Last week I went on my second Habitat for Humanity trip down to Ocean Springs, Mississippi with our group from Luther. It was another great experience similar to the first one but also vastly different in many ways. For example when we got to New Orleans it was still interesting and exciting but a lot less so (this is illustrated by the fact that I only took about 12 pictures in New Orleans compared to about 60-70 last year.) Well I still had lots of fun and it was a good way to relax and enjoy our break from schoolwork.
When we got to Camp Victor, all the good memories I had made from last year came flooding back. The place just has a good vibe or something. You can almost sense that God is present here, with all the good that Camp Victor does for its community members. Anyways it felt good to be a "veteran" and to know where everything was even though Camp Victor had been changed around a bit. We were given a tour of its facilities and then got a chance to put our stuff away and make our beds.
Later that night we had a meeting where all the jobs available for that week were announced. I originally wanted to be on the roofing crew, but it was full so I went with a group headed by Dale (probably a good thing too, I would have gotten so burned up on that roof). I was the oldest student in this group and took charge of getting tools and talked with the other group members.
The next morning after a pretty good nights rest and a decent breakfast of biscuits and gravy, Ross, Eli, Jessica and I went into the tool storage room. Dale had been unsure of what tools we would actually need but we were told to get a few basic things such as hammers, a circular saw, a few crowbars, and a couple ladders.
When we got to the work site, we found out we would be tearing down rotting Fascia and Soffit board. I didn't have a lot of experience in tearing things down, but we all jumped on ladders and began ripping down the Fascia first and then the Soffit last. We accomplished this using a combination of hammers and crowbars/wonderbars(sp?), it was tough work because some were very stuck and stubborn.
The group I worked with really surprised me in their wiliness and as the week went on their skills in accomplishing tasks. They all did what they were told and even while working we were laughing and having a good time. I was the "veteran" and they were the "newbies" but I really learned a lot from them and it was fun getting to know them by working and talking with them.
I loved this years trip I think more than last year because of the new people that came on the trip, hanging out with them, talking with them, and working with them. I am definitely going again next year, and will be trying to recruit my friends or whoever will listen to come too. This is a great trip because you learn new skills, make lots of new friends, get to escape cold tempatures in Iowa, and you have fun everyday of the trip. Can't wait till next spring.
Sam "SMG" Gaylord
Monday, March 30, 2009
Unless I magically stop time. My wouldn't that be nice...
I figured I would blog again now that I have plenty of time to waste. Well kinda, I could be doing my Latin homework right now, but I would so rather do this. Thats why my name is now as follows: Samuel Procrastination Gaylord.
I am sitting in Brunsdale at the moment enjoying a bowl of Ramen noodles. I would have liked to take a nap after my classes ended @ 2:30, but my roommate has a weekly phone session with someone and so I am unable to. I figured that this was a good thing because then I would be forced (well kind of) into going to Brunsdale and getting something done. Because if I leave my Latin homework till 11 at night, I will get very little sleep. Even though Latin class is a lot of work, I feel like it is making my ability to learn Latin increase by leaps and bounds. I feel like I am mastering the language more these days, much more than I ever did in Middle School or even High School. Of course I am actually trying now that it is my major and I am in college but it makes me feel good that I can easily conjugate basically any verb and am starting to be able to pick out if a verb is subjunctive or indicative mood.
The Final Countdown by Europe just came on randomly on my itunes. It is part of a playlist labeled "Adrenaline" for when I need to be pumped up lol.
Today my first class was New Nations, New Worlds which is basically America History but told from an Eastern or Indian perspective. It also is a more focused history of the time period in 3 specific regions, the Chesapeake, New England, and the West Indies (as well as the Carolinas). Anyways the professor is Tebbenhoff who is a very great prof, he said this today:
You know what I just realized?
I love college. People who tell you that it is the best time of your life are very right. You are on your own with people your own age, you date, party, study, do homework, and eat with your peers. You don't have any real requirements besides going to class and doing your homework. And if you are a male, you are surrounded by women. Haha. The ratio of women to men at Luther is 57% to 43%, which is better than the national average 58% to 42%. According to the Admissions FAQ from the website: Luther.edu.
Heres our class profile: Class of 2011
I feel like I have come so far from when I was a High school senior @ Minnehaha Academy. College really does change your personality and forces you to grow up in both educational aspects, relationship wise, and in social aspects as well.
