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Saturday, May 27, 2017

May 27 - Another Week of Solid Progress

A Thing of Beauty -

We have been at this project about 10 months or so. It seems like a good time to reflect on the progress to date. There is not as much green grass, but there is a lot more building than when we started. At lunch on Saturday, I asked about the name of this majestic body of water. The official name on the plan is Infiltration Puddle-1. The name assures that it will not be confused with the one near the road which is Infiltration Puddle-2. Actually, I do not know which name goes on which puddle. Those names may not be exactly correct, but I can't remember any better at the moment. They are not supposed to hang around for more than 48 hours, so we have to enjoy the waterfront view when we can. I think we might call this one, "Transitory Lake LLCER."

Naturally, where there is standing water, there are kids there to skip stones.














The Front Lawn -
The size large earth moving gear shown in the picture was put to good use this week. On Tuesday I thought that the spring plowing was finished and the soil is ready for the crop to be sown.


On Saturday it appeared to be all smoothed out. However, driving across the dirt made it clear that it is not smooth. It sounds like they will just keep pushing the dirt around until they get tired of it and then will add the gravel base for the blacktop.



Coloring Contest -


I do not know the rules of the contest, but I can see the work of the contestants. It seems that a painter gets inspired and proceeds to paint a pattern on the walls using colors and designs of his choice. Then another painter uses his imagination to paint up a different part of the building.
I am interested to see which collection of colors and patterns prevails in the end. The judges show up every now and again to squint, knowingly nod and vote. Stay tuned to see who wins.















Wood Trim -


Early in the week a stack of trim boards from the big, blue container appeared inside the building. By Saturday the stack inside had grown considerably.

I can't tell if it is done multiplying or not. It seems like a lot of lumber to me, but then I am intimidated by a Costco sized case of toothpicks. The wood is still rough so it must be planed and cut to proper dimension. That should be fun to watch if you are not allergic to sawdust.




Spectators -
After lunch Saturday, I saw most of the crew gazing skyward.
















Over yonder a bit, Randy was intently thumbing his joysticks.






















Then from the wild blue yonder, this airplane buzzed in. I was a witness last summer when Randy crashed a different remote flying machine. I heard that that machine was terminally injured in that incident. This plane came in gently, negotiating our parking lot-in-process very smoothly. No crash, no injuries.








Really-O, Truly-O Work Happens-
Sam made the current job list on cardboard spool packaging material. This offered the workers a chance to be involved in selecting their tasks.


A spin of the wheel and you get your assignment. Who says building a church with volunteer labor is not fun?

Tom apparently drew the job of holding a family meeting in the conversation pit behind the building. Here Tom is working on the meeting agenda, maybe.
 On closer inspection, he seems to be transferring the drawing from the pretty gray board to the rough board.

Actually, he was working out the cuts needed to make a rather intricate piece of trim to fit around a couple of pipes. Charles supervises.






 Matt trims and Tim helps him fit and secure it in place.

Well, maybe it needs a little more trimming.




I think this is it.

OK. One more minor adjustment. By the end of the shift, the panel was hanging exactly where it belonged.

Saturday, May 20, 2017

May 20 - The Weather is Not Always Sunny and Bright

A Rainy Day in Nowthen -
Last Saturday was beautiful. Work proceeded in shirtsleeves both inside and out.Not so today. It was too warm to snow, but it did not feel like much too warm. The rain was steady to hard through most of the day. Out front of the building, where rumor says a parking lot will be, now more closely resembles a marina. Kevin's car is hiding behind the sign near the road. He had no confidence that the bug would either float or dog paddle. So he walked in and left the car on high ground.


On the back side of the church, the new merged roofs got a thorough test. No leaks appeared, so that is positive. A water tight roof is really nice.


Eric got a chance to try out his civil engineering skills by digging irrigation trenches to drain the low spots under the back porch roof.

On the bright side, the new porch roof permitted some outside work to be done. Flashing, siding and some trim work on and under the roof continued apace. While the roof kept the folks dry, it did not do much for warmth, as you can see. Brandon, Troy, Paul and Eric are all pretty well bundled up.

On one trip out the door, I noticed a pair of legs, not under the roof, but outside the covered area. Perhaps Troy drew the short straw.
 He was hanging siding with only the eave to offer protection. When I stuck my head out to see who the legs belonged to, my camera lens was immediately showered with raindrops. Troy did not seem to mind the work and he paddled plodded right along.

Work on the Inside -

It was nice to see that Bob's daughter had enough time away from her school work to come in and give dad a hand. There appeared to be some serious educating going on here. Bob seemed to be very interested and attentive. I think he probably learned quite a bit. Here Sasha demonstrates proper tape measure technique with the smart end at the top and the dumb end hanging down to the floor. This is my first exposure to a tape measure having a smart and a dumb end, but now I know.

Here Bob lends a hand holding the wood while Sasha operates the tool.

A similar situation arose a little later when a piece of wood needed shortening.
I was uncertain what the lesson was with the floor mounted table saw, until Sasha quickly picked up their tools and moved to the ladder. Bob is using the ladder to stabilize the board while Sasha cuts the board (shown above). Then I realized the point of the lesson.
Don't use the machine as a bench when Troy needs to use it for a saw. Here he is pictured ripping a piece of siding to be hung in the rain.

