It's 30°F and windy. You're struggling
to get a house closed to the weather, but
the weather is not cooperating. Your
fingers feel cold and fat as you slice the
tip from a new tube of caulk and slip it
into the gun. You squeeze hard on the
trigger, and a stiff, white bead crawls out
of the tip. You press the tip against a
corner board, but the bead topples away
from the wall and falls like a stone to
the ground. In desperation, you read the
fine print on the tube label: "Apply to
clean, dry surfaces. Application temperature:
40°F to 80°F."
The problem with these instructions,
of course, is that construction
sites are