I love finding new music and new artists. Its great to expand your musical tastes and basically have every kind of genre of music in your iTunes library.
I recently filled out a form (which my dad suggested) to get more information from the US Navy Reserves. I think it would be very cool and prestigious to serve my country. Now don't worry I am not planning on fighting in any wars, because honestly that would be scary and I'm not quite the best candidate for combat. But I was thinking something like a Navy Intel Analyst
I definitely want a job doing something to help defend America from Terrorists and those who want to do us harm. I have wanted to for quite a while, I think being a defense analyst would be great and very interesting. I feel like I would enjoy going to work day after day because it would be so current and would change daily or at least weekly.
Well I should probably be doing my Latin homework now so I don't have to stay up super late again tonight. Especially because I am still sick and trying to recover from whatever "bug" I got in either Mississippi or Nawlins over break. I had to take Tylenol PM to fall asleep last night.
Okay just one more thing. In Latin 302 this semester we have been reading Roman plays, and right now we are reading a very long play called Pseudolus by Titus Maccius Plautus commonly known as Plautus who was a Roman playwright. His comedies are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature(Source: Wikipedia). It has been very interesting but also has been A LOT of work. Our professor gives us lots of lines each night and the latin isn't exactly hard but it does take some time to get a good translation.
Alright time to do that Latin homework now.
I might write again later on tonight. I don't think I am going to watch Heroes tonight. I need to catch up and so will probably watch it sometime later this week. Same with the Office. Unless I magically stop time. My would that be nice...
I am sitting in Brunsdale at the moment enjoying a bowl of Ramen noodles. I would have liked to take a nap after my classes ended @ 2:30, but my roommate has a weekly phone session with someone and so I am unable to. I figured that this was a good thing because then I would be forced (well kind of) into going to Brunsdale and getting something done. Because if I leave my Latin homework till 11 at night, I will get very little sleep. Even though Latin class is a lot of work, I feel like it is making my ability to learn Latin increase by leaps and bounds. I feel like I am mastering the language more these days, much more than I ever did in Middle School or even High School. Of course I am actually trying now that it is my major and I am in college but it makes me feel good that I can easily conjugate basically any verb and am starting to be able to pick out if a verb is subjunctive or indicative mood.
The Final Countdown by Europe just came on randomly on my itunes. It is part of a playlist labeled "Adrenaline" for when I need to be pumped up lol.
Today my first class was New Nations, New Worlds which is basically America History but told from an Eastern or Indian perspective. It also is a more focused history of the time period in 3 specific regions, the Chesapeake, New England, and the West Indies (as well as the Carolinas). Anyways the professor is Tebbenhoff who is a very great prof, he said this today:
"Those are weasel words, what do you really think?"
You know what I just realized?
I love college. People who tell you that it is the best time of your life are very right. You are on your own with people your own age, you date, party, study, do homework, and eat with your peers. You don't have any real requirements besides going to class and doing your homework. And if you are a male, you are surrounded by women. Haha. The ratio of women to men at Luther is 57% to 43%, which is better than the national average 58% to 42%. According to the Admissions FAQ from the website: Luther.edu.
Heres our class profile: Class of 2011
I feel like I have come so far from when I was a High school senior @ Minnehaha Academy. College really does change your personality and forces you to grow up in both educational aspects, relationship wise, and in social aspects as well.
I love finding new music and new artists. Its great to expand your musical tastes and basically have every kind of genre of music in your iTunes library.
I recently filled out a form (which my dad suggested) to get more information from the US Navy Reserves. I think it would be very cool and prestigious to serve my country. Now don't worry I am not planning on fighting in any wars, because honestly that would be scary and I'm not quite the best candidate for combat. But I was thinking something like a Navy Intel Analyst
I definitely want a job doing something to help defend America from Terrorists and those who want to do us harm. I have wanted to for quite a while, I think being a defense analyst would be great and very interesting. I feel like I would enjoy going to work day after day because it would be so current and would change daily or at least weekly.
Well I should probably be doing my Latin homework now so I don't have to stay up super late again tonight. Especially because I am still sick and trying to recover from whatever "bug" I got in either Mississippi or Nawlins over break. I had to take Tylenol PM to fall asleep last night.
Okay just one more thing. In Latin 302 this semester we have been reading Roman plays, and right now we are reading a very long play called Pseudolus by Titus Maccius Plautus commonly known as Plautus who was a Roman playwright. His comedies are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature(Source: Wikipedia). It has been very interesting but also has been A LOT of work. Our professor gives us lots of lines each night and the latin isn't exactly hard but it does take some time to get a good translation.
