Interesting

because xkcd is amazing,
this shall be my motto for the summer:

http://xkcd.com/308/
check out more amazing comics at http://xkcd.com

Working with COVER

On this lovely Green Key weekend, several things have happened. Yesterday, Kim, Erik and I worked with COVER in Vermont. We finished out 8-hours of sweat-equity by repairing a roting floor on a trailer. We spent the morning ripping up tiles and cutting out plywood-turned- to-dirt. It was really nice to get in there and get my hands dirty. ................. I learned how to wield a saw!!..........
I have never really had much
experience with things like this. In New Mexico I helped re-plaster an old adobe Church, and I've helped to dig out Acequias, but this time I got to use hammers, drills, electric saws and all that to really do some more precise work, and I enjoyed it so much! It was fun to build, but it was also amazing to work with these people. there were only 5 people working on the house, so I was able to get to know everyone a bit more.
Hugh, Me, Gisela, Kim and Erik
Gloria, the woman who lived in the trailer we were working on, was very sweet to us. She was so glad we had come by and were actually acting on a promise of help. After lunch, she even pitched in and gave us a hand demolishing the front porch. It seemed like she was having a great time. She told us a lot of stories about growing up on a farm in Kansas, and eventually moving out here to VT with her first husband. It nice to know your work is going to someone who really could use it. As Hugh said, service goes both ways. Gloria got help, a little company, and a new floor, but we also got something out of it. The helpers are just as enriched as those we helped. It was a good day.

...and the calluses arrive soon after!

Oh oh, there it is! there it is, ladies and gents! my first callus! OK, so it's tiny, . . .and more like a blister hotspot. . . but it's there! just at the base of my left little finger.

The Bike Arrives

Well, here I am, 46 days before I am to set off, and I have one of the more important parts done:
I HAVE A BIKE! . . . . oh, and its prettty.

This is a pic I couldn't help but take. Here my lovely Specialized Dolce is brand new, just out of the box from Zanes, and newly assembled. (Yes, I assembled it inside my third-floor dorm room, but it was raining buckets outside, and I was waaay too excited to wait ) The credit for actually putting everything together really goes to Anson, my new bike-guru. THANK YOU ANSON!

A very big 'thank you' also goes to all the people that have helped me get to this spot in the first place. Through all of our very generous contributions, I have already raised $2800! I want to reach a minimum of $4000 for this trip, which will not just pay for travel costs but also go towards donations to various housing initiatives.

Thank you to everyone who has decided that the housing crisis deserves attention an support. Thank you to everyone that wants to help me out with such a big adventure.
I literally could not do this without you!

For those of you who still want to get in on this, I will need some help getting over this last hump. Just one thousand dollars to go! Seems like a lot, but compared to the amount that's come pouring in already, Its really very possible! And remember: every bit helps.

Please go to Bikeandbuild.org to check out the amazing photos, and find out more about the organization and the mission. You can also donate there to help me meet my fund-raising goal!

Beginning to Believe

Well, here's my first post in what I hope will be a very good record of my grand adventure this summer.

In just over a month I will be setting out from Portsmouth, NH and biking to Vancouver, Canada to end poverty housing. That's right, I'm gonna bike across the continent! And, I get to help my country-mates along the way. This will be a journey of about 4000 miles across a country I love dearly, but have seen little of.

I will be riding almost every day from June 18 until August 23, crossing 13 states plus British Columbia, helping to build houses and raise awareness about the affordable housing crisis in this country. Hopefully, I will be posting progress reports, stories, silly jokes, pictures and other tidbits on this site throughout that time.

A friend of mine described this project as a BHAG: " a Big Hairy Audacious Goal". I think this is quite apt. Its time to stop talking and actually do something truly 'epic'.

so, lets get to it.