Chillaxin

Since my last posting, not too much has been going on. During my weekend with Matt and Matt, we did so much in those four days that I was pretty worn out for the next week afterwards. We experienced about as much of New Orleans as possible in that short time. The next weekend, it left me feeling like there was nothing for me to do, which I know is not true. There are still lots of places I haven’t gone and things I haven’t done that I want to before I leave here, whether that’s in three and a half months or longer. As of right now, I’d say that I’m about 90% certain that I’m going to leave New Orleans and go somewhere else to do something else (although I’m still not really sure what that’s going to be). I’ve made some really good friends here that I know that I’ll stay in touch with but I feel like a year is going to be enough time for me in New Orleans.

Last weekend was relatively low key. Last Thursday, a bunch of us went to One-Eyed Jacks for 80s Night. Shortly after getting there, I realized that it just wasn’t my thing. The place was insanely crowded, it was impossible to get a drink, and it was a thousand degrees in there. So I ended up just calling it a night. I stayed in Friday night and watched No Country for Old Men which was I thought was a really good movie, though I didn’t completely get the ending. Saturday was a pretty nice day so I decided to get up early and go to the gym and play some basketball. In the afternoon, I went to this area next to the Audobon Zoo, called The Fly. It’s kind of like a beach with no sand or swimming. Its right up along the Mississippi River and people lay out, BBQ, throw around the football, and just hang out. I wish I had found it earlier in my stay here but I’m glad I stumbled upon it. I think it’ll end up being a great place to go as it continues to warm up. Saturday night wasn’t much more eventful than the previous two nights. I went to my friend Sean’s house and a few of us hung out and had a few drinks. It was a pretty boring, low-key weekend but that was kind of what I needed.

This past Friday night, Pat and I went down to the French Quarter and saw a band called Supagroup, which formed while the band members went to school at Tulane. They played for a little over an hour and put on a really great show. There’s not too much rock in New Orleans, so it was a nice change of pace. It was one of the few shows that I’ve been to down here that didn’t involve horns. Yesterday, Pat, Jon, and I went to a bar in Mid-City to watch the Bulls game and the Chelsea soccer match. It was a good time, just relaxing and playing a little shuffleboard. After the games, we went to the French Quarter Festival that is taking place this weekend. There were a ton of people walking around taking in the music at the different stages, as well as eating a wide variety of New Orleans-style food. We caught a couple of the bands and enjoyed our day walking around. Since we went out at around noon, we came back around 9 and I was sleeping by midnight. This weekend has been good for me in terms of catching up on some sleep. Today, I’m running a few errands, taking some time out to blog, and will probably go get some groceries later. Nothing too exciting, I know. I figured I’d take it easy this weekend with Jazz Fest coming up the next two weekends. I won a free ticket through work which is nice. Not sure which days I’m going yet, but will probably go once each weekend.

The last two weeks at work have been very interesting. Besides being a House Captain, House Captain Support Staff, or in the warehouse, there’s a fourth part of our rotations, Construction Manager Assistant. This means, that all three of the Construction Managers have one AmeriCorps as their assistant to help them out with their job. I’ve been going around with the CM named Case for the past two weeks and will continue for the next two weeks. Being a CM Assistant has provided me knowledge and experience with a different part of the process than I’m used to. Every Tuesday, the organization has a meeting with all of the Directors and CMs and go over the week and things that are upcoming. I’ve also been able to sit in on meetings where they decide which houses we are going to be working on and what funding they are applying to those houses. Usually, I’m part of the last part of the rebuilding process, the actual rebuilding. But a lot more goes into it. We have to find the homeowners that need help with their house, evaluate their houses and figure out what needs to be done, develop a budget and a workscope, decide if the house is a good project for RT, and finally, determine if we have funding for the house.

Case and I have gone on quite a few technical evaluations (TEs), in which we go to a house and determine what needs to be done. We’ve gone to houses that need everything from gutting, to interior work, exterior work, plumbing, electrical, painting, etc. Other times, the homeowner may just need a couple of those things to be done. For each house, we take pictures, walk around the premises, measure the interior and exterior of the house, and discuss other things that we notice. We try to focus on rebuilding and fixing problems that are of the most potential harm to our homeowners. A few of the houses we looked at had major plumbing issues that needed to be fixed. So we would prioritize that on our budgets and workscopes. I’ve really learned a lot about how the process works and have met some pretty nice people that are looking to have their homes rebuilt. One of the houses we looked at two weeks ago, is opening for work this upcoming week. Along with TE’s, I sit in on meetings that Case has and observe and drive around with him to the different sites he has currently open. For the last three days of this past week, the two of us and a couple of the other AmeriCorps were at a house building a tile countertop for the kitchen. Case is a pretty good guy and we get along well. I think I’ll have another two weeks as his assistant before I go back to working on houses everyday. I’m going to try to put together a posting in the next week or so that gives a better idea of what I do on a day-to-day basis as a CM Assistant.

Lastly, back in November, a guy named Dan Janos with Volunteer Nation came down to New Orleans and conducted interviews with a couple of AmeriCorps at Rebuilding Together, including myself. Dan is trying to put together a TV series called Volunteer Nation that is based on volunteers and their organizations. Dan had gone to a few different cities meeting with different people and different organizations in an effort to put together a trailer for the show. He recently emailed me and let me know that the trailer had been finished and they are hoping to pitch the idea to different channels and see if the show can get picked up. I’ve attached a link to the trailer on the website. Check out the website for more information as the show seems like it could be pretty interesting. Also, see if you recognize a familiar face and voice around the 0:20 second mark. I’m not sure who that is, but he seems like one of the coolest guys you could possibly meet. I know I wish I was him. Anyways, hope everything is going well for everybody. Continue to stay in touch because I like hearing what everyone is up to. I miss everyone and everything going on at home so I like to stay in the loop. That’s it for this posting. Later y’all.

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