Sam's Year of Service Adventure

 Today I had to go down to VSR and help Posh hang a gate, which took most of the morning, and then we didn't have much else to do.  When I was done at VSR, Bill picked me up and took me back to the office.  On my way home, I stopped to get some ice cream at Josh and John's, and then I biked some of the trails in the park.  When I got home, I did a bunch of housekeeping things, and then I had a Google Meet with the admissions people at Bethel College.  After the call, I made some shrimp alfredo for supper, which was very good.  After supper, I had a lot of dishes to do, and then Christian and I tried out a bunch of video games to find something else to play together as a group.  When we were done gaming, I headed to bed.

 Today I was with maintenance.  I started by going with Dion to Woodbine to paint a room and do some work on an exhaust fan.  We had to hurry out of there because we had to get to an eviction at Bentley.  The resident was still in their apartment, and the cops had to detain the person and walk them out.  There was also a ton of stuff we had to move out.  It took about an hour and a half.  Then we had to go to VSR and do another eviction.  Thankfully, they were not there this time, and there was only a handful of stuff to move.  After that eviction, we went out to lunch at El Super Taco with a few maintenance guys.  I had some tacquitos which were delicious.  After lunch, we went back to Woodbine and finished up by trashing it out and cleaning up all the tools.  When we were done at Woodbine, we went over to Santa Fe, where we checked out a make-ready that was completely destroyed.  We made a long list of stuff we needed an...

 Today was pantry day.  We started by going over to the pantry to do some organizing and then I went back to the office to pick up Doug, and then we went to Trader Joe's.  We got a lot of bread from them.  We got six boxes of sourdough bread.  When we got to the pantry, we got everything unpacked and put away, and then we took lunch.  After we ate, we opened the pantry, and it was really hectic.  Along with the normal craziness, we had a Vash Agent there filling a bunch of boxes for the Veterans, and I was helping a lady who was willing to take the motorised wheelchair out of our pantry.  We had the new maintenance guy, Todd, there helping out, which was nice, and he was able to carry people's stuff out.  Towards the end, it calmed down.  We were able to chill for a little bit, and most everything else we had slowly disappeared.  In total, we had 63 people today, which was more than we have had in a while.  When we were done fo...

I started my day down at Bentley.  We had to clean up a bunch of trash that the trash truck spilled everywhere, then we had to go measure all the blinds in a unit because they were all broken.  Around 11, I headed out to Chick-fil-A to pick up food for the people in resources who were having a meeting at the Penrose House, which is part of the Broadmore.  I had to order food for everyone and then deliver it to them.  After I had delivered the food, I went to Natural Grocers and did the pickup.  Then I headed over to the pantry and unloaded everything.  When I was done unloading, I went back to Bentley, and then we took lunch.  Doug was nice enough to buy me lunch while I was picking up food for everyone else.  After we finished lunch, we had to go work on some locks that were slightly damaged.  They worked right some of the time, but they did not always work right.  We spent a while trying to figure it out, and even with new parts, they ...

 Today we started with our morning meeting, and then Jenni and I went to Sprouts.  We thankfully got a bunch of meat, so that was good since we were almost out.  At the pantry, we got everything put away, and then I had to clean again since our cleaners still had not started, even though they were supposed to.  When we were done at the pantry, we went to Westside and dropped off the bread.  When we got back to the office, we took an early lunch so that we could get started on libraries.  We visited most of the nearby libraries.  These were all the libraries at our not-so-nice properties, and at one of the properties, we found drugs hidden in some of the books.  We found this out after we had driven across town, so it's good we did not get pulled over.  When we were done with libraries, we went back to the office, and then I went with Junie, one of the leasing agents, to do a re-inspection at Ceders.  After we had done the inspection, we ...

 Today we had church.  After church, I did not have much to do since Christian and Leigha were still away on their weekend off.  I made myself busy by making some brookie bars and making a whole bunch of chicken patties for chicken sandwiches later in the week.  My evening was spent doing all the dishes from all my cooking in the afternoon, and then I went to bed.

 Today is half day friday.  We started by going to Home Depot to buy a shelf for the maintenance room, and when we got to Bentley, we put the shelf together, and it is pretty awesome.  After we had the shelf together, we went and let the junk guys into the make-ready.  While we were letting them in, we saw that the concrete plant across the road from Bentley was on fire. We all stood on the balcony for a while and watched the fire.  When we were done with that, we went and did some more work on the maintenance room door so that it could at least lock over the weekend.  Then we had to go pass out some notices to a few different properties for reinspections.  We had to go to Ceders, Woodbine, and East Hills.  After we left East Hills, we had to go to UP and see the flood that Josh was dealing with.  Since Alden was on call, he was going to have to stay with the vendor, so Josh was showing us around.  When we went into one lady's apartment,...

 Today I was down at Bentley.  I started by cleaning some vestibules.  When Doug arrived at Bentley, we moved a bed and a couch for a lady who had mold in her house.  They had to tear apart a lot of her apartment, and she would have been in the way to stay.  When we were done moving Alden, I did a bunch of stuff.  We had to go to the locksmith to pick up a part for fixing the door to the maintenance room, and then we took lunch.  After lunch, we spent most of the afternoon working on our door and then trying to fix the gate for the playground.  We also had to go take a look at a make-ready that was completely trashed because some homeless people had broken in.  After we took our before pictures, we called the junk and cleaning people to clean out the unit.  At the end of the day, Alden took me back to the office, and I biked home.  When I got home, Christian had made some enchiladas for supper that were really good.  After supp...

