Today was the day that Jake, Sara, and I volunteered to help build a house for Clark Howard's 2002 Habitat for Humanity "Street of Dreams." Clark, Mr. Frugality of now nationally syndicated radio fame, is helping to sponsor six houses this year. His listeners in the Atlanta area volunteered to help.

If you've never listened to Clark Howard, and if his show is aired in your area, you REALLY NEED to give it a try. In this age of shock jocks and bastards spouting off all over the airwaves, Clark's show is helpful and polite. He's a consumer advocate, and he helps with pretty much any financial or consumer problem in the universe. Actually, he and his staff help. He's always very careful not to take all the credit. I've learned more about money management from listening to Clark's program than anything I learned in 16 years of school or what my parents taught me. So we were happy to help.

This is what the houses looked like this morning.

My hand's up there to block out the direct sun.

The volunteers were working on three houses today. Jake and Sara wanted to work on the one that was doing some indoor work, and I voluteered for the one that hadn't even had the roof joists put up yet.

The first thing I volunteered to do was "walk the beam" with the joists. I didn't realize that meant walking along a 2-by-four with nothing to stop you from plummeting to the ground. Neither did the other guy who volunteered. We ended up letting the experts do it.

I helped with the roofing all morning. Hammering and hammering, working on the steepest roof that they will allow volunteers to work on. My arm, wrist, thighs, and ankles are going to be killing me tonight. And all this on the worst day of my period.

I'd been working up on the roof, nailing plywood onto studs for a couple of hours, when I sneezed. I pretty much felt my tampon shoot out of me. My supervisor immediately told me something else he wanted me to do. I said, "Uh, I've got to take a break to go to the pitstop now. It must be done." He totally understood. Maybe not all the details, but he understood.

I had a great time working all day, even though my accuracy with the hammer got worse as the day progressed and my arm got more and more tired. I pounded my left index finger more times than I'd like to count.

I ended up doing the strip board that goes above the foundation and its accompanying woodwork with a guy named Cedric who was there with his wife. The strip board was a sort of pressboard with a laminate coating, and it was a sonofabitch to get a nail started in. Even the supervisor guys had a hard time getting one started. Cedric hadn't witnessed that when he started helping. He told me he'd seen somebody having trouble getting through the board and thought, "Heh. They haven't spent much time with a hammer." But then when he tried it himself, he learned fast that it wasn't as easy as he'd thought." He said it really bruised his ego not to be able to pound one in. I mean, it took maybe 15-20 solid hits to get a galvinized nail through the laminate. When you add how many hits you miss or hit your finger, you're talking 30 pounds with a hammer to get a nail started. Then maybe five more to sink it in.

Well, we got through the day.

We got the roof on, tar paper up, some siding on, some stuff done inside that I didn't see. My hands remained intact. And I had somebody take my picture with Clark Howard, a man I probably have more respect for than the last four presidents. In fact, the last president I still have respect for, is a huge proponent of Habitat for Humanity, Jimmy Carter.

Great day. Now Deb's home from work, and we're all going to The Brake Pad, the new restaurant near us located in a space converted from a gas station.

Moving on - 12:11 p.m. , 2007-08-14

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Holy shit! - 2:24 p.m. , 2006-01-11

Stuffing recipe - 6:17 p.m. , 2005-12-13

Good Life Update - 10:22 a.m. , 2005-11-11