s guys filled the final hole.

Lee, Leroy & Doc performing the ritual of the Last Pier

Drill piers complete, Doc announced, “That’s the end of a stage. It’s time for a stage party!”

(Like Anyfocker needs an excuse?)

We busted out the Budweiser, Crown Royal and Shiraz but, this time, we didn’t have to huddle up in a single patch of shade because the Morrells had been thoughtful enough to build us a store addition/Shack v2.2/party pavilion.

Doc

Lee & Jac

Leroy

The text messages started flying at 7 a.m. this morning. “The drillers are coming! The drillers are coming!”

Which, if you’re one of the three Big Fockers, is an announcement that’s even more exciting than a visit from Santa. It means the beginning of Serious Work on the warehouse foundation.

The guys from Skyline Drilling arrived with an Armageddon drill bit in tow.

Harry Stamper: I will make 800 feet. I swear to God I will. Colonel William Sharp: Then let's turn this bomb off.

The Focker Chess stakes were raised considerably today. How many gigantic pieces of machinery can you get on a postage-stamp sized scrap of dirt with cliffs on three sides? Let’s see!

First, Skyline Drilling… drills.

Shannon Morrell strikes a saucy pose as Skyline prepares to bore the first hole

Next, Donny the Don (not to be confused with Don the Don but… right. We know. You’ve got the, er, drill) hops on the backhoe to push the dirt over the south cliff.

Into the breach, dear friends

Then Donny scrambles off’n the backhoe and onto the track hoe to place the tomato cage.

Doc and Leroy supervise the planting

Finally, two or more gigantic Tonka toys move out of the way to make room for the Thompson Redi-Mix truck and the concrete is poured.

Leroy,? and Doc fillin' the hole

Here’s Jan’s action video, as seen from the inner sanctum of Shack v 2.2:

Sadly, we missed the photo op of Doc holding a clipboard and orchestrating this very impressive game of Focker Chess. Sadly, Doc didn’t have a clipboard. Maybe we’ll get him one and take a photo tomorrow.

Meanwhile…

The Fast Boys of Morrell Construction finished up the siding on Shack v 2.2.

Sean, Shannon & Michael whip it into shape

By the end of the day, we had a little Hardiboard Shack in the Ozarks, surrounded by a forest of tomato cages.

Eat your heart out, Laura Ingalls Wilder.

A lot of things happened while the Big Fockers were unloading trucks, picking up truckloads of housewares and electronics, taking our regularly scheduled days off and enjoying our regularly scheduled Friday afternoon partnership meeting at Henri’s.

The wind was blowing hard on Thursday, April 29th–40 mph. (“Forty miles an hour? Bah!” said Kendra. “You Arkies are such wimps! In Kansas, 40mph is just a breeze!”)

The Fast Boys from Morrell Construction had originally planned to put the metal on the roof of Shack v2.2 but, despite our generous offer to pick them up 30 miles away in Green Forest–just in case they went all Mary Poppins off the roof–the Morrells wisely decided to wait to fool around with large, sharp objects until the weather got less… uh… breezy. So they hung the door instead.

Meanwhile, Judy’s Insulation installed the soffit in the generator shack/future employee break room (the plugs for the fan, blender & bug zapper go right under the second “G” from right):

Judy's Insulation Guy Fluffs Up the Employee Break Room

Meanwhile, The Dons tore up the lovely pad they had just built to install a 12″ drainage pipe. As Donny the Don (not to be confused with Don the Don) put it, “Some people. Give ‘em something nice. They’ll just tear it up.” And they did.

The Dons destroy the pad while Kendra, Pam & Jan wring their hands in the backround

Buy 'em books. And all they do is either eat 'em or shove 12 in. pipe into them.

Meanwhile, back in Shack v2.2’s Inner Sanctum, Stephen McGeehee The Electrician started getting us juiced up:

Sparky, Mr. May - Electrician's Monthly

Rich & John from P&P Plumbing stopped by to re-run the outdoor water line they capped twice in last winter’s two deep freezes. And we know that Dan, Dan the HVAC man was by because we see his unmistakable tracks of conduit:

Shack Inner Sanctum with unmistakable HVAC sign

By Sunday, it was like nothing had ever happened. Except that… the metal roof was on and Doc had clearly marked the next step on the warehouse foundation:

No, it's not an Ozark Horseshoe Game. That's where the drill piers go.

BOB willing and the creeks don’t rise, we’ll be drilling piers for the overpass/warehouse foundation tomorrow (Monday.)

This post will be just as quick as Morrell Construction works.

The construction of Shack v2.2 started yesterday. The roof trusses arrived late this morning and the Fast Boys of Morrell Construction got to work.

Moving so fast you can barely see them

By three in the afternoon, Shack v2.2 was ready for plumbing, electric and a roof.

Zzzzzzzzzzzoom

Bada bing, bada boom.