Random Jobs Week

So this is the week that we have been kicked off our regular worksite while the plumbers, electricians, and sheetrockers do their thing. Normally, on a Habitat house, the roof would have been put on as soon as possible so those subcontractors can be working on that interior stuff while volunteers are doing all the exterior stuff, but we’re building our house backwards. There was some kind of issue like the subcontractors couldn’t come when we needed them to, so we had most of the exterior done before they got here. So now while they’re working on the inside of the house, we have nothing to do. So all week, we’re getting split up to go around to other houses that are almost done and do some finishing touch stuff.

I unfortunately don’t really have anything to talk about for the beginning of the week because I was sick. Saturday night, when about half the team went to the first of the MANY Mardi Gras parades, I stayed home with a few others because I felt sickness coming on. On Sunday, I was pretty sure I was sick. Sore throat, stuffy nose, the works. On Monday, we had an ISP (Independent Service Project) opportunity set up at a community garden, but I stayed home and slept. On Tuesday at work, everyone was split into pairs to work on different houses, but Lindsey, Tomm, and I all stayed home sick. Tomm slept all morning and Lindsey and I watched way too many episodes of Bones. (Christina brought seasons one, two, and three on DVD.)

Wednesday was more of an interesting day. Lindsey, Christina, and I stayed home in the morning because we were all sick. Eleven people living in one tiny house means that any bit of sickness turns into the plague. Once one person gets it, it’s probably only a matter of time before everyone gets it. So we dropped everyone off at their various worksites, then came home and slept. The three of us ate lunch at the house then started getting ready to go to work because we all felt better. Lindsey was the first to the porch to get her boots. She opened the front door and said “Oh, no.” “What?” I said. “Something bad happened,” said Lindsey. I went out on the porch, and she pointed to our van. The window right behind the passenger window wasn’t there anymore and there was broken glass all over the ground around it. We told Christina, went out and looked, and our GPS was gone from its hiding place. (Yes, we hide it like you’re supposed to, not leave it in plain view.) Lindsey left for one of the worksites which was within walking distance, Christina called the police, and I started tracking down a place we could take it to get it fixed. Miss Pat, our across-the-street neighbor who loves us because she lives in a Habitat that AmeriCorps people helped with, and someone else were able to give the police a description of the perpetrators. Apparently there were two of them and they were like 13 years old. Hoodlumage starts early here. When the policeman saw that it was a government vehicle, he brought in a detective, who brought in someone to fingerprint the van. Dani, the other Sun team leader in New Orleans, came over in the cargo van we brought down here, and the three of us took the van to the place I had found. It ended up being an epic journey because the place we were trying to go was right across some railroad tracks and we COULD NOT find a way to get across for a long time. When we got there, they told us they couldn’t fix it without the plastic handle thing that unlatches the window and pushes it open. I distinctly remember seeing the handle on the ground because when I was on the phone with the auto glass people trying to tell them which window needed replacing, I told them it was definitely a window that opens because I see the handle on the ground. The guy didn’t mention that I should bring it. So we had to drive back, which took about a third of the time it took to get there. Christina was going to have me go back with them again but I asked to be dropped off at a worksite. I hadn’t done anything for like three days. I couldn’t really stand just driving around anymore. I didn’t do much when I got to work. They were starting to clean up when I got there. The supervisor for that house was this tiny old-ish man named Brian. He curses a lot, smokes like a chimney, and is super mean, yet somehow I found him hilarious.

On Thursday, everyone went back to the houses they had been working on all week. Michala, Tomm, Marquis, Jess, Christina, and I were all sent to the house with Brian again. He told half of us stay at that house with Katie (his AmeriCorps Direct person – like Forest is on our house) and half go with him to yet another house. Tomm, Christina, and I went with him. This house, like I think all the others we’re working on this week, was pretty close to finished. We got to use nail guns (which are designed not to just shoot out into the air – don’t worry Mom and Dad) to nail in some molding down along the baseboards. Then we used putty to fill those holes. Then we caulked the seams. Tomm and I hung the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. It wasn’t a terrible exciting day, but it was kind of fun. The best part of the day was when Brian had Tomm and I installing interior doors. It was fun because it was easy and yielded such immediate and noticeable results. Brian was kind of working on the house with us and on another house at the same time, so he was going back and forth a lot. He taught us how to install the doors then left again. On the third bedroom door we installed, we closed it to make sure it was right. That was when we found out that the door was locked. From the inside. While we were in the hall. And the locks were the kind where there’s a little button that turns, not the button that pushes in. Luckily there was a hole through the doorknob from the outside, so Christina grabbed a nail and tried to pick the lock. She couldn’t get it, so I tried. I was just about to give up but then I heard it click! I was pretty excited. If we couldn’t get that door open, I think we would have had only two options. Either bust the door down which obviously would have messed up the doorframe and hinges and probably the door itself, or go outside, take the boards off the windows, and hope the window was unlocked so someone could climb in. I don’t think Brian actually would have been mad at us, but I’m still really glad we got it open before he got back.

We were still split up on Friday. Again, we all went back to the houses we had been on all week. This day was much less interesting. Most of what we did was just paint the baseboards we had installed the day before. Brian was gone most of the day so we spent a lot of time with Katie. We asked a lot of questions about AmeriCorps Direct. I’m going to apply to be a team leader for next year, but doing AmeriCorps Direct with Habitat is pretty tempting. And now I’m all conflicted. But that’s another story.

I know this post is ending abruptly. Right now it is Wednesday the 10th. I wasn’t done writing this, but this is when I have internet. So here it is! With no proofreading. Hope it’s ok.