Alright time to do that Latin homework now.
I might write again later on tonight. I don't think I am going to watch Heroes tonight. I need to catch up and so will probably watch it sometime later this week. Same with the Office. Unless I magically stop time. My would that be nice...
What is this thing you call winter?
The shock that I experienced when getting off the coach bus yesterday morning, was a drastic one. I was wearing shorts because I had been in Ocean Springs, Mississippi 18 hours earlier. I should have expected it but I was lazy and didn't have any of my clothes with me (because they were all in the bottom of the bus). So I basically speed walked to Miller and changed right when I got back in the room.
There definitely seems to be something going around in the Towers these days. We are no longer immune to the Lutheritis disease. Almost everyone I know has been (in the last 5 days) or still is sick. In my case I am mostly better with just a cough remaining, I believe that it is because I am either allergic to something down in Nawlins or Mississippi or it is because of the large difference in temperature my body has experienced lately. Oh well. I am trying lots of different medicines in order to try to heal my self. My roommate came down with strep yesterday, I really hope I don't have/get that. I just want to be better.
Okay enough bitching. I just finished my 6-page paper for New Worlds, New Nations. I got 4 pages done last night then slept (with the help of some Tylenol PM) and then got up around 10 AM this morning and just finished it up.
I am watching Sports Center at the moment. So why have I seen no MLB coverage? Did the MLB dissappear while I was gone? Pretty sure it still exists. I really hate how they cover all the stupid sports (football, golf (blah), nascar (double blah), and hockey)
I should probably go shower right now but I am blogging instead. I feel like I should be working on my writing skills constantly nowadays. I mean I only have two years left at Luther and then its a swift kick in the rear end towards the real world.
Heres a picture from New Orleans (we spent our first night and part of the day last Sunday there)
Our group in front of a Cathedral in the French Quarter
I'm the one in the blue if you don't know that already.
My NCAA bracket was pretty off. I had no idea two one seeds would be in the final four. Meh. Basketball sucks anyways. I can't wait to go to like 10-15 Twinkie games this summer and I definitely can't wait for the new Target stadium to open. YAY!
The new stadium is coming along quite nicely:
Target Field from Webcam #2
There definitely seems to be something going around in the Towers these days. We are no longer immune to the Lutheritis disease. Almost everyone I know has been (in the last 5 days) or still is sick. In my case I am mostly better with just a cough remaining, I believe that it is because I am either allergic to something down in Nawlins or Mississippi or it is because of the large difference in temperature my body has experienced lately. Oh well. I am trying lots of different medicines in order to try to heal my self. My roommate came down with strep yesterday, I really hope I don't have/get that. I just want to be better.
Okay enough bitching. I just finished my 6-page paper for New Worlds, New Nations. I got 4 pages done last night then slept (with the help of some Tylenol PM) and then got up around 10 AM this morning and just finished it up.
I am watching Sports Center at the moment. So why have I seen no MLB coverage? Did the MLB dissappear while I was gone? Pretty sure it still exists. I really hate how they cover all the stupid sports (football, golf (blah), nascar (double blah), and hockey)
I should probably go shower right now but I am blogging instead. I feel like I should be working on my writing skills constantly nowadays. I mean I only have two years left at Luther and then its a swift kick in the rear end towards the real world.
Heres a picture from New Orleans (we spent our first night and part of the day last Sunday there)
Our group in front of a Cathedral in the French QuarterI'm the one in the blue if you don't know that already.
My NCAA bracket was pretty off. I had no idea two one seeds would be in the final four. Meh. Basketball sucks anyways. I can't wait to go to like 10-15 Twinkie games this summer and I definitely can't wait for the new Target stadium to open. YAY!
The new stadium is coming along quite nicely:
Target Field from Webcam #2
Sunday, March 29, 2009
My return to the Gulf Coast
Hi Y'all!
I just got back from spring break today around 9 am. I went on a Habitat for Humanity trip with my school Luther College. We had a group of 50-60 students and adults (both employees, retired teachers, and alumni). We took a big coach bus down on March 20th and drove to New Orleans. We arrived at about 3-4 pm and then spent the night. The group I was with cruised down Bourbon St. until we found a restaurant that looked good. We chose a seafood place that had a live band playing. The food was okay but surprisingly the fried shrimp I got were Minnesota sized (tiny). Then we continued looking around and enjoying the sites. In the morning I went with a small group of people and walked along the beautiful river walk. Around 2 pm we packed up again and got on the bus. It was a two hour drive to Ocean Springs, Mississippi from New Orleans, LA. We were able to see much of the damage that Katrina caused as we drove along the highways.
