Demolition Day!

Well, well, well. Went to 12 years of school and what job do I get here in Slidell? Crew chief for the first ever Davis Park C of C demolition crew! HA! What do I know about construction or demolition? Not much! But hey, I'll give most anything a try at least once...

Our team was together today doing a "muck out", which basically is a removal of all debris (furniture, cabinets, freezers, beds, etc.) and taking the drywall out that has been damaged by the water. The term "muck" apparently comes from the gooey, black, tar like substance left on the floors and everything else after the floodwater has left. It's like oily silt. Very slick, very smelly, very messy.

The house we were assigned was by many accounts, the worst one encountered by groups coming out of this site. It is a big house, with many many rooms filled from top to bottom with large messy debris. We've never seen anything like it. When we got on site, Paul, Jerry,Brian and Bob worked on taking down the boards that covered the windows. The smell inside was horrible. Getting windows and doors open for ventilation was definitely a priority. After that we just dug into the work. It was tiring physical labor, but we are serving an elderly lady who otherwise wouldn't have had the resources to get this work done. Our day was from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and we accomplished much.

We're taking pictures and video and when we (i.e, Paul or Jack) figures out how to upload them to the site, we'll get it to you. Only two smal injuries, Bob cut his arm on a door frame and Paul slipped in the muck while wielding a sledghammer beating the dog out of a kitchen cabinet. Nice. It refused to budge. But perseverance won out and we finally got the kitchen cabinets out. The rest of the day was spent doing this type of work. It was a great feeling to hear from the folks here in Camp Slidell that we were given the worst house many of them had seen and that we had done 2 days worth of work in one day. They've even taken to calling us the "red shirts". Pretty cool.

At lunch our reward was a smattering of food. Mostly civiliean MRE's (meals ready to eat) with a tasty choice of chicken salad or beef barbeque to slop on a vacuum sealed sesame seed bun that was as hard as you would imagine (we sliced 'em open with my Leatherman) , with Oreo cookies, and warm pineapple (?!) soda. Accompanied by Cheezum pringles and applesauce. Oh my, and how could I forget the Chef Boy-ardee beef raviolis? UMMMMM. Doesn't that sound like a lovely meal? Obviously, food is for sustenance only, not taste or enjoyment! I think we'll all lose a bit of weight here in Slidell.

Everyone's pretty tuckered out tonite, most are asleep in their tents and it's only 10 p.m.! We hope to finish the job tomorrow. Paul and I are interested in learning how to drive the heavy equipment (a Bobcat and Skeeter Slider); we're pretty sure that Jerry (who seems to know a little about everything) will teach us. For those of you who care, perhaps you could say a special prayer for Paul and me that we don't hurt someone (i.e, us) by jumping behind a rig that has hydraulics and really big wheels.

You all would be proud of your brothers and sisters; all of them are working their fingers to the bone. Your God and Christian family are being well represented here. Pray for safety, energy, and compassion for those that are hurting so badly.

Need to sleep before it's time for Muck Day #2.

Glen

Camp Modesto has been established !

What a sight to behold, the "tent city" referred to now as Camp Modesto. Eleven tents all lined up near the back forty of the property. Today I spent most of the day setting up to cook breakfast for the group tommorrow. Breakfast so far is spinwheels, poptarts and other items of this sort. There is also some Atkins breakfast cereals that taste like cardboard. Tommorow its Sausage and Eggs frp breakfast! Glen has recommended all of us double up on our cholesterol Our tenting experience is different than any I have ever experienced, fans and lighting, its unbelievable. Our group is awesome! They can muck houses with the best of 'em. Glen will give a further update.

Buddy