The adventure continues ...

After we got to the worksite, they handed us a bunch of hammers, some insulation boards, an assortment of nails and put us to work. A man named Marion, a retired contractor, was our foreman. He volunteers his time throughout the year helping build houses for groups like Christian Applachian Project, Habitat for Humanity and others. He was a little hard on us, but overall, a pretty good guy.


This was our first job of the day. I don't remember the name of the material or the process, but we called it trim. We had to put "trim" around the doors and windows on the back of the house before we could put up the insulation and siding. That's me in the red coat and my co-worker Shannon next to me.


This is my boss, John and co-worker Matthew hanging insulation. This part was really tricky because we had to basically just hang it right on top of the old, worn-out siding that was already on the house. It was really bouncy when you tried to hammer a nail in.


This is what I look like after sleeping only a few hours at a very nasty hotel. I know, I'm lookin' good. Sorry fellas, I'm spoken for!


Here's another shot of my co-worker Matthew. I guess he's trying out for a contractor modeling gig selling pickaxes. At least that's what I think it was. He's a goofball, but also one of my favorite Merkle people :)


This is my co-worker Miriam and me hanging insulation. She made me feel really good about my efforts because she was having an even tougher time getting the nails into that bouncy old siding than I was. Also, note her hammer technique. That might have been part of her problem. I, however, know how to hold a hammer so I have no excuse!

Since I can only post 5 pictures at a time, I'm going to leave you hanging once more and finish my story tomorrow night.