Help!

Tom had the basement dug and the footings poured when he hit his first snag for contractors. The contractor that did the footings cost twice as much as he expected and he was waiting for them to give him a cost for the entire construction. The contractor must have thought we were RB's (rich bastards) because the quote, when we finally got it, was excessively high. In the meantime, Tom had been in contact with his friend Rich and they got started on the basement before we ever got a quote from the contractor. Then TJ started helping us and he brought in Chic and finally Mel showed up, and they have been busting their guts ever since.

Initially, I wasn't sure we were going to get things going since Tom didn't have any help after the footings were poured. My brother Butch helped him remove the footing frames but he already works 6 days a week. I helped spread gravel one night while Tom ran the skidster. That was enough to let me know we needed HELP!

The little orange caps on the rebar is to protect the kids that came around to play "King of the Hill" on our dirt piles. Tom was afraid that one of them might fall in the hole and hurt himself. After the first good rain and all the dirt turned to gumbo, they quit coming around.

Here's Rich (the beard) and Mel (the ponytail) working on the eastside, basement level of the house. This is a conservative little town and I am sure the beard and ponytail caused a few comments . There are always a few people coming by during the day to see how the progress is going.

Now I have listed the crew, but you have to know that there are other people that are giving support all the time. One of the snags that they ran into initially was attaching the rails for the ICF forms to the footings. They were breaking drill bits like crazy. You now have to imagine what kind of thingamajig I am trying to describe. TJ ended up attaching it by using a thing that forced it into the concrete by bullet power. Anyway, when he got done, there were all these bullet cartridges on the ground. Hey, guys, this is a good time to jump in and explain exactly what it was. Butch came up with this bullet hammer thing and it sure worked good. And it sounded like a bullet going off.

The other terrific person that has really been supportive in this is my mother. My mother (sorry, I am going to tell her age) is 81 and she still works in the Other Place at least 2 days a week and cooks lunch for my brother Paul when she is not working. Tom and I are staying in the basement while the house is being built and she even let us bring our dog with us. She really doesn't care to have dogs in her house, but sometimes Dru gets treats while she sits by the back door. So because she cooks for my brother, the other guys - Tom, Mel, and Rich - usually benefit at lunchtime. Believe me, they are well fed. And last Sunday, she told them she would have breakfast for them. By 10:00 a.m. she had made a batch of banana bread, stirred up 2 kinds of cookies, and cut up watermelon, honeydew, and canteloupe. And we had sausage, hashbrowns, toast, and eggs for breakfast. And while they were still sitting at the table discussing some details of the construction, she went out and washed and polished her car! She is one terrific lady!

So we have help and the support of family and friends. This is when you realize how good people really are and how lucky we are.