Tuesday via Sunday

We are home now but with that comes time, energy and bandwidth to better update the blog. First I would like to post about my work assignment on Tuesday.



On Tuesday, May 15th, Amanda, Lellie, Jennifer and I were on the "Priestly School Gut". It was described as a second day gut which means most of the contents have been removed from the building and the walls are coming down. Since this was a three story school and not the typical home gut the rules were a little different. We still had debris to clean up including drapes and blinds to be removed.

Lellie and I took on the third floor. A decision that was not well thought out as it meant carting trashbins full of heavy junk down three flights of dark cement stairs and then back up again for more work. We must have made 15 - 20 trips up and down those stairs over the course of the day. And while that may not sound like much don't forget it is near 90 degrees and we are wearing Tyvec suits, respirators, goggles and workboots. It was a very physical day.

The school has an interesting story in that it was decommissioned in the late 80s and used as storage for both school equipment and munitions. (The connection is not clear to me either) Due to the storm destruction of the nearby local schools it has been determined it is more efficient to return this building to code and reopen than tackle those that were flooded. So what was once thrown away is now better than what was left from the storm.

The work itself was very satisfying. Lellie and I made a great team working methodically without talking; which was lucky because we had one of the worst Team Leaders I've met in my 3 trips to the Gulf Coast. We earned our showers that day, for sure!