Day two... part deux.

Indeed it was a long day of hard, hard work... but we all kind of had a feeling it would be.   After we all finally found our way to the All Hands headquarters and we received our assignments, Kelsey, Laura, Ben and I headed to a house about 6 blocks away.  As one of the designated gutting/renovation teams, we knew it would entail doing some damage.  As we learned from past experience volunteering in New Orleans, the first step is always to strip the interior down to the studs, even making sure that every last nail has been pulled so they can then start the mold remediation process.  Once that happens, the site should be clean and ready for reconstruction.  What we were not prepared for was the joy of wearing Tyvek suits, breathing masks, and protective goggles that seemed predisposed to fog up at the most inconvenient moments.  

Our crack team had basically two jobs. (1) Pry up huge pieces of plywood flooring, exposing only support beams and remove every nail, and (2) pull down slats in the ceiling to reveal the studs and (one more time) remove every nail.  What we weren't really quite ready for was the shower of old, crumbly insulation that would come down on us every time we tugged down a slat in the ceiling.  Thus finally appreciating the fact that Tyvek suits come with lovely hoods.  Having donned the suit, pulled up the snug hood, and added the previously mentioned breathing mask and spectacular goggles, I was hermetically sealed into my suit of destruction.  However, the truth of the matter was that I looked like a giant dancing marshmallow wielding an enormous orange crowbar.  The other three looked much more professional and ready for work.

We actually got an enormous amount of work done... with both ceilings and floors cleared.  We still need to finish taking up the floor in the front room of the house, but that shouldn't take too much of tomorrow.  What DID get my attention was when our site supervisor (Dave) said that we will be spending a fair amount of tomorrow in the crawl spaces under the house.  I didn't have the heart to tell Laura, Kelsey and Ben about this.... maybe we will trade off with the mold remediation team.

At the end of the day, though, any unpleasantness of the jobs we are assigned really doesn't matter.  We are down here to help people get back into their homes.  On the drive in this morning, Reid was recording another segment of his video blog about the trip.  He asked me what we could expect today.  The answer was the same as it always is be it on a trip to Post-Superstorm Sandy Long Island or to Post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans.  We'll get some crappy jobs, but ultimately we are helping people who need it... and that's a really good thing.

It's late now and I am kind of rambling.  I am off to check on the kids one last time for the evening and then it is time for this happy camper to drift off to sleep too.  Another big day of more Tyvek suits tomorrow!!

Will post again soon.... and will add more pictures!!

~Sam