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Posts Tagged ‘hurricane relief volunteer’

This morning and most of the afternoon I had the privilege of working on several wiring issues at the home of a young family in Gulfport, who needed some miscellaneous household electrical wiring projects done.

It was very warm working in the sunshine, and it was quite considerate of the father to bring out several bottles of cold water for me to drink while I was working. He did his best to help out, and told me that he was not a handyman, but he liked to help out when he could. He really was a big help.

Hopefully, by the end of the project this afternoon, he now has a little better understanding about how household electrical wiring circuits work. The family was very appreciative of having me assist them, and it was another one of those work projects down here which provides a good feeling to be here and helping.

Fortunately, Hurricane Katrina didn’t hurt them any worse than it did.

After finishing the wiring project, I drove up to the Barnes & Noble store, had a caramel macchiotto coffee drink, a turkey & cheese paninni sandwich and read a bunch of mags for a while, then drove back to my little travel trailer and turned on the A/C in my bedroom to relax and check stuff online.

The temp in the trailer in the late afternoon gets to be about 105 to 110 degrees when the air has not been on; these things have such little insulation, it takes quite a bit of time for the temp to cool down below sauna level. I don’t run the window A/C unit when I am gone, as it makes my electric bill much harder to pay each month, so I grin and bear it (and sweat).

I did enjoy a couple of quick emails after I got back with friend, Sarah of The Almost Royal up north near my Wisconsin home, about her community’s annual celebration called “The Frolic.” She is a neat young lady whose posts are hilarious and always get my undivided attention with her enthusiastic and witty prose!

Apparently, the heat outside today took more out of me than just sweat and water, as when put my head on my pillows, I crashed and just woke up at about 10:00pm. Hmmm, must have stayed up too late last night viewing posts and web sites (again!).

Tomorrow morning, I will go over to a friend’s Katrina Cottage in Pass Christian, to help with the building of his sister’s new home located behind his, being built by volunteers. She lost her previous home on the same site, to Katrina’s storm surge.

There are still a lot of empty slabs around the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a lot of slabs… and the Atlantic (and Gulf Coast) Hurricane Season 2008 begins officially in exactly 25 minutes!

Time for some more sleep.

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Not the best news, for you folks up north, but the fricking robins are still down here, about a flock of a hundred or so on the grounds at the South Mississippi Regional Center in Long Beach. When they DO disappear, I’ll let you know. The blackbirds are still here, too, in big flocks, all over the place. A week ago yesterday, the Center Director had us put up a dozen bluebird houses on poles, around the 45-acre SMRC campus, and already a good half of them have had bluebirds checking them out, for nesting.

I hesitate to tell you, but today was about 75 and sunny here on the coast, with a light breeze… You know, with all the winters I have put in up there, I deserve one like this! I’m flying to North Carolina (Durham) on March 20th and will meet Pat there, for a 4 day visit with our oldest son, Lucas, his wife and two sons (our only grandsons). I’m looking forward to that!

This evening during a beautiful sunset, I drove across the new Bay St. Louis bridge from Pass Christian to Bay St. Louis, to pick up some supplies at Lowe’s in Waveland. It turned really humid this evening, and by the time I arrived back at my trailer, it was covered with moisture. I had to purchase a dehumidifier for the trailer two days ago, as there was so much water vapor inside the trailer shell, that the first signs of some mold were starting to show up on a lower cabinet. So had to bite the bullet and make the purchase I can’t really afford right now; but it had to be done. I am exposed to enough mold at work, and don’t need any in my home.

Tomorrow, Sunday, will see me working at a home in east Gulfport, a couple of blocks north of the beach, attempting to finish up a considerable list of repairs, before working on to another project, after work Tuesday evening. Next weekend, I hope to be able to work over to the west with the Pearlington Recovery Center people on one of the new homes under construction there. The volunteers coming down from up north during this time of year, really make a good choice in getting in on the best weather to be had down here all year round. There is plenty of room for you to come down, and lots of houses left to build and repair here…

Start making your plans for your next trip to Mississippi or New Orleans! Let me know if you need assistance in making arrangements for your stay, and I’ll help you get set up and ready to volunteer!

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