this old house

well today was yet another interesting day in habitat land. we had the crew from the tv show "this old house" come and film us doing things such as framing and raising walls. they also found pile driving really interesting (don't we all- no i'm being serious it is pretty cool to watch). and for my moment of fame i got to walk across the yard carrying wood while the host, kevin, did his little intro thing. so get ready guys for this old house '08 on pbs! :)

aside from that, i'm about to go to a baseball game- the minor league team here made it to the playoffs. as of now, my neighbor's internet isn't working, therefore mine isn't working, and i am sitting in the coffee shop that is like a library. so sad.... anyways, i had a blast in texas and am refreshed and happy to be back at work here in new orleans. until next time...

pictures

this is one of our first two-story habitat houses in nola. i got to help build the floor system on the second level. it's a camelback design, so only the back half of the house has a second story, and the second story is cantilevered (sp?) 2 feet out past the back wall. as soon as i heard we were going to be building 2-story houses, i wanted to get in on the action. i was lucky to be able to do so with an amazing crew of fellow habitat staffers. my buddy andrew made the steps- they're really good.

the second picture is of a project i took a lot of pride in. i constructed the frame for this walkway because we needed extra support for the second- story beam. we thought we'd spice it up a little, so with the help of my friends billy and pete, we made a beautiful archway. my bubble was burst today, however, when i found out we will have to take the arch out because it will cost too much to sheetrock. i guess when i own my own house someday, i will be able to build myself a fancy little archway. :)


this last picture is of the street we're working, ferry place. it's crazy because we are building new houses all around these two houses that have been devastated by fire. i don't know when these houses will be demolished, but it's quite the contrast. in the distance, you can see our new construction. i will be returning to the west bank again this next week, but i had an incredible week learning some new skills.