Goal is 25%: $2K by week's end.

Photo copyright Aji, 2016; all rights reserved.

This is what eighteen pallets of adobes looks like. It's also what more than $2,500 at one shot looks like.

We've already shelled out an unholy amount in the past two days, getting the slab poured and the adobes delivered. The crew took the day off, waiting for the slab to cure; tomorrow, they'll begin the prep work for the walls and frame (it's going to be a combination of frame and adobe, to accommodate specific issues). We ordered the three support beams for the downstairs today, as well as the base wiring. And we need to be able to cover labor for this week on top of everything else. 

We're lucky. We have a crew of three guys who really know their stuff, and who work well together (plus the crew chief's 16-year-old stepson to help with basic labor on a host of other tasks). We also have a really easygoing relationship with them. When one of them needs time off to handle personal issues, it's a given that they'll get what they need. We give them a half-hour (paid) lunch break, and we supplement their lunches with extra food and snacks and water and Gatorade. Last weekend, I made a big pot of posole to feed them on Monday; the next day, one of the guys brought us some elk jerky and plum jam. Wings makes sure they stop to rest when they're getting overheated; he provided them with muck boots to protect their workboots during the monopour; and we just generally try our best to make sure they have a good, safe, pleasant, supportive working environment, with decent pay.

We want to be able to keep doing that until the job is done, without interruption. This job is supporting one family of four, one couple, and one single guy. They deserve to be able to depend on it.

Now that the adobes have been delivered, there's plenty for them to do. But the materials costs this week are killing us.  I really do need to raise another $2K before the end of the week, whether via our YouCaring page, through straightforward sales, or some combination of the two. So please keep sharing the links via the widgets on the page. Please scroll to the lower right-hand corner, grab the widget code from the purple box, and post it liberally. That will give you this image:

Also please continue to spread the link to Wings's Web site around. A few good sales each week would take care of our labor costs, freeing me to focus on raising the materials costs. I'd love to have that as my focus right now.

As I'm sure y'all know, I'm way, WAY behind on everything right now. I spent the morning battling a monster migraine so that we could go take care of errands related to the house-building project all afternoon, and now I'm back home and at war with my body again. No, there isn't anything that will fix it; it's mechanical, a product of an auto accident many years ago. But it's put me even further behind at this point, so while I'm hoping to catch up a little tomorrow, I'm not confident I'll be able to do it. I'll try, though. In the meantime, I want to reiterate how grateful we are to everyone who's given us a hand thus far. We still need your help, in the form of sharing these links.

Thanks.

P.S. In a little while, I'll have an announcement about special 24-hour sales of individual items of Wings's work.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.