Nonetheless, the fact that I really wasn't enjoying working on the shed did not affect my motivation to wake up this morning. I woke up right on time, ate breakfast, did devos, and walked into work around 8am. When I walked in, I wasn't surprised to be put on the shed project again. I think Nixson is trying to see if I can make the work go any faster, but I don't think he understands what the process has looked like so far.
Before I went out to the site, I had to load up some more materials for Percy, but we didn't have everything we needed so that meant I had to run to Rosebud Building Products and maybe Ace Hardware to finish picking up what I needed. I was also set back by the fact that we didn't have any straps to strap down the materials I did have ready to take out to Percy, so I was stuck waiting for another crew to get back so I could get those from them.
Ernie and RJ were also with me stuck at the office waiting for another crew to get back, so after a while, Ernie decided we should go check on them and see what was taking so long. I got my straps from them, then I took one of the youth workers out to the shed site to help Percy while I picked up materials. Ernie and RJ went with the rest of the boys to another site.
I dropped Richard, the youth worker, off with Percy and double checked the materials he needed to finish up the shed. This was the list he gave me: a couple 12ft 2X4's, a couple drill bits, some tar paper, and 3/16in ply wood or vertical siding to finish up the walls.
Before I left to pick up the materials, I had a pretty cool conversation with Richard. He started asking me about why I was out here and where I was living, so I had the opportunity to tell him a little bit about my history with Rosebud and with Saint Francis and the fact that I really just wanted to come out to the Rez to learn more about the people, Lakota spirituality, and how that all coincided with what I believe as a Christian. I ask God every day for opportunities like these. Very cool.
When I got to RBP and finished ordering the stuff Percy had asked for, I pulled around back to start loading. The gentleman helping me picked out the 2X4's first, but I noticed some of them were warped pretty bad, so I was looking for straighter boards while he was loading up the ply wood I had asked for.
Much to my dismay, he had loaded up exactly what I asked for, but both Percy and Nixson had told me to pick up the wrong stuff. I didn't know the exact measurements of what I needed, but I did know the stuff that was loaded was not right. I called Nixson and he said he didn't really know the exact measurements, so I ended up unloading and returning the ply wood I had ordered, so I could go back to the site, get an exact measurement and come back to get the right stuff. What a waste of time.
I drove back to the site, and unloaded the materials I was able to pick up, and it turns out Nixson stopped by to take pictures of the work and see how everything was coming along. He brought Kelly and RJ with him, which was awesome for me because that meant I would get to work with a few of the guys I had grown to love, but also we could make our own crew and start working on finishing sheeting the walls, while Percy and the youth worker continued work on the roof. Efficiency. Yes.
After I got the measurements I needed for the ply wood, RJ and Kelly went back to RBP with me to pick up the ply wood. We also had to stop at First Stop Grocery to pick up some Powerade for the day. We got back to the site with 12 sheets of ply wood and we started sheeting the rest of the shed.
I don't know what it was about working with those guys, but we seemed to move much quicker than I did with Percy and the youth worker yesterday. I really enjoyed my time with them, and we were able to really see some progress, which is always encouraging.
Before we finished out the day, Percy wanted us to pick up his check for him at the office so he wouldn't have to drive back the office before he went home for the day. We needed gas as well, so we headed back to the office to grab those things.
When we got back to the office, we waited for a couple minutes for the checks to be finished and for the gas voucher to be filled out. At this point, we found out that I wasn't supposed to be driving the company trucks around. I wasn't on the insurance, so the boss lady and boss man told Nixson that I couldn't drive back out to the site to bring Percy his check.
That thought hadn't even crossed my mind a couple days ago when I asked about driving one of the trucks, but I still felt kind of bad about everything. Nobody seemed to care too much though, and we were able to get a voucher for Kelly so he could drive his personal truck out to the site.
After we made it back, we worked for a couple more hours and made more progress. We basically had the entire shed sheeted, except for the front of the shed where the doors were supposed to go and the spaces in the walls above and below the sheets of ply wood. What a satisfying day of work.
When we got back to the office, I chatted with Nixson about how he needed to be out there with us to really see how Percy works and encourage him to trust us to be working on one thing while he's working on another so we could get done with the project quicker. Nixson said he would come out tomorrow to check everything out.
I got back around 5:30pm and found Jonny and Stephen trying to make stir fry. The girls were busy so they left what seemed like one of the most difficult meals we had made this summer to us-- the guys who have little to no experience cooking anything more than a frozen pizza. I really wasn't sure it was a good idea, but it turns out Stephen is a natural! Everything turned out wonderfully and the meal was super good.
Afterwards, we had a group discussion about the readings we had for the week. They were pretty good readings. One was almost more abstract than the other, but both spurred good discussions that I think we all benefited from.
When we were done with the discussion, Jonny was going to go to Greg's for a bonfire with the Habitat volunteer group that was out here this week. I hadn't planned on going, but Greg invited me at the last minute, so I headed over with Jonny.
We got there and the group was no where to be seen. They called Jonny a couple times asking for directions so I figured they might be a while. I walked down the driveway to see if Greg and Kelly needed help cleaning up anything, while Jonny waited at the top of the drive way for the volunteer group to show.
I ended up spending my time inside the house helping Kelly clean up some stuff. By the time we were finished, I felt like I should head back to work on some stuff before work tomorrow, so I asked Kelly if I could get a ride back to Mission, because she was going into Mission for something anyways. I ended up watching the fire get started, then I went back to Mission with Kelly.
The fire was pretty crazy, because it ended up being huge and everything seemed pretty dry around it, but Greg had it under control with his hose and buckets of water. Most of us were pretty worried about the size of the bonfire, except for the volunteer group. They seemed to have the utmost faith in Greg and his ability to contain the fire. Interesting.
When I got back home, I worked on my blog for a little bit then I went to bed.
Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it!
God bless,
Brenden
Things I learned today:
1. You have to be on the insurance to drive a company vehicle.
2. Sometimes huge bonfires are fun. Sometimes they can be really scary.
3. Acts 15
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