Posts by E.L. Chappel

Most mornings, I use John Dufresne’s book “The Lie that Tells a Truth” as a practice guide to help improve my writing. (I typically post the daily drill on my Facebook fan page.) The point of the book, at least in my mind, is to teach writers how to unleash unlimited creative flow. A highly…

One of the most difficult things about managing people is to understand when to be firm and when to ease back on the throttle. An issue, I’ve learned, that is not specific to my construction site. Recently I was in Las Vegas, and heard from the taxi driver that a brand new, billion dollar building…

I open my eyes to see a glimmer of light. Dawn, the horizon on the verge of exploding with pink yellow light. How lucky. I stretch admiring the east facing bedroom window that frames the budding sunrise like a piece of invaluable art. Energized by the suns rays, I bounce from bed, slide into slippers…

Two hours later, I could barely catch my breath. Fingers trembled. My insides twitched. Lightheaded as if drifting in and out of an early morning dream, my mind scrambled to sort out if I had just willingly come face to face with my greatest fear and spit in the wind? Curious the things I can…

  I’m exhausted. The combination of walking the site after hours, collecting trash, checking progress and waking at the crack to plan each of the six trades to-do lists, has cut into my much needed REM rest. Most days, at least Monday through Saturday the job started at 7:00 and by the time I’ve closed…

Seven am., day two as the general. I bounced down the garage apartment stairs skipping every other step. The transition talk was behind me and job site rules set. A new beginning. I thought, looking forward to a productive work day. At the base of the stairs, I rounded the corner and saw the complete…