Well how does it feel?

The nine of us hit Indy like Patton's army this week! Well maybe not like that but we did leave our mark.  During the week some or all of us worked on 6 different projects.  Our two Greater Blessing projects were completed on time in fact one was completed on Thursday afternoon.  As I stated before we helped out with one of the houses by staying until nine on Tuesday by tar papering and starting the roofing. Today we ended our week by working at Maria's house ( Dennis and Tom really milked that one) and Chuck, Ed and I finally getting a chance to work with our good friend Eddie and his Disaster ReBuilder group.  I can't tell you how much I looked forward to working with them all week! As the day was winding down we were asked again to help out another site so Chuck and Ryan went off to help with some trim.  At 3:00 PM we had the dedication service with the two families and a little later said our goodbyes. Dinner was held at a large Baptist Church with a video of the week.
So back to our Methodist hotel for a relaxing night or so I thought.  While working on some pictures on the computer our new found friend Mark Bippes came in after towing the trailer back to the Church.  He had this worried look on his face as he told me about pulling out of the gas station and not seeing the pipe bollards. He said the fender was not looking so good, well I just started laughing, told him after this week it really wasn't a big deal. So we now have one fender on the trailer again!  But you know what, with all that has gone wrong this week we still helped transform the lives of SIX families, isn't that what it's all about when it comes down to it!
Well we are hopeful that the ride home will be uneventful but if it's one thing I've learned this week is to expect the unexpected.

Day 4

Ok, I know what happened to day 2 and 3.  Well lets see day two the houses were moving along great with the exception of house 1 and 3.  By the end of the day one was still in need of roof sheathing and 3 papering and shingles. Well they were looking for people to stay and paper and start the roof and we all know that's an open invitation for Neil so yes I volunteered us.  So Tuesday we got back to the Church at 9:00.  Wednesday was a little less eventful for us but house #6 had some issues with the forklift trying to load shingles and breaking a roof truss and almost pulling the the house down.  Well it's now 6 am and I need to get moving to the site for a leaders meeting.  Oh and by the way Dennis has managed not to get hurt so far! 

Gentleman start your engines! (borrowed from Gary S.)

Well we've started!  Where do I start. Our first house #19, needs a new roof, chimney torn down and rebuilt, concrete stairs steps rebuilt and a tree removed.  First the concrete steps, jack hammered and removed today and reformed ready to be poured tomorrow evening.  After waiting for 11/2" coil nails and 2x6 we finally got to banging some nails this afternoon.  With a little luck and lots of prodding we'll get that 10 pitch roof done tomorrow.
So house #20, well for some reason we always have a place for Dennis and this was it!  Dennis spent the day fixing cracks in the plaster ceiling for a couple.  The husband has dementia and really didn't want the work done in his room, what better place to put Dennis!  In fact he was doing fine until he found the loaded shotgun. I sure hope he remembers who Dennis is tomorrow when he walks into his bedroom! 

More tomorrow!

Good Morning!

The saga continues...  After a 10 hour over night road trip Ed and Neil have arrived with the trailer and the borrowed truck safe and sound. 
Just a little back ground info on the trip so far. ( We had a lot of time to ponder on this while driving)
In the first 50 hours since we left NJ we have traveled 1250 miles, had 3 different vehicles, met some absolutely wonderful and gracious people and had 2 nonconsecutive hours of  sleep.
But we're here and buckling down for a more rewarding and less eventful (we hope) week.

Why the mountains are in West Virginia

So that at 1:30am Saturday morning they could fry our transmission!  Well, we limped to Brentwood OH to give the mechanic (me) a chance to look and see what really happened.  After slight burns to the finger it was determined that the cooler line sprung a small leak thus frying the overdrive and 3rd gear bands.  Now as a side note when you have a problem in Ohio make sure you stop at the local BP convenience store, at 2 in the morning there is an ample supply of drunk assistants trying their hardest to crawl under the hot truck and roll in the molten transmission fluid. 
After a sleepless night complete with a serenade we found the Fort Henry Transmission shop and some willing to help.  I have to say he was the silver lining in a very long and painful night.  So, the trailer is safe (we hope) at their shop, we have a little red rental, and the Tahoe will be running by the end of the week (we hope).
We are at the Methodist Church in our private room for six making a plan to get our tools that are 4 hours away and looking into a local place to have a relaxing dinner with some refreshment.
Let you know more tomorrow.     

Photo Updates

Photos of our week will be posted on Photobucket.
http://s740.photobucket.com/albums/xx45/nmlrib/

2010 Millard Fuller Legacy Build

Come follow us as we travel to Indianapolis for the 2010 Legacy Build.
Our posts will keep you updated on the daily activities of the build. We will be updating you on not only the 2 NJ Pines team projects but the entire build as it unfolds.