This
is the 'Site from Hell'. I credit its creation to a friend from the
construction industry, but the plot is my own. If it bears some
resemblance to a Barbara Cartland novel, then that is entirely
intentional. The building site was a hot bed of gossip and the more
scandalous the better. There was also no sensibility to a girl's
feelings. I warned the girls to never, never divulge anything remotely
romantic about themselves however sympathetic their bosses or
co-workers might appear - that is, unless they had no objection to it
being broadcast to the entire site within moments, be canvased around
head office by the end of the day and probably be in the News of the
World by the following Sunday.
The characters are a composite of people I met or heard about. The only one I made up entirely was Brenda, for although I sent many beautiful Australian and South African girls to work on site, they certainly did not share Brenda's morals. If they had done, I would have heard about it. As I said, it was impossible to keep a secret on a site.
Snagging takes place towards the end of the project when a list is compiled of all the things that need
'fixing'. It is a tedious business and probably not what Roland has in mind.
The Cube Test is done on concrete to test for strength. The concrete is poured into a mould - but unlike Delilah's gravy, at least it 'moves'.
