OutCentral will be Nashville's latest addition to the GLBTQIF community. OutCentral adds the QIF on the end of GLBT for Queer & Questioning, Intersexed, Friends & Family. It seems that should be GLBTQQIFF, but that would just be too much, I guess.
It will provide "Events & Programs, Meeting Space, Office Rental" and or just a storage space for, the Middle Tennessee GLBTQIF community, that should be a "safe, welcoming, and a friendly place" for all. It sounds like a neat thing to me. (See their About Us page for details.)
Jim Hawk asked for:
... people who can use a measuring tape, cut wood to specs, clean up, hold boards, scrape paint, pound on tin, and all sorts of other things!
I figured I could do most, if not all, of those, so I would volunteer to help.
I reported to work at the OutCentral's soon to be office space, that is sandwiched in between The Cafe at OutLoud! and Club Blu on Church Street, at a few minutes past 1:00 pm Sunday.
I had on a girlie pink baseball cap, a pink top and some old girl jeans and drove the hour to Nashville to help out. I brought my own gloves, to protect my French tipped acrylic nails, and a simple tool belt to hold my hammer and a pencil. I forgot my safety shoes, safety glasses and tape measure, but the lack of them did not seem to be a problem this time.
I was one of 8 or 9 people that showed up to work, and the only "T" person and the only "girl" working that day. The guys were all great and treated me with respect and got my "new gender" correct every time. We all worked long and hard in that "air conditioned" space, that seemed really hot, until I stepped outside into the 99 degree world.
We built what seemed like countless walls each 12 foot tall, on the floor, stood then up and hammered them into place, to form several small offices, and one big conference room. The project seemed like so many of my personal remodeling jobs I had done to my house or basement, in a past life, so I knew what to do, most of the time.
The walls of the conference room were made on 2 x 6 top and bottom plates with 2 x 4 studs placed 8 inches apart nailed every other one on opposite sides of the 2 x 6's to help make that a more sound proof wall, then if we had done it the regular way, but that sure did make it fun to stand up that wall. It was heavy and the what seemed like 100 studs, all dangling from the top plate as we raised it up. (I wish I had known to leave my walls unnailed at the bottom, when I stood up mine, in the my basement.)
We had plenty of power tools too. A skill saw, a big chop saw, a power nailer driven by compressed air that drove 16 penny nails, so the nailing went fast. We nailed the bottom of the walls to the floor with a nail gun that was driven by a 22 caliber blank cartridge, so it made a lot of noise. So we all would plug our ears when someone would fire that gun. I got to nail a few boards into the floor with that gun too, and I shouted "fire in the hole" before each shot, to worn the others that it was about to get really noisy. That was fun, but the kick into my palms, kind of hurt for a few minutes.
When I got back to Columbia I shared an appetizer and a beer with Dean (formerly Deana) at Sam Hill's. He had been waiting at his home for me since about 6 o'clock, because that was the latest, that I thought I would be. I was still hot and sweaty, and still in my girlie carpenter cloths, when I arrived at Sam Hill's, so the beers tasted very good and went down easy, and the nacho plate tasted exceptionally good.
I hope to help out next weekend too, but I will bring ear plugs and safety glasses, the next time. I am not so sure about safety shews. I don't want to work in those big heavy "boy" safety shoes that I ware to my regular job.
If anyone else wants to help, I am sure you would be welcome and not be bored.
Hugs,
Vickie
On 8/13/07, Vickie Davis <davis.vickie@gmail.com > wrote:
----snip----
Looks like this might be fun and a chance to meet others in our GLBT community.
Hugs,
Vickie
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: James Hawk <jim@outcentral.org>
Date: Aug 13, 2007 3:14 PM
----snip----
Can YouHelp Out!
This Weekend?
Dear Friends,
We were not clear in our last request. While we do need skilled carpenters, we also need people who can just help. This past weekend, we had 3 carpenters and just a couple assistants. This made progress very slow.
Please spread the word that we are expanding our WORK DAY hours--and that we need people from all skill levels to assist.
Saturday, August 18 (9 a.m. until 4 p.m.)
Sunday, August 19 (12 noon until 4 p.m.)
Your help will be appreciated whether you are available for the entire day, or just a few hours! We do need help!
>>> AIR-CONDITIONED BUILDING <<<
If you can HelpOut! this weekend, please email me at jim@outcentral.org and let me know the approximate times (and day) that you will be there.
This Past weekend, we had three carpenters ready to work. Unfortunately, the number of people present to assist was very small. This really held us back on any significant progress. Even so, two offices and a closet are framed and three old doorways have been sealed shut.
We need people who can use a measuring tape, cut wood to specs, clean up, hold boards, scrape paint, pound on tin, and all sorts of other things!
Thanks for your past support, and I look forward to seeing you this weekend (if possible).
jim
Other Notes:
PLEASE FORWARD TO OTHER POSSIBLE VOLUNTEERS
No comments:
Post a Comment