Day Nineteen

October 20, 2023

it’s the only place i know

everybody get up

i was there for only half a day today, but pretty much everyone was involved one way or another with the roof. i started by helping slide the rafters into position. they’re 10-12 feet long (i think) and they weigh a ton (i know). it involved a bit of fancy footwork on the existing rafters and beam, sliding the pointy end out to where it was received by rory on the scaffolding, then using a pneumatic framing nailer to secure it. i liked that a lot. then a bunch of us put in the bracing between the rafters which not only support the rafters, but give the plywood on top a place to rest.

the usual walk around with some detail of the can (and bottle) walls. wayne, your mead bottle is in there somewhere and will still be there long after we have shuffled off this mortal coil.

and here’s how you make a can and bottle wall go up along the wing wall.

i’ve come to appreciate the fact that every time the crew starts a new build with a new set of volunteers, they have to explain the same things over and over. and they’re very good about it. routinely they have to explain elementary concepts and tasks to people who are unfamiliar with those concepts and tasks. they’re patient, they have a good sense of humor about it. i’ve gotten really useful guidance on a very broad range of topics.

i’ve found that many times when they’re explaining it, i don’t understand all of it at first. a large part of that is due to a vocabulary that’s unfamiliar, concepts that are unfamiliar. of course it doesn’t help that the crew member i’ve spent a lot time around (gaelan) makes up and uses his own vocabulary. we were talking the other day and i was asking for some clarification because he’d rattled off a sentence that i recognized as english but wasn’t sure what it meant. i thought he was using industry or earthship references, but nope. he just integrated his own vocabulary. and honestly, if i knew more about building, those words would’ve made sense. but i don’t, so they didn’t. it was hilarious. i’ve requested a cheat sheet of gaelan terms.