Before I say anything else, I would like to thank the group from Covington, Georgia who worked with us this past week. They were with us in the spring also and we appreciate "boomerangers" who come back and bring their friends. I've been keeping this blog pretty much once a week for over a year and for some reason, I skipped a week when this group was with us. I got an email shortly after I didn't write anything that week from one of their group that said, "What? We weren't there?" so I wanted to make sure they got the good mention this time.
     Lowe's has pledged $400,000 to Habitat/Tuscaloosa to build our next five homes . Those of you who know my history even a little know that I'm generally a Home Depot guy. Matt- the regional rep- is doing a great job for us- brings coffee and donuts (still hot Krispy Kremes- Mmmm!) to the worksite in addition to getting all of Brandon's material orders for the 5 homes there in a timely manner. Haven't managed to put on the Lowe's hat that he gave us yet though. We now have 5 new homes underway. Four are on the same street (7th east) and Jessie Hills is just 5 blocks away. We have three site supervisors or house leaders plus Nancy who is our runner and special ops. Brandon took the five of us for a shopping spree at Lowe's to load up with new tools for each house. Christmas comes early. He gave us each a $1,000 budget to purchase power tools for each site so that we wouldn't have to be looking for that circular saw from the other containers. We had a guessing contest who would be closest to budget and what the total cost for the five of us would be. Most went over- my basket was $1,500 . Total was $7,600. We should be in good shape for quite a while now. These 5 homes, according to the article I read in the Tuscaloosa paper, are to be completed by January. Let's see.
      We have hired a new man also. His name is Joe Chastine. He will be responsible for the major rehab arm of our affiliate. There is a great need here also for the rebuilding of homes that were damaged by last year's tornado. Joe's job will have him 40% of his time in the office with paperwork and 60% in the field getting the repairs done. Me, I'm strictly a field guy. So, when our Exec. Director, Bob Johnson, called me and said that he needed to see me at the office, I couldn't for the life of me imagine what I had done wrong. No clue from Brandon, although he did give me a heads up that it wasn't anything bad. When I got there, Bob handed me a letter he had written. It was to thank me for my skills, leadership and attitude in working with the volunteers. Plus a little unasked-for bump in pay. What a great surprise . I'm not really in this for the $, but I do appreciate the appreciation.
     Last week also brought us our new NCCC Americorps team, Delta 9. Their first day was Friday. They worked together with the Covington group and we basically got Sonya Moore's home blacked in. Wolf and Pily took ownership of the safe room- completed the framing and plywood and installed all of the B.A.S's (big screws) that hold the two layers of 3/4" plywood and 1/8" plate steel to the double framing. 972 of them self tapping thru steel screws. Used the new 1/2" electric drill with plenty of torque for the job. You gotta hang onto it though or it will take you for a ride!
     Day off Tuesday was spent at the Lion's Den working on the cabinet-less kitchen. Pictures to follow. Amy from Minnesota, eh?, helped me Saturday before she left to prepare for grouting and helped to hang the donated over the range microwave up (how do you do that with no cabinet above, you ask? pictures to follow)
      And a teenage cat has adopted me. No name yet. I heard one suggestion, though- Habicat- got any more out there?
     How about that Crimson Tide 7-0! Roll Tide!   That's all for this week. A Simple Church is back for another week starting tommorrow-   Over and out- Love ya-   Peter