Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Tucson Metropolitan Ministries Family Services

Oct 15, 2019

Temperature 93 degrees

First Project – Day Two, Finished

Second Project – Day One, Apartment 3201

Second day, same as the first.  Up early, can you say 6 am, a quick breakfast, then off to the activity hall for devotions.

It’s 8 am and our team is gathered for devotions.

Devotions over and its time to get to the project site.  Within a few hours of arriving we were hard at work putting the finishing touches on the yard.    I was given the weed wacker which no one until now had been able to get to work properly.  Ha!  I figured it out and used it all morning without an issue.  In fact I was able to clean both the remaining section of the back yard but also the front yard using it.  This project is now complete.  The cabinets are gone and the yard is spotless.  Time to move on.

We came back for lunch.  Then, we moved on to Project Two, Apartment 3201.

Here is Hedi on the way over.

Followed by Ken and Teresa.

Our Project this time is to clean and repaint the entire three bedroom apartment.  We have one more apartment after this to do as well.  I’ve been told that painting is a staple of NOMADS.

Tools, paint brushes and rollers, paint, and all other kinds of necessary stuff has been assembled.

 

All the outlet plates have been removed.

Hedi began scrubbing walls and window sills.

Since not a one of us is a pro at painting we have also tapped off as much as we can.  That’s what I spent my afternoon doing.  Oh, I also removed all the outlet plates.  Once that was done, well there is more tapping to do tomorrow, Teresa started painting in the one bedroom.  The nice thing is, they decided to paint everything, and I mean everything the same color – white.  Hint, hint, they got a super discount on the white paint.

Barbara has been busy as well.  She is now working in the office.  She has two projects.  First, before the shred truck comes in every staple from every piece of prior paperwork has to be removed.  Sounds like fun, right?

This morning she worked with Teresa removing staples.

And in the afternoon Teresa switched off with Cheryl.  Barbara and Cheryl then worked together on Project Two,  making goodie bags for the clients that this Family Service unit works with and empowers.

The bottom line is, no matter your skill set or physical ability, there will always be a place for you on a NOMADS gig.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Day two is in the books.  I’m still hanging in there.  My knees and back definitely know that I’ve been doing more than I normally do.  But that’s OK.  What’s the old saying?  What doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger.  I do believe I’m getting stronger.

Thanks again for joining us on our journey.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Tucson Metropolitan Ministries Family Services

Oct 14, 2019

Temperature 92 degrees

First Project – Day One

Let the work begin!  Up early, can you say 6 am, a quick breakfast, then off to the activity hall for devotions.

This is a really neat quilt

and a fascinating picture that hang in the hall.

It’s 8 am and our team is gathered for devotions.  We take turns offering devotions, our day will be this Thursday.

Some thirty minutes later, devotions finished its back to the homestead to pick up our gear for our first project.  Yup, that’s Barbara way out in front of me.

Ken’s truck is loaded for bear and ready to go.  Our first project is off-site, about 4 miles away so we’ll caravan there today.

We’ve arrived.  Hedi is in the background at the door.  Ken has the straw hat on.  In front of him is Cheryl.  In the blue to the left is Teresa.

The ladies will have yard cleanup and the guys will demo the current kitchen cabinets.  One of the first duties for the ladies is to apply insect repellent.

This is the thorn tree that has overtaken the one side of the yard.  This is one wicked tree

with thorns 1 to 2 inches long.

Hedi took it upon herself to trim this tree back.  At the end of the day you could clearly see that she paid the price.  She was cut on legs and arms as the tree fought back.

This is what the rest of the yard looked liked when we got there.  Cheryl is busy attacking the overgrown grass.

Barbara had weed wacker duty.

Barbara and Cheryl hard at work.

Ken and I had the task of ripping out the current kitchen cabinets.  After we are done a contractor will come in and demo the rest of the kitchen and then completely rebuild it.

A few hours later and we had the top cabinets ripped out.

It was break time, as I said earlier we have 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon.

Break time over it was time to load the work truck with the first load for the dumpster.

A short time later we broke for lunch.  An hour later we were back at it.  By the end of the day we had accomplished a lot.  Look at the yard now.  Wow, what the ladies did was absolutely fantastic.

 

As for the kitchen cabinets, all gone!  We left the current sink so that the home owner could at least still do dishes until the contractor comes to finish the kitchen.

Day one is now over.  We still have some yard work to finish up and a few other odds and ends in the kitchen.  Barbara hung in there until she simply couldn’t take any more.  She is now working in the office with Teresa who also cried Uncle.

