In which I describe my tool shed, days off, and everything on my pants.

The last few days have found my team working with an organization called New York Cares that is mucking and gutting homes in Rockaway.

The operation is based out of a small parking lot where a cool old man named Gordon parked his bus/mobile home and converted it into the dispatch center. Homeowners come by and fill out a request for work, then Dispatch assigns the work order to a team of volunteers who go out and muck and gut for the homeowner. My job in this process is to check out tools to each team of volunteers. The team lead comes to the tool section, shows me their work order, and I help them find the tools they need for the project. Here's a picture of the area that I'm in charge of:

And the interior of my storage pod:

We have hammers, crowbars, flat bars, mallets, channel locks, crescent wrenches, sledgehammers, rakes, shovels, brooms, chainsaws, circle saws, reciprocating saws... you name it, I probably have it.

Having something like this to be in charge of has been a lot of fun. I got one day of mucking and gutting out in the field, but being in charge of tools is more rewarding to me.

We have gotten just two days off since being in New York, and we're getting our third one tomorrow. I rode the subway for the first time, saw Central Park, hung out in Times Square, ate at the first pizzeria in the US, and went to the 9/11 memorial.

And now for a new segment I'm calling Stuff On My Pants. It's a list of all the things that have been spilled or wiped on my BDU pants since New York (and yes, BDU stands for Battle Dress Uniform). So here you go:

Oil

Gas

Blood

Sweat

Snot

Saliva

Canned pea juice

Pear syrup

Turkey juice

Applesauce

Raspberry preserves

Rainwater

Tea

Coffee

Rust

Mud

Ink

Drywall dust

Gross, right? I guess it's just bound to happen when you work in conditions like this every day and only have two pairs of pants.

It looks like I'll be flying back to Washington soon for winter break! I'm looking forward to wearing my own clothes, leaving my shirt untucked, sleeping in late, eating food that isn't the cheapest stuff in the store, and, of course, seeing all of my wonderful friends and family. I'll be sad to leave New York, but it'll be nice to be home. See you soon!