We've just about completed building eight houses in 10 days. Oh my aching back!

[Oxford]

Haven't had as much time as usual on g&g since last Thursday because I've been working on a Habitat For Humanity "blitz build."

In that time we've nearly built eight three-bedroom 1,200 sq ft houses, with full basements, to be turned over to qualifying clients for the cost of materials only, which is about $60,000 and no interest.

Been starting at 7 a.m. each day and working till around 5 p.m., along with around 125 other volunteers each day. We probably looked like a bunch of bees all building something related to the completion of the houses.

All eight of the houses are on one city block and each has vinyl siding of a different color. Each worker was presented the first day with a special T-shirt matching the color of the house on which they were working. Other volunteers brought in food under a huge tent on one end of the block, alongside an entertainment platform where we had different bands and singers performing every day during our rotating lunch breaks.

It was definitely "party like" atmosphere as we struggled to make it possible for eight client families to be able to move into "affordable housing" as of this coming Saturday. This has been some kind of a miracle how this entire project has been coordinated and almost brought to a successful conclusion. The keys to the completed houses will be turned over to their new owners this coming Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Businessmen from the top levels down have supported this project and made it possible for employees to have time off with pay to do this volunteer work which resulted in huge numbers of people, many with absolutely no idea about how to do construction work, out there pounding nails, painting, lifting supplies, carrying equipment, and doing all the support tasks needed while others of us who are experienced in carpentry took the leadership in the key tasks.

Everybody's job was important, including the entertainers, cooks, bus drivers who shuttled us back and forth from a school parking lot about two blocks away since there wasn't enough parking for that many cars on site. Companies like Harley Davidson, Target, Re-Max Real Estate, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and many churches, banks, Rotary International Clubs and other businesses participated with their support either financially or with manpower. There were literally dozens of companies involved and impossible to mention each one in this post.

Got to say I'm proud to have been a part of this project. My pay was just getting to work side by side with those new homeowner "clients" and to hear and see how excited they were to be moving into something that was only a dream for them a few months ago.

If anyone is interested in reading more about this project, just do a search for, "Habitat For Humanity Northland,". http://www.habitatnorthland.org/index.shtml More details of the Blitz Build project is described as well as pictures of previously built houses and other HFH activities.

Ox :nod:

[Shaun]

good work Ox its always nice to give back to the community

[Oxford]

Thanks Shaun. It's been both fun and tiring. Eight houses in 10 days isn't too bad I would say. Obviously, there's a lot more to the story but I'll leave it alone for now.

Ox:nod:

[7mmag6]

Ox you are a saint, thats so nice that people are willing to these kind of things, good job bro

[PAPA G]

GOOD MEN AND A GOOD CAUSE, I'M SURE THOSE ACHING JOINTS FEEL GOOD!!!:nod:

[whirlwind]

god bless ya bro! and all the others with ya! not many people these days willing to help others.

[Dale]

My hat's off to ya, Ox.....yepper.....fer sure.

[Calvin]

Way to go, Ox! :right: That's a HUGE accomplishment by anyone's standards. Good to know that there are still some great people out there who really care! Sit back and relax a while!
Here's to you, Ox!! :cheer:

[Oxford]

Thanks guys. I appreciate your comments. The older I get I've learned that for me happiness occurs when I'm helping others achieve their dreams.

May sound silly to some of you but when I eliminated all the c rap in my life of trying to get ready for retirement, with all it's struggles, I gradually found out that helping others with their obstacles made me the happiest, too. As a result I've been involved with Rotary International, and Habitat For Humanity in some of their projects. Keeps me busy but that's how I like it.

As a result of taking so much time off of my own chores recently I now get to complete my own to-do list which begins with helping my son-in-law assemble/install a wooden swing/playground set, finishing painting my own house, and best of all laying back and drinking a few :cheer: .

I'm not saying that what I do is for everyone. Everybody has their own thing that makes them the happiest and that's how it should be. If shooting at targets, cleaning guns, hunting, fishing, kayaking, or whatever it is that makes you feel good is your "thing" than go do it whenever possible. But...don't eliminate other activities altogether, too. Myself, I need a lot of variety, depending upon the mood I'm in as to what makes me happy at that time.

Enough on my philosophy of living and sorry about anything that comes out as "preachy." I didn't mean for anything to be like that.

Good shooting and keep up your hobbies that make you the happiest.

Oxford:nod:

[NRAJOE]

Sorry Ox, it doesn't work in my area. Tired of seeing the deserving "minorities" getting them, then trashing them in a years time, then crying about their "poor living conditions" to anyone that will listen. The first thing I see go up in the windows of these nice homes are bedsheets for curtains...then its all down hill from there. The homes always go up in the "hoods" around here, where no white people would want, or be safe to live. If it works in your area then God bless you!

[PAPA G]

i am shocked at the tone your post took NRAJOE, just what people trash the homes built for them at cost??? they have to pay for them ya know.

