Winter Layoff Chapter 8
| Winter Layoff | |
|---|---|
| Chapter 8 of 21 | |
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| Read this chapter | |
| Time frame | Somewhere in December 30, 2005 to January 3, 2006 |
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Locations
- Pike Bar
- Jim's immobile home in the immobile home park
- Clark Construction
Characters
- Norm Eaglebeak (on the phone)
- Ken Halpern
Summary
Jim sat around the Pike for a little while longer, filling the rest of the guys in on what it was like down in Pass Christian and the hurricane area. Then Jim and Bob drove back to Clark Construction to check out the vehicles they'd be using.
Both the dump truck and the backhoe looked good, but the flatbed trailer needed two new tires. Randy told them to just take the trailer over to the tire store and put all new tires on it.
By the end of the day the backhoe was loaded on the trailer, and that was hooked up to the dump truck, and ready to go. All the vehicles were filled with diesel fuel. Jim decided to do as much as possible so that they could get on the road as soon as they were done with the paperwork on Tuesday.
Jim called up Aunt Rita and brought her up to date. She reported that both John and her were looking into the FEMA trailer idea.
It was the morning of Tuesday, January 3rd, 2006 when Jim loaded his clothes and some food into the back of the camper, then picked up Bob at his house, then drove over to Clark Construction.
When they got there Randy was on the phone with Norm Eaglebeak from Three Pines so Jim and Bob talked with Rachel for a few minutes. She told Jim that Ken Halpern, the company draftsman wanted to talk to him.
Ken had a few ideas to share on Jim's project, including offering to draw up some plans, a cost estimate, a bill of materials, and other things like scheduling and time estimates.
Jim agrees and points out that the biggest expense will be construction costs. Ken asks about VA assistance since John is a disabled veteran. Jim informed him that Rita talked to them but there wasn't any real hope.
In answer to Rachels question Jim relates the living conditions that John and Rita are currently in. He mentions some other issues such as finding a halfway-decent contractor to do the rebuilding. Everyone down there who knows what they’re doing is scheduled tight for months, if not years. A lot of the reconstruction is being done by volunteers, and a lot of them don’t have any idea what they’re doing. Jim comments that There are some who do know, though. I wasn’t in Pass Christian long last week, but I did hear of a bunch of Amish and Mennonites from Pennsylvania and Indiana who had come down to help out, and from the talk I heard, they were working quickly and doing damn good work.
Jim comments that the Amish and Mennonites are building with materials trucked down from Pennsylvania or somewhere. Supposedly it’s cheaper to pay long-distance trucking costs than it is to buy anything locally.
Rachel offers that since Jim and Bob were going down there are a Donna Clark Foundation project and hence a tax write-off for Clark Construction and that Randy’s got a Foundation credit card to be used for fuel and meals and other expenses, both for the company vehicles and Jim's own truck. Jim was stunned by that bit of news - he had figured that the dump truck alone was going to burn over a thousand dollars worth of diesel fuel alone. Rachel has another surprise for him, she asks for the gas receipts from the first trip as she may be able to get them reimbursed.
Ken continues that if things work out that this could turn into a complete house, assuming the money issues can be worked out. He asks for some details and Jim given him the facts he has - the rough dimensions, the fact that it has to be barrier-free (i.e. wheel chair friendly), and has a screened in porch.
Ken asks that they get him the slab dimensions and plumbing locations soon, as he has a feeling that there’s going to be another big Three Pines job in the works, and he’d just as soon have John and Ritas house out of the way before he gets all wrapped up in that project.
Rachel asks for John and Rita's phone number, and Jim gives it to her. Jim asks that they not get John and Rita's hopes up.
Rachel knows that Jim and Bob want to get on the road, so she has Randy put Norm on hold for a few minutes. Randy gets to chat with Jim and Bob for a few minutes, and wish them a good trip.
Also Mentioned
- Aunt Rita and Uncle John Fleming
- The Donna Clark Memorial Foundation
