Wetting the trowel helps but the real reason your mortar was drying out is probably the board itself, not the steel. A dry plywood or masonite board sucks the water right out of the mud, so soaking the board first does way more than the trowel trick ever will. Dave's tip works because a wet trowel slides instead of grabbing, but try hosing down your board before you dump the mortar and you'll get even more blocks per hour.

So a guy quits and suddenly your whole life needs to change? Ray's line about the paycheck sounding the same is catchy but it's also nonsense, a check is a check, that's not some deep truth. You had 12 years of seniority, a setup you knew, people who had your back, and you traded it for a pension promise and a shorter drive. Pensions get frozen and cut all the time, and new guys are always the first ones shown the door when things get tight. That $43 a month you lost? You probably lost more than that in raise bumps you gave up by starting over at the bottom. Staying put is not losing, it's called having something solid.