When we got to Camp Victor (the place we stayed at and the organization that organized where we worked and everything else.) around 3 or 4 pm we were first given a tour. It had changed quite a bit from the last time I saw it. It was no longer a distribution center for the community and had converted that space into an extended lounge for the volunteers. Then we were given our dorm assignment and dropped our stuff off and made our beds. We were given some free time and then it was time for dinner. Later that night at about 9:30 we met as a group and discussed the different jobs different groups were to do during the week. I went to a group that was doing both demolition and construction on eaves and Fascia board (basically the part of the house under the overhang of the roof.) It was with a great leader and ex-chem professor named Dale. I had worked with him last year too. We had three other students besides me and two adult leaders, Dale and an alumna named Carol.
The next day was Monday and the lights turn on throughout the camp @ 6AM (there are no roofs separating the different rooms in the camp.) We ate breakfast which I think was biscuits and gravy. It took awhile for all our group members to make themselves a sack lunch and then to gather up all the tools we would need for the job and put them into the vans we had rented. Around 9 to 9:30 we arrived at our work site and met Larry who was the homeowner we would be working for the whole week. He was quite a character and gave us a lot of interesting history lessons about his life and about the area. We began work by tearing down parts of the material that was under the overhang of the roof, the Soffit and the Fascia which had been damaged during hurricane Katrina and had begun to rot. We removed these materials with crowbars and hammers. The next day (Tuesday) we basically did exactly the same things we did on Monday. Except that after work I went to dinner with a big group of friends and shared a big seafood platter with a girl who was an expert in picking apart shrimp and crab. It was so delicious.
On Wednesday, we woke up @ 6 am again. Got to the worksite around 8 or 9 am. Today we would begin sawing and then replacing both the Soffit and Fascia board. I used a circular many times to cut and trim the boards so they would fit in the house. We then used caulk to get them to stick up there. We did this the remaining two days. But I was sick starting on Monday with a sore throat and a bad cough. I stuck it out and went to work Monday through Wednesday but then took a day off on Thursday and stayed at camp and slept for most of the day. This helped me immensly and I was able to go back to work on Friday. Both Thursday and Friday the weather was rather bad and it rained most of the day. The drainage systems in most homes in Mississippi as well as public areas is not very good, so Larry's yard and the road to go to the beach were flooded. This prevented us from working on parts of his house. Friday was our last day of work and when we finished it we took a picture with Larry and said goodbye. (I attached a picture, I hope you get it)
Friday night was quite relaxing, I went to dinner at a Sonic and then went to a grocery store and bought some cough drops to try to cure my still bad sounding cough (which I still have unfortunately). I then played a few board games until about 11 pm when a small group of us decided to walk to the beach (which was about a mile away). It was storming (lightning, thunder, and rain) when we got there and quickly got worse. The winds were around 20-30 mph, and I got some great pictures of both waves and the surrounding area. We decided to leave about a half an hour later because the storm was getting increasingly big. We were rained on, on our way back to camp. I then went to bed at about 12-12:30.
On Saturday we a free day until around 2 pm when we would be leaving to go back to Luther. I woke up around 9-9:30 and a group of us walked to a local donut shop. We then walked to the beach and the roads were severely flooded because of the large storm last night so we were unable to reach the beach (because I had tennis shoes on and couldn't wade through the water) so I decided to go back to camp and pack. I ate some lunch and then got right on the bus. We left around 2 pm. I sat next to the girl I previously mentioned (the one that was very good at picking apart seafood) It took us about 18 hours to drive back to Luther. I got a pretty good amount of sleep on the bus (which can be a difficult feat sometimes). Anyways now I am back at school, and am writing a paper about how the Native Americans benefitted from the Europeans trade networks and economic systems but by 1763 their economic system was destroyed by it. It is for my class New Worlds, New Nations. Well I better get back to it.
