HELP! I need a Spanish translator.

Social Forums Non-Philosophical Chat
1

Attention. I need a translator to type this up in Spanish so I can make copies and hand them out to a carpenter crew I am leading in the construction of a shopping mall on Bald Head Island. I am the only English speaking dude on the job and I don’t speak a lick of Spanish- other than knowing a few tools and actions.

I would really appreciate it if someone who knows Spanish could do this for me. I am in a hurry and have to leave for the island tomorrow morning at six o’clock. I have roughly twenty-one hours before I depart.

What I want translated is below the dashed line. If there are any terms that do not have a Spanish equal, let me know and I’ll think of a substitute word that can be said in Spanish.

Just post the Spanish version and I’ll copy it. And please, this is serious, so don’t fuck around. If the guys attack me after reading it I’ll assume you said that I think their mothers are crack-whores or something of that nature. Now is not the time to ‘get back at detrop’ if anyone here has a bone with me. We’ll handle that later. Right now its business.

Spanish speakers…don’t fail me now.

Good morning, friends.

I had a friend translate some things I wanted to discuss with you all regarding our plan for framing this building in the next week.

At this point we are waiting for 2by10 material to build the remaining headers so that we can stand the last of the exterior walls. Vince will have the material delivered shortly if it isn’t already there when we arrive on the island.

A few things to do meanwhile:

  1. Build the bathroom partition walls and have them ready to be installed later.
  2. Install the remaining “T’s” in the walls that are standing already.
  3. Install the top plates.
  4. Install bracing for the exterior walls- diagonals and verticals- and have them ready to be nailed after we plumb the walls.
  5. Complete the nailing patterns (to follow the code) on the headers that are already installed.
  6. Some hangers and nail-plates can be installed where the blue-prints call for them.
  7. Nail the remaining bottom-plate metal bands on the walls that are stood already.
  8. Stock up on per-line blocks (14 3/8") for the remaining exterior walls.

Also, go back and make sure that all the king-studs are nailed sufficiently to the headers- no gaps please. Vince will be looking for things like that and we need to make sure the framing is tight and looking good.

Once all the exterior walls are stood, we will string and brace them. The next step will be installing the trusses. I suspect that Vince has already ordered them but I am not sure.

We will use a crane to hoist up the trusses, and I want to see if we can put plywood on the gable trusses before we have them hoisted by the crane. That would eliminate the hassle of using pump-jacks and walk boards (which I don’t think Roberto has) to put plywood on the gable ends. If we can, let’s separate the truss package and set aside the gable trusses. I’m not sure if the gables have barge-rafters yet, but we can just look at the existing building next to it to determine that.

How I like to set trusses:

  1. Three men are needed on the walls. Two men will be on each exterior wall who will nail the trusses on their lay-out. A man will be in the middle, climbing through the web of the trusses and installing “spacer-blocks” between each truss every time one is set. When we set the gable truss first, we will obviously plumb and brace it. From there our spacer blocks will maintain the lay-out in the middle as we set each truss in the succession.

And of course a few amigos in the yard to attach the crane hook to each truss so it can be sent up. I don’t know yet how expensive the crane will be, but if it is cheap, we won’t be in a rush to set all the trusses. If it is expensive, we might need to have five or six trusses sent up at a time, and build a bride-way along the middle of the floor to support the weight temporarily. I don’t know yet.

Once the trusses are set, we can install plywood on the roof. We will be using a Lull to hoist up the plywood, so that will be easy. A cut-man on the ground will cut our starters and finish-outs as we need them, and pass them up.

If, at this time, we still have a ten man crew, we can divide ourselves into two groups. One will finish the roof, the other will focus on framing the gable end walls, which must be balloon-framed, and/or installing the bathroom partition walls we built previously.

We can also install plywood on the exterior walls during this time. Maybe we can make a group of three guys to do this. We’ll discuss that.

So with this general plan I think that things will run smoothly. Doing a good job on this building is crucial if we want to get other contracts from Vince and stay on the island to work. Roberto says we can get two houses a month, at least, but only if Vince is impressed.

I don’t know about you guys, but this place is paradise and I’d love to stay here and work. Beautiful weather, beautiful women…ahhhhhh, what more could one want? And we’re getting paid more per square foot than anywhere in the state, so keep that in mind.

2

This could be the best comedy post of all time!

