—The secret is bungee cords..—
That’s a good idea. Better than duct tape or zip ties. And re-usable, too.
Building while alone is a challenge. Sometimes it takes 2 hands, a shoulder, and a knee to get things going your way.
When I was remodeling the back porch alone a few years ago, I made “helpers” by nailing small pieces of wood on either side of a post so the cross piece could not move out of place when I raised the post with cross beam in place. I had an entire load bearing wall removed, so I had to put up temp post and cross beams to hold the roof up. Everything went smooth as glass all the way through the project till I was taking down the temp beams. I knocked a post out that had a cross beam on it and I hit the post too hard and the post and beam came crashing down, resulting in one broken window and one terrified wife when she heard the crash. Almost according to plan!
Another thing about the physicist/geologist that you will appreciate, maybe. He said he has a shop where he builds and repairs things. I don’t know the extent of his shop but think I will see that within a couple of weeks. I know shops are important to you so I’ll check it out to see if it meets with your criteria of a good shop. If it doesn’t meet your standards, I will dump him. :o)