Well, they came, they built, they created drama and they also united a community and gave us a spot on National Television to show Windsor and its amazing people to the world. Because of that I can not possibly say anything negative about the show! As the construction engineer I was consistently on the job site and tried my best to be where I was needed and listen to my contractors and crew as they all had different levels of experience and professional knowledge. In the end we did a great job together and the deck was finished and spirits were high!

The only comment I would make would be of course of the ” somebody – Kelly” comment Debbie said – pointing a finger to me for measurement discrepancies. Drama was needed and I was chosen for it I guess.  Anyone on site would tell you the same – that because of different designs given and bad information handed to to us we did have issues with the design – however none of the measuremets we made were wrong – we simply kept compensating for the constant design drawing changes.

It is important to  understand that this was constant filming for 5 days with resulted in 45 min filming – many things and conversations were edited – for instance the (you suck you suck you suck ) comment was not even around the crew – That was clipped or edited so that it looks like I am saying it around the crew when it was actually a totally different scene and I was alone. I said that after running up the street. I was given a tip by a neighbor that the crew was hiding the cement mixers from us so we didn’t know we had them. I ran up the hill – cameras running behind – and when I found them I was out of breath and said the you suck comments – directed on the pranksters hiding them – I then brought them down and started to use them. It was edited to look like I was saying it after finding out a measurement change and was surrounded my construction crew – that never happened.

So when watching this show – or others like this – keep it in mind that the editing is done so that you stay interested. It was in fact a lot of hard work, long days and construction changes but the DJ and the  teens were awesome, Nat shined with her film crew, and my crew was amazing – I would especially like to thank my right hand man Mike Taylor and the rest of the immediate crew of Pete, Mike, and Tim!  The inspector you saw was also Tim and he was awesome – I must have called him half a dozen times when we started to see code issues and he was always there! My sister Kim and her husband Greg also lent a huge hand with the fence and gazebo. Krista Best – my good friend and coworker – came and helped for days with the gazebo and landscaping – even provided gravel secretly without the crew know …lol. In the end the Rugby team, fire department, Mayor, students, wives, fathers, grandfathers, you name it – the community was there. There was such a great community vibe – it was so worth it!

As a designer – I know that you should always expect changes, issues and obstacles with large projects – especially ones with a tight time schedule. Design does change as elelemtns and other issues change – so I have no problem with how any of this went – it was awesome and I would do it again in a heart beat!

In fact – World – if you have another Debbie Travis show like scenario and think I might fit with it – give me a call! The tv bug has bit and I love to be loud, work with my hands, and make people laugh while helping! In the mean time – thank you Debbie – it was great working with you and the deck is amazing!

So watch the clip on cbc or the best of the Windsor show on Debbie’s site! and let me know what you think! We will also be podcasting about this show this week on the JaK attack

Filed under: Debbie Travis All For One
by Kelly