[NRAJOE]

Case in point: The sleepy little suburb of Holland OH. My boss used to live on a dead end street , that dead ended into a beautiful wooded area. I used to hunt rabbit and squirrel in there. The powers that be wondered why only "minorities" were buying the houses put up in Toledo. So
immenent domain came along and told the people of Holland, that the woods are coming down and a Humanity section was going in there. Whites and "minorities" DID move in. 3 yrs later, all the whites had moved out of the once formerly beautiful section of woods because they were tired of getting their cars and homes broken into. I moved into the house next to my boss, and moved out a year later because the "minority kids" roved up and down the street in packs, yelling, drinking, breaking bottles, and breaking into homes! The street is now 80% "minority" and the whites that have lived there since they were born are constantly harassed. The crime in that once sleepy 'burg went up 62% and they had to hire more police. That street has become a embarrassment to that 'burb, and the woods are gone forever...so I really don't care if anyone likes my "tone" or not. If it works in Kansas, then hurrah for them. It don't work here! They don't care if they have to pay for the houses or not, they either live in filth, or walk away from them and leave a crack house in its place! The houses out there USED to go for $85,000-$130,000...now their worth $30,000 if you can find a sucker to buy one of them.

[Oxford]

NRAJOE: The last thing I want to do here is get defensive about something that works in my area. And I definitely would be as pi ssed off as you seem to be, too, if this happened to me in my part of the country.

However, I can only report on what's happening in the northern part of Kansas City, Missouri (You may or may not know that most of Kansas City is in Missouri). Whatever happens in your area is not what I'm reporting about.

In Clay and Platte counties of Missouri, where the Habitat For Humanity Northland(HFHN)is located, we've built about 38 homes in the past ten years. Only one has been turned back to the mortgage holder, which is HFHN. Before each buyer is permitted to move in he/she must complete a "homeowners course" which teaches them some of the responsibilities of owning a home. They study about home owners insurance, mortgages, home maintenance, and we even break it down into skills such as lawn care and maintenance, simple electrical repairs, basic plumbing repairs, and other subjects we feel would be benificial for them to know as a homeowner. This course must be completed successfully before they can move in to their new home.

In addition, they must work at least 300 "sweat equity" hours on either their house or another house being built. And, of course, they must be employed because they are required to make regular payments toward the cost of the materials of their house which is approximately $60,000 in the area in which we build. Those payments are in the neighborhood of around $300/month.

In addition, there's follow up visits by our HFHN team which visit the new homeowner after they move in and reviews their progress on keeping up their lawn and home.

In other words there's a lot of continued contact with these clients. We don't just walk off from them after they move in. They know we expect them to maintain their properties and we show them how to do it if they don't know what to do. Most people don't realize how little a first time homeowner knows about maintenance and this knowledge and the related skills takes time to learn.

Joe, I'm disappointed that HFH in your area is doing a poor job because it only hurts the rest of our affiliates who do care about what happens and don't leave it up to chance whether or not they're abiding by their new home ownership responsibilities.

Also, I'm aware that another house building group has called themselves "Habitat" and they're not related to Habitat For Humanity in any way. They're just leaching off our name.

Oxford :nod:

[whirlwind]

i do not live near a hfh site but i have witnessed the same things that NRAjoe is talking about. my town used to be a quiet little place where no body locked there doors at nite...and this wasnt long ago! like 1979. but now after we had our minority explosion my sleepy little town of 50,000 (+ - ) has the second highest crime rate in the whole state! they call this sleepy little town "little chicago" its embarrassing! but i will state that in my town its not hfh as far as i know. it is just people who dont care anything about them selves or anyone else and dont have any self respect let alone any respect for others! and i fear it is not going to do anything but get worse! thats why i am doing everything in my power to get me and my two daughters out of oklahoma and to alaska!

[Oxford]

Whirlwind:

I know what you mean. That problem's happening in parts of downtown KC, too. Someone doesn't maintain their property. Then someone else does likewise. Pretty soon the whole area goes down and it deteriorates to where even the rats are moving out, too. People who don't care enough about getting off their lazy azzes and fixing up their property don't get any sympathy from me. For sure, if I lived there I'd either fix up or move out, too.

Now it's for sure, there's very little chance of having to mow your grass in the Anchorage area.(ha) And I wasn't talking about you when I was talking about being too lazy to get off their azzes, either. You know the kind of person I was referring to. We've all seen them and some of them deserve the xxit where they live because they want someone else to deal with all their problems. Those lazy bums are not the ones I'm interesting in assisting. They could starve and help our area if they passed on as far as I'm concerned.

Hope your new job and lifestyle in Alaska works well for you.

Ox

:nod:

3 Cheers for Oxford! That's an awesome accomplishment.

[Oxford]

Thanks!

Didn't expect everyone to understand what's been happening because we all have different backgrounds and frame of references.

Obviously some of our values are different on G&G. That's just natural but I'm sure as hell not going to be anti about anyone else's efforts. And for sure, I'll be back on the job site next week ready to start another HFH house.

Ox:nod:

[whirlwind]

loli hear ya ox! speaking of lawn duty, ya know im the only white family in my block and im also the only one who keeps the yard clean and neatly mowed! i believe that im the only one who actually owns a weed eater too! lol but the good thing is i dang sure dont have to worry about the neighbors borrowing it!!!! LMAO! but like i said as soon as i can im outa here for the great white north......(pun intended )

Az you know, ve had no problemz wiz minorities in ze muzerland. Ve handled zem ze old vashioned vay.

Sieg Heil ! ! !

[NRAJOE]

Your a real azz hole Lenny...........