Greetings again! By now, most of you will have had some rain to help your fields and gardens, although I do miss the low humidity of the drought! I had a notion to call this post the Geezer Chronicles, but decided not to. More about that in a minute.
Even at this late date, God is still working things out at what we call the last minute. I’m sure He says it’s just in time, and it is. Some things that are in the works I can’t tell you right now.
Lately, parts of the school have been looking rather empty, but it’s all prep for other work. When we put up the ceiling tiles in the rooms, we had to clear them out somewhat for the ladders to be able to get everywhere. Then the rooms had to be completely cleaned out to put a skim coat of cement down to put the carpet on. We are using 24″ square tiles, so if one gets damaged, it can be replaced easily.
Then last week, the hallway had to be emptied to get the coating on the floor there. Between the cleaning and the coating, I had the “opportunity” to go in and mess up a section of it. Let me elaborate. Since I don’t do well on ladders due to a long standing fear of heights, and more recent knee issues, I basically worked on cutting tiles for the guys when we did the rooms. The ceilings are much higher there than in the hall.
I had been waiting for a couple months to get the go ahead to put the tiles in the hall, because it was only one or two steps up. I figured that was something I could do all week long, freeing others up to do other jobs on the work days. Finally, after most of the plumbing work for the heating was done, I could begin. I went on Thursday morning, hoping to put in 8 hours that day and maybe more on Friday. Saturday they were going to do the hall carpet.
I headed to the school with all the enthusiasm and energy I can muster at this advanced age. Got my tools set up and got started. I knew it was going to be slower, because there are only a couple inches from the tracks to the beams above, unlike the classrooms, which have plenty of space. Another factor that slowed me down was that 2/3 of the tiles have to be trimmed. Add to that the fact that numerous times I would go up and get the measurement, go down and get a tile on my cutting table, then realize I wasn’t sure what the dimensions were. Back up a couple steps again, then cut it, then back up again. I wasn’t forgetting the measurements as much as I just wanted to make sure they were right. Those tiles are too costly to waste.
In the end, I was betrayed by my own body. By about 11 AM, I was slowly realizing that not only was I not going to work 8 hours, it was very likely I wasn’t going to come back Friday! I set a mark as to how much I wanted to get done by 12:30, packed my stuff, crawled to the car and went home to recover, with knees, back, cutting arm, and neck all putting in their two cents about the abuse they had suffered. Some days I do wish we had done this 10 years ago.
Saturday was the day they had planned to do the hallway carpet, or at least get started. It was a pleasant surprise when I stopped by later to get pictures and found the entire hallway done. The library is also done, and we can’t wait to get shelves in there. But we really don’t want to put books in until there is a door that locks. The carpet looks good, and the sound has really changed, as well. My only regret is that now they have to dirty up the carpet again putting up the rest of the tiles in the hall, but I guess it will have to be swept a number of times before school gets going.
We are starting to accumulate curriculum materials. The mailman, UPS, and FedEx will all know my place pretty well. Our biggest shipment will be possibly 20-30 boxes by UPS. We hope to be home when that comes, so we can help the driver. We do need to check to make sure we get everything, so I’m not sure if we will do that here or take it to the school. Right now, it’s more comfortable in my house. Way back when we were freezing every time we worked at the school, it would have been hard to believe that in a couple months it would be too hot and humid to be comfortable there.
There was a meeting with the teachers the other day to see what they would like as far as starting times, schedules, etc. One teacher has taken her desk home to paint it! I can’t imagine how they must feel, starting in a new school. We also have a couple education opportunities scheduled for them before school starts, so that will occupy some of their time.
If you haven’t heard already, we are having a fundraiser for renovation expenses July 28. Pulled pork and singing by the Cross Walk Quartet. For more info, check our Events section on the website.
I just noticed that the school supply sales have started locally. Meijer has already started, and Walmart starts sometime this month. If you would like to donate school supplies, contact us to see what we still need. If you want to help with a donation, you can go on our website, www.uccs.school, there is a Donate button there, or you can contact us for more information. If you would like to make a totally anonymous donation, there is a button on our website to go through the Anabaptist Financial group. You can direct them to send your money to us, and your identity remains private.