Seriously though, did you try Babblefish? Sometimes that works, but sometimes it creates weird variations.

3

Will translate more later…

-Thirst

4

This is no laughing matter, Adlerian. Its my ass if I don’t do a good job on this project.

I’ll try the babblefish site. Thanks for the reminder that it exists.

Thirst4Translation, thank you for what you’ve done so far. The clock is ticking and I’m chewing my fingernails here.

5

Will translate more later… Note, things in capital I do not know how to translate.

-Thirst

6

Wow.

7

Will translate more later… Note, things in capital I do not know how to translate.

I haven’t translated in nearly a decade… my Spanish has gotten weak, but it is a pretty decent translation. Enough so you can get some dialogue going. Good luck to you Detrop!

-Thirst

8

This would probably sound better is embracetrees said it, but here goes:

Thirst, you rule.

9

Yeah, very nice thing to do.

10

Kudos to Thirst. Impressive!

Whatever.

11

I worked in a restaurant for over five years that employed predominantly mexican cooks. One day we received a post card in (spanish) from one of the waiters who was vacationing in Chile. I asked the cooks what it said and recieved a very general, mixed response from them which I thought was odd. I speak spanish fairly well, so I looked at the letter and read it aloud. Afterwards, all of the cooks began thanking me, because they couldn’t read it. It was quite a depressing moment.

De’Trop, most likely the workers won’t be able to read your instructions, even with the translation. The majority of the laborers from Mexico don’t finish grade school because they begin working to help their families. It’s exceptionally calamitous, as the gentlemen I worked with were some of the hardest working, sincere and honorable people I have met.

Anyhow, you might want to be making alternative plans just in case.

12

Thirst, you’re going to be pissed when I tell you this, but your efforts were futile. I left for the island before you were finished and I didn’t copy any of your translation. This is my fault. I was a little too anxious, I admit, and twenty-one hours wasn’t a long enough time. All this happened too suddenly and I didn’t have any time to prepare beforehand. I asked another friend at Thinedge.org for a translation, which he did for me, and I have to apologize to him next. But thanks so much for your time, sir. I am impressed…I had no idea you speak Spanish.

I ended up finding a translator on the island who helped me communicate.

We had a great time, and completed twice as much of the framing as we thought we would. Let me tell you about this job…it was a monster.

The complex is a building divided into six seperate units, each twenty feet. The over-all length of the building was one-hundred and twenty feet long, sixty feet wide. Now get this. The studs were 2by8 yellow pine (stronger walls because of storm risks on the island), sixteen feet tall. Me and my seven amigos stood that sonofabitch with our bare hands. That’s right…no crane, no jacks, no come-along, and no lull. I didn’t think we could do it, they didn’t think we could do it…but damned if we did!

We framed all the exterior walls, partition walls, built the gables and the bathroom fit-ups…all in four days.

These guys are the coolest people you will ever meet. All of them twenty-five years old or younger. I called them Manudo (the mexican boy band from back in the day)…and they laughed heartily. None of them have any formal education, and at one point when we were examining the blue-prints, “Jermo,” (I probably didn’t spell that right), the best of the seven, asked me if I went to school and learned mathematics. I said “no,” and made the gesture of sleeping (put my hands together against my head and made a snoring sound). They laughed. I told them about Pathagoras(sp?) and how he invented the theorum we use to square walls thousands of years ago. I said “philosopher,” and pointed to my head and said “he was very smart.”

Now check this out. The bought lunch for me each day, and this is what we ate. Tortilla wraps, stuffed with fresh avacado, onions, chicken, hot-peppers, feta-cheese, and loads of hot-sauce. Of course I couldn’t handle much hot-sauce. Eating hot-sauce is like a ritual for them, almost like an initiation into manhood. After I took one bite, I ran for the water-jug as fast as I could, my eyes watering profusely. They laughed and laughed. It was great times.

For desert, we ate fresh oysters, with lime-juice and more hot-sauce. Jermo, upon gulping down an oyster, gestured toward his groin and said “good for women…mucho sex.” He meant that oysters were good for the sex-drive. Now I only ate one because the texture of the oyster disagreed with my mouth. One isn’t supposed to chew them, but swallow them whole. This was quite a chore for me.

