The Second Day

The second day seemed to go smoother than the first. We had better plans and the team had a better idea of what each individual needed to do. The teams were divided between "mudders" and "rockers" in the morning. The rockers hung the drywall and the mudders finished it. The rockers had two bedrooms to do completely. We were unable to finish a closet in the second room. The mudders were all over the house all day, usually in the way of the rockers, but with some patience and good humor, everyone worked very well together even when thin resources were required in two places. The mudders polished off 5 5-gallon pails of mud and we had to go buy another five pails. Hopefully, we should finish the house with that.

Julie was in the middle of everything all day. Every time you turned around she was helping hang drywall, taping a seam or picking up garbage. All that effort from a woman who the week before worked seven 12-hour days.

One of the trailers we brought down was stuffed to the gills with cabinets and furniture. That trailer was emptied and the ladies wiped everything down, cleaned it and prepared it to be placed in Julie's house.

It doesn't look like a lot in words, but we busted our tails today. As I'm writing this, it doesn't seem like I should be that tired based on what I'm reading, but I'm exhausted!

The heat down here has been impressive. It's been in the 90's with very high humidity. In the camp briefing, we were warned to drink at least five 8-ounce bottles of water a day. THAT HAS NOT BEEN A PROBLEM! Most of us are very surprised at how fast the water disappears.

During our lunch break the past two days we've discussed the neighborhood and how it doesn't look much different from when some of us first saw it in 2006. Some homes have been rebuilt beautifully, but those are in a minority. Most of the neighborhood seems to be abandoned. Julie has only seen her next door neighbor on one side once since the storm, and their house is literally falling apart from the rot.

Tonight we are treating ourselves to a night on the town. We are going to the French Quarter and visit Cafe du Monde. With any luck we will not be arrested...kidding, although Linda was pulled over by the police today. Luckily, we made bail...again, kidding.

-Mark