Sleepy

I kind of want to take a nap, but Kristina will be back soon to take me out on runs with her and her visiting sister--I stayed behind this morning to finish finances and so the rest of her family could fit in the van for a few homes.

So I've given you outlines of some of the families and the work we're doing, but I don't know if I've told you how my day goes, so I'll use yesterday as an example. I was lucky to be able to sleep a little bit longer, until 7:30, because my morning deal was to check phone messages and emails and call for building permits/request inspections--otherwise, it's 6:30 to be at the hardware store by 7:00 or 6:45 to wake up the volunteers by 7:00. My favorite is border patrol--you stand at the end of the driveway and don't let anyone leave until they have all of their supplies checked off as being either in their van or in another vehicle for delivery. It's even more my favorite to stand there in my overalls wearing a bright green hard hat, in case the I get hit by an anxious crew--wardrobe is key :p

So yes. I checked messages, we didn't need any permits (our inspector is out of town) and then I passed back my binders to my contact homes. Each house has a binder, with work orders filled out by the staff, "pink sheets" filled out by the volunteers asking for supplies for the following day, and lots of other info about the family and project. Somewhere in there I grabbed a granola bar for breakfast. Then I left around 9:45 for runs with Stephen. We visited 8 houses--inspected the crews' work, answered questions, delivered some supplies, and checked in with the families. We mooched lunch off of a crew at some point, too. Cheezits... mmmmm.... :p

But of course we run into some challenges (I'd say problems, but I'm trying to be positive). For example, we arrived at "Soft Cell" only to discover that our rover had delivered them finished lumber for their floor joists instead of pressure treated. Everyone knows that floors sitting less than 18" off the ground must be constructed with pressure treated lumber!! But Stan forgot. And of course, this crew was working super fast and had already installed all of them when we arrived. Dammit. "Sorry guys, those need to come out... have that done in the hour it'll take for us to go to the hardware store for those 2x6's, k?" Thankfully they had not started the blocking, which was also about to be done with finished instead of PT.

Another issue yesterday---plumbing! We encountered a copper pipe that was supposed to be the supply line to a toilet which had swollen with age and no longer fit any fittings. The GL in this house graciously stayed late and visited the hardware store twice for us to make sure that this family had a working toilet before they left. Of course, he wasn't actually plumbing anything (ahem), because in the good 'ol commonwealth of Virginia, only licensed plumbers and homeowners can work on plumbing and electric. Plumbing without a license is illegal! (Tell that to my purple fingers--somehow the PVC primer leaped under my nails a few days ago and hasn't left since...). Homeowners are quick learners, no? ;)

Something else I did yesterday was take quite a few photos--both of projects to show our out-of-town inspector, and of people to send to the volunteer department at Johnson City. I got a sweet one of Walter with a circ saw--he's a physics professor with a degree from Harvard who wears suspenders all the time and has perfect white hair and poor hearing. He also appreciates my calming demeanor. (Do you guys think I'm calm? I tend to freak out a lot, don't I? I'm kind of freaking out right now wondering if what he said was true, so it must be false, but then, he does have a degree fromn Harvard...) But anyway, it's a great photo and next time I get to the library I should put it on Facebook :p

Our 8 houses turned into 10 visits, and then after runs were finally done around 3:00, we stopped at the grocery store for massive amounts of hamburger and hotdog buns, bread, and milk. Then Stephen had to be back to set up for the picnic, since it was Thursday. Then staff meeting got started super late and I was up until 1:30. Then I woke up at 6:20 this morning to go to the hardware store. And now I have to leave! Hope you're all doing well and I miss ya!