Because I thought I had lined up help, I planned the basement floor tear-up/trench work for the drains to the sump for Saturday. The help was a no-show but the work was started and that was the big hurdle. The house was built by a masonry worker for his family back in 1962 and evidently that mason came up with a recipe for the hardest concrete ever used in a floor. While on a walkabout to fetch some buckets I saw the first sign of new growth pushing up-the flowers in the front yard.