"Doing What We Are Supposed To"
| We started our first day of work with breakfast in a big tent a block from the work site. Jimmy and Rosalynn were there, and he told us all to get to work, so we all got up and left for the work site. Things took a little while to get organized. Since the main construction has been done, the primary jobs for us are painting, roofing, and siding. The siding is a concrete material, so you need to use nail guns to put it on. They requested that only people experienced with nail guns help with the siding. Except for the crew chiefs, no one had any experience with nails guns. They asked that only experienced roofers go up on the roof. Besides the crew chiefs, few people had much roofing experience. I started with the siding crew, wanting to get my hands on the nail guns, as did Troy. I got assigned to trimming some aluminum flashing with a tin snips with the help of a volunteer named Bob. After a half hour or so, we had most of that done, so I decided to ascend to a higher calling, and I went on up to the roof. (I did manage to fire a few nails with the nail gun for Troy before I went on up.) Troy by this time had learned the intricacies of the nail gun and was a principle member of the siding team. I learned roofing from a fellow who didn't know what he was doing. When we were on the third row, we found out the second row was wrong and we had to tear it up. Ah well. We finally figured it out, but we did have a tough time keeping the rows level. I don't think I got too burned, as I put on sunscreen twice. It got pretty hot just before lunch, but luckily it cooled off in the afternoon. I quickly learned to be really thankful that I am not a roofer by trade. Doing that for real (I took a lot of breaks) in the hot summer would be pretty miserable. |  Troy (with Mario and Patti behind him) at the start of the project.  Bob trimming the flashing. This was such a fun job! |
 Kathy, Chuck, & Tom Photo courtesy of Joe VanAndel |
Our crew chief, To5m (the 5 is silent), came from Lynchburg, Virginia, with two of his friends, Larry and Chuck. They do several builds a year for Habitat, and are quite a team. They go the extra mile to make the experience fun and rewarding for the whole crew. They have a number of routines that they repeat almost every day, since there are always new one-day volunteers. The first one is to memorize the number one rule - "Don't Hurt Tom!" To5m also leads us in a stretch every day in the morning, only he pays Larry to touch his toes for him. To5m puts up useful signs now and then, like "Dry Paint". He also hands out "Hammers Like Lightning" certificates to recognize those who, like lightning, never hit the same place twice. At one point, I was in danger of being nominated by Louie. (Hey, I had an issue with one particular roofing nail.) (OK, maybe two...) (Whatever...) As it turned out, Louie managed to get the next one instead! The title of this web page, "Doing what we are supposed to," is one of To5m's catch phrases. |
| Partway
through the day, they had everyone sign a
piece of the siding. Under my name, I added all of your initials,
in recognition of your support for me, this trip, and Habitat.
Larry presented it to the homeowner, and for the 12th time in a row, he
couldn't keep from choking up. One interesting thing about this Jimmy Carter Work Project is that Habitat has gotten religion - about the environment, that is. (They already had religion about religion!) This is the first time that they are building the houses in an attempt to get LEEDS certification (Leading in Energy and Environmental Design). The houses are energy efficient and will have solar panels, and we are recycling our drink containers and all the cardboard packaging from the appliances and cabinets. (I wish we could recycle the shingle scraps!) The drinks, by the way, come in by forklift.  Me just after arriving on site. |
 Worksite on the first day. The houses are fairly large and close together, so the site was really humming when all the volunteers were working. We probably had 30 or 40 people on our duplex at once, sometimes more. Getting material in through the main gate often caused some traffic jams, but overall people managed to work pretty smoothly despite the high density. |
...on to Tuesday...