Habitat for Humanity - Day 2 (Jan 24/09)

Okay, so I didn’t pound any nails today either… After the Safety meeting with the construction manager who also gave us the jobs for the day, we were split into three teams… I was in the only painting crew and painted with a roller brush using an extender pole to get at the lofty walls up the stairs into the living room area.. started painting at 9:00 am and finished at 3:30 p.m. .. painted the den, bathroom, main hallway into the entrance of the house (duplex) and the stairwells… painted the bathroom which had no light using a heat lamp for light and heat, so that was good… It was pretty chilly working in the main area, as people were coming in and out of the building. We could see our breath as we talked, so we huddled in the bathroom warming up to the heat lamp...

I worked with volunteers from our employer and one of the families who is getting one of the habitat houses. We had coffee break at 10:30 a.m. for 15 minutes.. where we all stood around in front of the rowhousing to look at the view across the way: downtown Calgary, 16th Avenue traffic looking westward and the park below where the children will play… and drank coffee and chatted with co-workers & co-volunteers… We had a port-a-potty outside the front steps of the unit we were painting… and it was cold sitting on that seat (-20 degrees)...

Lunch break was at 12:05 pm to 12:35 pm (30 minutes).. we all went into different houses to find a heated place to sit and eat.. We didn’t get an afternoon coffee break, so had to work straight to to 3:45 pm.. I had a bottle of Coke with me to quench my thirst.. Told the Foreman that I had renewed respect for the hourly work schedule.. Took some pictures during the lunch hour of our volunteer workers and anothercouple from South Africa that would be getting one of the houses.

At 3:30 pm to 3:45 pm cleaned up our painting area and the painting area of the volunteers who had left earlier.

Had to wear steel-toed boots all day.. mine were size 9 men’s because they didn’t have size 10 women’s.. Today, I had better boots, as they were slip-ons, so easy to get in and out of them.. As before, it felt great to take them off and put on my old comfortable shoes… .

Came home with paint on my black jeans and my shirt, but none in my hair as I had worn a hardhat all day.. It was warmer to wear a hard hat, than not to wear a hat…

My hours for volunteering (7.5 hrs) were counted toward my co-worker's required hours. It was another good day..