I just got back from spring break today around 9 am. I went on a Habitat for Humanity trip with my school Luther College. We had a group of 50-60 students and adults (both employees, retired teachers, and alumni). We took a big coach bus down on March 20th and drove to New Orleans. We arrived at about 3-4 pm and then spent the night. The group I was with cruised down Bourbon St. until we found a restaurant that looked good. We chose a seafood place that had a live band playing. The food was okay but surprisingly the fried shrimp I got were Minnesota sized (tiny). Then we continued looking around and enjoying the sites. In the morning I went with a small group of people and walked along the beautiful river walk. Around 2 pm we packed up again and got on the bus. It was a two hour drive to Ocean Springs, Mississippi from New Orleans, LA. We were able to see much of the damage that Katrina caused as we drove along the highways.
When we got to Camp Victor (the place we stayed at and the organization that organized where we worked and everything else.) around 3 or 4 pm we were first given a tour. It had changed quite a bit from the last time I saw it. It was no longer a distribution center for the community and had converted that space into an extended lounge for the volunteers. Then we were given our dorm assignment and dropped our stuff off and made our beds. We were given some free time and then it was time for dinner. Later that night at about 9:30 we met as a group and discussed the different jobs different groups were to do during the week. I went to a group that was doing both demolition and construction on eaves and Fascia board (basically the part of the house under the overhang of the roof.) It was with a great leader and ex-chem professor named Dale. I had worked with him last year too. We had three other students besides me and two adult leaders, Dale and an alumna named Carol.
The next day was Monday and the lights turn on throughout the camp @ 6AM (there are no roofs separating the different rooms in the camp.) We ate breakfast which I think was biscuits and gravy. It took awhile for all our group members to make themselves a sack lunch and then to gather up all the tools we would need for the job and put them into the vans we had rented. Around 9 to 9:30 we arrived at our work site and met Larry who was the homeowner we would be working for the whole week. He was quite a character and gave us a lot of interesting history lessons about his life and about the area. We began work by tearing down parts of the material that was under the overhang of the roof, the Soffit and the Fascia which had been damaged during hurricane Katrina and had begun to rot. We removed these materials with crowbars and hammers. The next day (Tuesday) we basically did exactly the same things we did on Monday. Except that after work I went to dinner with a big group of friends and shared a big seafood platter with a girl who was an expert in picking apart shrimp and crab. It was so delicious.
On Wednesday, we woke up @ 6 am again. Got to the worksite around 8 or 9 am. Today we would begin sawing and then replacing both the Soffit and Fascia board. I used a circular many times to cut and trim the boards so they would fit in the house. We then used caulk to get them to stick up there. We did this the remaining two days. But I was sick starting on Monday with a sore throat and a bad cough. I stuck it out and went to work Monday through Wednesday but then took a day off on Thursday and stayed at camp and slept for most of the day. This helped me immensly and I was able to go back to work on Friday. Both Thursday and Friday the weather was rather bad and it rained most of the day. The drainage systems in most homes in Mississippi as well as public areas is not very good, so Larry's yard and the road to go to the beach were flooded. This prevented us from working on parts of his house. Friday was our last day of work and when we finished it we took a picture with Larry and said goodbye. (I attached a picture, I hope you get it)
Friday night was quite relaxing, I went to dinner at a Sonic and then went to a grocery store and bought some cough drops to try to cure my still bad sounding cough (which I still have unfortunately). I then played a few board games until about 11 pm when a small group of us decided to walk to the beach (which was about a mile away). It was storming (lightning, thunder, and rain) when we got there and quickly got worse. The winds were around 20-30 mph, and I got some great pictures of both waves and the surrounding area. We decided to leave about a half an hour later because the storm was getting increasingly big. We were rained on, on our way back to camp. I then went to bed at about 12-12:30.
On Saturday we a free day until around 2 pm when we would be leaving to go back to Luther. I woke up around 9-9:30 and a group of us walked to a local donut shop. We then walked to the beach and the roads were severely flooded because of the large storm last night so we were unable to reach the beach (because I had tennis shoes on and couldn't wade through the water) so I decided to go back to camp and pack. I ate some lunch and then got right on the bus. We left around 2 pm. I sat next to the girl I previously mentioned (the one that was very good at picking apart seafood) It took us about 18 hours to drive back to Luther. I got a pretty good amount of sleep on the bus (which can be a difficult feat sometimes). Anyways now I am back at school, and am writing a paper about how the Native Americans benefitted from the Europeans trade networks and economic systems but by 1763 their economic system was destroyed by it. It is for my class New Worlds, New Nations. Well I better get back to it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