Activity in the Dining Hall -
With some Sheetrock hanging, the dining hall looks like a real room.
A quick glance up and I notice Brian heading outside with treasures on his back. Curious, I had to move in closer to investigate.
This time he was not hauling out scrap material to his truck, as I had seen him do previously, rather he was changing the function of this multi-use tool.
Needing a bench with a hole in it for cutting a piece of drywall with a saber saw, the emptied trash barrel was redeployed. Brian noted the additional beauty of this redeployment when he pointed out that the scrap piece cut out of the circle would drop into the trash receptacle as long as gravity held out. I watched long enough to witness the accuracy of his prediction.

Mark coaches while Brian whacks a starting hole in the drywall.


Notice the concentration by the operator as the saw accurately follows the outline.

 Brian admires the exactness of the fit around the pipe while Mark maneuvers the right hand piece into proper position.


With the rain continuing on the outside, putting up dry-wall on the inside seemed like a good choice of jobs.

More Framing on High -
The room high on the wall in the front of the church will house organ speakers. The bosses say the size large return air duct up in that space needs to be walled off. Brent, having already demonstrated skill making room in high places, was tasked with framing the walls. Here he uses the laser to guide him in placing the header.
Kevin joins him and together they try to remember where the laser line was and take its measure.

Now some deep thinking and meditation seems to be the order of things.

Apparently guidance from afar is required and summoned by phone.



Calculations and writing on wooden slats follows. It must have worked as later I did see the header successfully attached to the ceiling.


Brent not only demonstrated high quality carpentry skills, but also set the fashion bar very high showing up on the job with his Micky Mouse ears.







Saturday, May 13, 2017

May 13 - A Great Day for Work, Both Inside and Out

Landscaping Has Begun -
Friday morning I received some pictures in my email from Troy, via Brent. It seems the landscaping has actually started. A size large track hoe and a dump truck were hard at work improving the parking area in front of the church. Well, I hope that is the long term effect. For the moment is seems to be making craters in the front and mountains in the back.  I trust that this is only a temporary situation.

Right now it does not seem like improvement. I was surprised by the equipment being used. Saturday Sam mentioned that the company's bulldozer is being repaired so these were the only machines available. I hope the bulldozer is successfully repaired.


It does offer an interesting view of the church between the machines and over the chopped up front approach.


A Good Turnout - 
A couple of Sundays ago, in his weekly update to the congregation, Sam mentioned the need for workers. It was encouraging to hear that last week a good turnout was recorded. Today the parking area was  pretty well filled up. All the help was put to good use both inside and outside the church.
The Front Doors -
Here Sam and Ami hang the last of the front doors.It needed some additional adjusting so Ami went off to other tasks while Sam adjusted. Put in a shim here, replace a shim there with a little thinner one, loosen the hinges and nudge the door a little higher, so on. While Ami is out of sight and the hinges need to be adjusted, another person is called into service.



I don't suppose Jen came to install doors but she was standing there at the right time when another pair of hands was needed. So, she got to lift on the door while Sam tightened the hinge screws.













Two virtues are readily observed in our esteemed project leader. One is that he is not reluctant to call on available resources when needed. In times of dire emergency, he has even enlisted the aid of the chronicler.





The other is, that as nature abhors a vacuum, so Sam abhors idle hands on the job. I am thinking his mental database contains a thousand or so necessary tasks that can be done by unskilled labor. So when an unskilled laborer, like an insurance salesman, is idling in Sam's vicinity, he is soon seen trimming the shims around the recently installed doors.







Windows Over the Doors -
As the front doors are swinging into place, the windows over the other doors are also being installed. Wayne on the inside and Steve on the outside collaborate on installing the glass panels. Assisting Wayne on the other side of the ladder is one of his daughters, identifiable only by her sneakers.



Steve is identifiable by his smiling face on the other side of the window. After meeting some unsolvable difficulties working this way, Wayne moves outside to complete the task.



















Painting -
On a nearby window, Dave is finally allowed to paint a surface that will be visible. No more intumescent coating for this painter. From here on out it is all front line, visible to the public, Michelengo-like stuff.
The inspection team of Jen and Jodie are there to make sure he does it right. Or they may be checking the color scheme for the exterior.




 Sheetrock -
Remember, this word must be capitalized since it is a brand name.
Phil and Aare team up to cut and hang some of the many, many panels of drywall that need to be installed. Aare is barely visible here as he strives to enclose himself in a confined space.



As the drywall goes up, navigation around the interior becomes more circuitous. I am still able to navigate back to Aare's enclosure. There Phil is cutting and helping to make Aare invisible to the outside world.

It is fun to watch folks, who know what they are about, use their skills.


Phil cuts a round hole for a pipe to pass through. A quick slice with the knife and the sheet is divided so the two pieces can be hung with the pipe through the hole. It happens so quickly that I think Phil must have done this before.

 A bit later in the day, Aare again is able to work in the open daylight as he encloses the kitchen.


















Meanwhile, Out on the Back Porch -
The first thing I notice out back is, whatever conundrum existed with merging the three roof surfaces, it was successfully resolved. See for yourself. Three surfaces, all coming together with canal and shingles, work together to keep the weather on the topside. Clever fellows those construction folks.


Bill and Aaron team up to install a framing piece for the ceiling.



As the framers frame, Ed is making sure that the size large beam holding up the roof does not go missing in action. Bob said, draw up the nuts and bolts as tight as you can. Aaron adapts the proper position for supervising Ed's work.
 With gritted teeth and audible grunts, Ed launches into the task. One nut made a complete revolution, giving Ed visible satisfaction, Then Aaron commented,  "Ed, the bolt is turning on this side." I think I heard Ed sigh, "That's 'nuff," (or words to that effect).