As for me?  I’m definitely feeling my age tonight.  I don’t think there is a muscle in my body that is not screaming for relief.  Yes, I’m definitely out of shape.  But I’ll get there.  I’m not about to throw in the towel anytime soon.

Truthfully, it’s a great feeling knowing that what you’ve done has helped someone less fortunate than yourself.  It’s really good to finally have a chance to begin giving back for all that I’ve received.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  It was exhausting but fun.  Yes, fun.  I’m feeling good about what I was able to accomplish.  We both are.  Believe me my sweetie really did her share today.  She was out in the hot sun holding her own for the longest time.  I give her a lota, lota credit for all that she did.  She is a true trooper.

Thanks for checking in with us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Tucson Metropolitan Ministries Family Services

Oct 13, 2019

Temperature 96 degrees

Church

Lunch 

Team Meeting

Confession time.  I actually left the rig this morning without my camera.  What was I thinking!  The pictures that follow are stock pictures I was able to find on the web.

Today being Sunday the team went as a group to St James Methodist Church.  It was an interesting service, not quite what we are used to at our home church, with a rather different type of message delivery.

After church again as a team we went to Guadalajra Mexican Grill.

A picture of the inside.

This wonderful young lady came to each table and made salsa to your liking.  I asked for hot and oh yes I got my request!

 

We all had different dishes, I had a Chimichanga and I once again qualified for the clean plate club.  The food here is fantastic.

Lunch over and back to the homestead.  At 2 pm we had a team meeting.  Ken is our team leader and he has definitely been around the block before.  In the past as a volunteer he built homes in Mexico and he has tons of experience on NOMAD projects. He is detail oriented and knows how to get things done.  He truly has a servants heart.  Moreover, he also has a genuine concern for each of us on the team.   I’ll be working with him tomorrow taking out cabinets in preparation for the installation of new ones.  I look forward to working with him and I know I’m going to learn a lot from him in the days ahead.

 We have a great team and I’m honored to be working with them.  While this is our first project the others have been at this for some time already. One more thing, I once again learned I’m the old man on the team by a wide margin.  I’m sure glad I don’t feel that old.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  What a great day it was.  We worshiped together.  We had lunch together.  We got to know one another better over lunch, at the team meeting, and later as we loaded tools for the project tomorrow.  I’m looking forward to the next three weeks.

Thanks again for coming along with us.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Tucson Metropolitan Ministries Family Services

Oct 12, 2019

Temperature 90 degrees

The Gang Is All Here

Weekly Schedule

The fourth rig was supposed to roll in today around 1 or 2 pm.  We decided to go shopping and figured by the time we got back they would be here.  Sure enough, they’re here and they’re in.  Can you say it’s a bit tight all around!  You could say that once again we are the odd man out in that being beyond the TT we have no idea what is happening on the other side – everyone sitting out?  A barbecue happening?  Nope, not a clue anymore.  Then again we could say we have a really private spot to sit and read our books.  It’s all in how you look at it.  I know what my perception is.

Here are some pictures from around us.  A little cactus garden in the back.

Across the street there is what I am now calling (since I don’t really know what it is) a Barbara cactus.

All around us there are the mountains

We now know what our week will be like.

• We work Monday through Thursday.  Friday to Sunday are our own
• We have devotions each morning at 8 am
• We work each of those days from 9 am to 4 pm
• We have two 10 minute breaks, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon
• We have an hour for lunch

This is definitely going to take some getting used to.

Tomorrow we have been asked to go to church as a group in the morning.  We also have a team meeting in the afternoon.

Today, therefore, was the day to get things done.  We did some grocery shopping at Wally World.  It proved eye opening to say the least.  Items we have bought at Wally World in other states are on average $1 or more higher here.  If you can find them.  To say the least it is expensive around here.  I can only imagine what the average price of a home is.  Even gasoline on average is 20 to 30 cents higher a gallon.  Oh yes, home to Florida next year.

While out we did find one familiar sight which drew us in like a moth to a flame.

Their food, their ice cream is second to none and we enjoyed every bite of our lunch and the ice cream that followed.  Maybe there is still hope for this part of the country yet.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  The rest of the day we spent putting groceries away, researching places to visit on our time off, and reading our books.  We’re once again adjusting to the added hour and getting used to the heat.  We were just getting used to day time high’s in the 70’s and night time temperatures in the 40’s. It’s like we’ve gone from the frying pan to the fire!  We’ll adjust as always.

Thanks for joining us again today.  We’re glad you were with us  As always we do appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!