I brought my video-camera and filmed much of the time, while we were working and the ferry rides to and from the island. After we were finished, I had them all climb to the top of the wall (the “king-of-the-mountain” bit) and stand in a row so I could film them. I promised to let Jermo have a copy of the tape so they could all show their wives and girlfriends.

They found out that I smoke marijuana, and they jokingly called me “loco,” which means “crazy.” Of course I agreed, but then I said “me…no alcohol…alcohol very bad for you,” and they said “ah,” which was sort of a redemption for me. “You drink,” I asked. “Yes, a little tequila.” I said “no good” and shook my finger at them with a “tsk…tsk.”

We also wrestled a bit. Of course I won but that’s because I am a little older and stronger, but those guys gotta lot of heart. Very healthy and with excellent constitution.

At the Hampton Inn, where we stayed each night, I showed them around. They were highly impressed with the quality of living there and didn’t expect it to be so luxurious. There was a complimentary breakfast each morning, and when I showed them to it…they raided that fucking thing like there wasn’t no tomorrow. I got quite a kick outta that.

I absolutely love those guys and wouldn’t trade them for a hundred american carpenters. You shoulda seen the red-neck trash that worked on that island.

We are supposed to meet back at the barge Tuesday morning to resume work. I can’t wait!

13

Ain’t that the truth!

14

Hello F(r)iends,

Hiya Detrop, no worries. I am glad you had a blast. It was good practice for me. I speak Spanish because I am Latino. I grew up in the U.S. of A. (though born outside the country) so my Spanish is nowhere near the level it should be… I think I mentioned to you once that I worked construction for a time so I had to learn some of the words for the tools, et al. but not all of them. But in any case, thanks for the chance to practice my Spanish.

I am glad you get along with your crew. I think Latinos come here with such an attitude to work their asses off that I just don’t understand why people believe that they are lazy… :confused:

Best of luck, Detrop.

-Thirst

15

Hmm…

In that case, you might want to seek out one who is called “Mark” at Thinedge.org. He is a master at the language and at one time he created a thread there for Spanish discourse only.

In the least, visit Thinedge.org and have a look at his translation which he did for me last week. Its in the ‘garbage and masturbation’ thread, in the ‘introductions and asides’ forum.

16

I have often wondered about this too. I came up this hypothesis based on a different experience. I used to work in an office where the positions were created on the fly. So there were no real job titles or job decsriptions so people basically had to make up work as they went along. This worked as long as the people were honest. Not eveyone was honest.

There were two people who hardly ever produced any results, but they very sucessfully acted very busy. They always presented themselves as stressed out, like they had way too much to do. This “busy-ness” made them the best workers in the eyes of the manager for our department.

On the other hand we had one programmer who was one of the most productive people in the office. At the same time we was very quiet, never tooting his own horn, never making a big deal out of anything he had done. He was always just quietly working, but the manager never thought of him as a good worker.

In short I suspect that most Latinos don’t make a bit deal out of what they do, the don’t self-promote. Since they don’t make a big deal out of what they do then nobody remembers how productive they really are.

Their quiet manners are the undoing of their reputation.

17

Lazy:

It could be some kind of Mexican stereotype from the movies.

When I used to live in NYC I observed that the city is run by Hobbit sized American Indians from South America and that I think are mostly Columbian. These guys, as I almost never saw women, are fast, strong, and super friendly. I can’t imagine what the city would do without them.

I also understand that many of these guys are master cooks as well.

Anyway, I believe that they are a great addition to America.

18

thirst- wanna do my spanish homework for me next??? :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

19

Hello F(r)iends,

Sure! Come sit on my lap and let Papi teach you a thing or two… :evilfun:

-Thirst

20

Typical. You don’t go to school to actually learn anything. You’re not there to educate yourself…you’re there to get that diploma so you can in turn go to college, where you will learn nothing, but fake another degree that will allow you to have a job where you work as little as possible while being paid enough to buy a bunch of shit you don’t need. Besides, who needs to know Spanish in a country where Mexican immigrants are exploited anyway. As long as they keep working to manufacture all that shit that you buy, you’re happy. You don’t want to talk to them in the first place.

Of course Thirst will teach you some Spanish. But you’ll have to wait until his girlfriend isn’t around. I don’t think “Child’s Play,” or whatever her name is, would appreciate the fact that Thirst was cheating on her. Then again…she’s probably doing the same thing with some other punk.

Yeah, I think it’ll work out great for you two. Its par for the course in North America.