The Philosophizing Honey Badgers!

By: Vince Peterson and Erik Stromswold

Day 2: work day one: FOUNDATION BUILDING!!!!!!!! Well, to say the least, today was difficult. Being the team leader (Vince) for the day, I made the actual decision for which of the three build sites my team would work upon. To my dismay, the plot of land that I selected, although initially appealing to the eye due to its relative isolation from the others, happened to contain some of the most dry (arid, lacking of water) soil (again, don’t think it could be called soil) that I have ever had to move. The most frustrating portion of the day was simply getting the work site to be completely level. Although simple in its description, the task involved using pick axes and square nosed shovels in order to break up the earth and transfer the clay from the high portion of the incline to lower portion. The amount of displacement got incredibly redundant after the first five hours and the whole morale of the Blue (Bro) Team (aka Team C, Team 3, but most importantly the Philosophisizing Honey Badgers) was low. We were exhausted, but luckily the soon-to-be residents were willing to offer their helping hand.

WOW. So I know reading this is probably rather depressing. BUT HAVE NO FEAR!!!! THERE IS HOPE! After receiving a much needed Otter Pop break for our workday snack, the whole atmosphere around our work site shifted for the better. When previously it was difficult to get everyone working together as a team, after that break, every member became incredibly willing to do what the team saw as necessary. Part of this change can be attributed to finally getting the work site fully leveled (the bulk of the Day #1 work), and the rest of the work seemed to all come together incredibly rapidly. We built the supports needed for tomorrows day of laying down the cement and solidified the structural strength of the beams with metal supports all around, followed by a trench around the border that will house the rebar beams in the cement we lay tomorrow.

So after a mildly frustrating first day foundation building, I am happy to say that The Philosophisizing Honey Badgers are back on track, and pumped for the work of finishing the cementing tomorrow. The foundation is looking really solid, and I cannot wait to see how the rest of the house comes together.

PS: Highlight of the day – Definitely coming back to the orphanage to a lovely bucket shower. I was literally caked in sand, clay, and other hard minerals from the work today.

Peace out!