We don't have one.
Primarily because most of what we've learned is best communicated in shrugs or hysterical laughter. Neither of which break down neatly into 3 point paragraphs.
One of the team said the other day that she'd been talking to someone who was "very excited about what we're doing". I said, "How pathetic is it that people can be very excited about what we are doing. What are we doing? I don't know."
This stemmed from a debrief of the window wrapping project (2 posts back) on Saturday. By the time I arrived that morning, the work was underway with an efficient team of two sizing up each project and, well, just doing it. Boom. Done. Next.
Which left LA and I following, watching, wanting to help but not knowing what to do. A pair of middle aged-ish construction groupies. Neither of us is good at doing nothing. So we ended up keeping the coffee warm in E's apartment and taking pictures. Eventually, we got to run to the hardware store for a batt of insulation. So that was good.
In the mean time, the dynamic duo wrapped several windows, back and front including this one.
OK, it's not a window anymore. It's the hole behind the shower wall. But, I'm pleased to say, it's less of a hole today than it was Saturday morning.
One project involved a wood frame door, clad in metal. The wood frame had been broken, leaving the bottom third of the door swinging. Actually swinging. Back and forth. In and out. That's fixed, too.
Not sure if they got to the window next to the door in question. It got busted with a baseball bat a while ago and replaced with a piece of wood panelling. Just panelling. You might as well be outdoors.
A couple of the guys say, thanks to the weather stripping, that they can no longer see daylight around the door, or, in one case, "shake hands with whoever's walking by." That might be hyperbole.
One door needs a bit more work. It's hard to attach weather stripping to wood that's not there. It's just gone. An attempted break-in, maybe.
One lady can re-stock her first aid kit, now that she doesn't need to stuff the gauze in the cracks around the door frame any more.
One woman has a new lightbulb outside her door so she can actually see to unlock her door.
And I helped.
And I learned a little more that I can't define or explain.
But we found out tonight at Dinner that we'd been "announced from the pulpit" at a local church. Which (once I'd clarified that it was an- and not de-) is very cool. It's created some interest in people who attend that church, which I've always pigeonholed as very conservative. So, with my stereotype in mind, I'm wondering what they'll think of the whole thing.
One of the team is going to organize a meeting at her house for those church-folks who are interested so we can give them an idea of what 'we do'.
I'm tempted to tell horror stories and see if it scares them off. But I won't.
But I will say this:
If you can't sit down for dinner with 30 people, without having someone say the blessing,
If you can't share a meal with someone who may or not be drunk,
Someone who may or may not be mentally ill,
Someone who may or may not be lying to you,
If you can't have a conversation with someone who is smoking without making faces and waving the smoke away,
If you can't hear someone use the F word as a verb and an adjective and a noun and an adverb, possibly all in the same sentence, without cringing,
If you can't laugh at a genuinely funny crude joke, and good naturedly rebuff a truly offensive one,
If you can't hug someone who may or may not have Hepatitis C or AIDS,
This may not be the place for you.
But I hope it is.
r
Primarily because most of what we've learned is best communicated in shrugs or hysterical laughter. Neither of which break down neatly into 3 point paragraphs.
One of the team said the other day that she'd been talking to someone who was "very excited about what we're doing". I said, "How pathetic is it that people can be very excited about what we are doing. What are we doing? I don't know."
This stemmed from a debrief of the window wrapping project (2 posts back) on Saturday. By the time I arrived that morning, the work was underway with an efficient team of two sizing up each project and, well, just doing it. Boom. Done. Next.
Which left LA and I following, watching, wanting to help but not knowing what to do. A pair of middle aged-ish construction groupies. Neither of us is good at doing nothing. So we ended up keeping the coffee warm in E's apartment and taking pictures. Eventually, we got to run to the hardware store for a batt of insulation. So that was good.
In the mean time, the dynamic duo wrapped several windows, back and front including this one.
OK, it's not a window anymore. It's the hole behind the shower wall. But, I'm pleased to say, it's less of a hole today than it was Saturday morning.
One project involved a wood frame door, clad in metal. The wood frame had been broken, leaving the bottom third of the door swinging. Actually swinging. Back and forth. In and out. That's fixed, too.
Not sure if they got to the window next to the door in question. It got busted with a baseball bat a while ago and replaced with a piece of wood panelling. Just panelling. You might as well be outdoors.
A couple of the guys say, thanks to the weather stripping, that they can no longer see daylight around the door, or, in one case, "shake hands with whoever's walking by." That might be hyperbole.
One door needs a bit more work. It's hard to attach weather stripping to wood that's not there. It's just gone. An attempted break-in, maybe.
One lady can re-stock her first aid kit, now that she doesn't need to stuff the gauze in the cracks around the door frame any more.One woman has a new lightbulb outside her door so she can actually see to unlock her door.
And I helped.
And I learned a little more that I can't define or explain.
But we found out tonight at Dinner that we'd been "announced from the pulpit" at a local church. Which (once I'd clarified that it was an- and not de-) is very cool. It's created some interest in people who attend that church, which I've always pigeonholed as very conservative. So, with my stereotype in mind, I'm wondering what they'll think of the whole thing.
One of the team is going to organize a meeting at her house for those church-folks who are interested so we can give them an idea of what 'we do'.
I'm tempted to tell horror stories and see if it scares them off. But I won't.
But I will say this:
If you can't sit down for dinner with 30 people, without having someone say the blessing,
If you can't share a meal with someone who may or not be drunk,
Someone who may or may not be mentally ill,
Someone who may or may not be lying to you,
If you can't have a conversation with someone who is smoking without making faces and waving the smoke away,
If you can't hear someone use the F word as a verb and an adjective and a noun and an adverb, possibly all in the same sentence, without cringing,
If you can't laugh at a genuinely funny crude joke, and good naturedly rebuff a truly offensive one,
If you can't hug someone who may or may not have Hepatitis C or AIDS,
This may not be the place for you.
But I hope it is.
r
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