 Today was panty day.  We started by going over to the pantry and getting some stuff in order since we were not there on Monday.  When the volunteers showed up, I went and did the Trader Joe's pickup.  When we got back, we put everything away and then ate lunch.  After lunch, we opened the pantry, and it ran smoothly for a while.  Eventually, a lady showed up who was not all there and told me some interesting things that I will not be writing down.  After she was gone, the rest of the day went smoothly.  At the end of the day, we packed up and headed back to the office.  At the office, we put some stuff in the fridge, and then I unloaded the dishwasher before heading home.  When I got home, I had time to relax before we had some curry for supper.  After supper, I got to hold Josiah for a while, and then he was happy to sit on the couch and watch us while we did learning component.  Christian built the computer that we have in t...

 This morning, one of my favorite maintenance guys quit, which made me really disappointed.  After the meeting, Vern, the new maintenance guy, and I took the big van over to Bentley and moved a stove out of a unit and into our storage unit.  After that, I took him back to the office so he could take his personal vehicle home, and then I picked him up at his house.  The wind was really strong on the highway, so driving the huge van was a little interesting.  When I had picked him up, we went back to Bentley, where he dropped me off.  I joined up with Alden, and we went and reset more outlets, and I turned a lady's heat on for her.  Then we had to look at a broken garbage disposal, which was under warrenty so we could not do anything.  After that, we cleaned a few more vestibules.  Once our battery for our scrubber died, we went to Home Depot to get a mop and bucket, and then we got some lunch.  After lunch, we had to go back to the storag...

 Today I slept in till 8, but it felt like I slept in till 10.  When I got up, I had some breakfast and then cleaned up my room.  We made some chicken patties for lunch, and then after lunch, we cleaned the garage, and I fixed our fence gate.  When the garage was cleaned, I decided to go on a bike ride to Garden of the Gods.  While I was there, I eyed up the Manitou Incline and decided I was going to go climb it.  I bike from Garden of the Gods over to the trailhead.  When I got there, my phone was almost dead, and I did not bring any water.  I called Christian and Leigha to come pick me up when I was about halfway up, and my phone died completely.  I just gave them a rough estimate, and I was right on time.  The hike was much harder then I thought it would be but I was still the fastest one on the trail.  The view from the top was really good, but there was a really cold wind, so I did not stay long.  When I got off the trail,...

 Today I slept in a little later than yesterday, and when I got up, I headed down to the lodge for morning worship.  The entire weekend featured excellent music and insightful contributions from Trent Voth.  After worship, we had another small group time, followed by brunch.  After brunch, I was on dishes with Michael.  Dishes for high school were so much easier than for junior high.  When we were done with dishes, we went and took a staff picture and then finished packing up and hit the road.  When we got home, I unpacked everything and did laundry.  I did not do much the whole afternoon or evening.

 Today I got up early and helped clear the snow since it snowed overnight.  Once the snow paths were cleared, we spent a while working on the tube run since it was kind of broken.  After we had the tube run useable we got to work on getting the pond ready for broomball and curling.  We had to plow the pond with the tractor and then scrape it clean for curling.  When the pond was ready, we went and had breakfast.  After breakfast, we had worship and small group time.  Then it was time for snow activities.  I did not have obligations, so I hung out at the tube run and the pond.  When the activities had finished for the morning, we had lunch.  After lunch, there was some free time before we had more snow activities.  I was in charge of human curling, but I played some broom ball while I waited for people to show up.  Eventually, some of the tabor group showed up, and we played for a while.  After those games, I had to help le...

 Today I had a half-day of maintenance.  I went down to Bentley with Alden, and we did a bunch of little things.  We had to reset several more outlets and conducted additional testing to determine the cause of the tripping.  When we were done at Bentley, we headed back to the office, and then Tony gave me a ride home.  When I got home, I ate some lunch and then packed for snow camp.  On our way up to snow camp, we stopped at the Goodwill in Woodland Park since it is supposedly better there.  When we got to camp, we ate supper and then had evening worship.  After worship, there was small group time and then free time.  We stayed up pretty late just hanging out.  Eventually, we were told we were being too loud and went to bed.

 Today was a maintenance day.  After the morning meeting, I went with Alden over to Bentley to reset a bunch of outlets that had tripped and shut people's water heaters off.  We got a lot of calls about no hot water.  When we got a break at Bentley, we went over to Rocky Mountain and Plaza to pass out some notices.  Once we had finished that, we went back to Bentley, where we had to fix some more outlets.  We also had to fix a sink, reseal a toilet, try and reprogram some key fobs, and do some other general property maintenance.  When we were done at Bentley, we went over to The Ridge to do some work orders, but before we made it there, we had to turn around and go back to Bentley to fix another outlet.  At the end of the day, Alden took me back to the office, and then I went home.  When I got home, I made some kielbasa alfredo for supper, which was really good.  After supper, I held Josiah for a while, and then I went to bed.

 Today was pantry day.  I started by taking the temperatures of the fridges and freezers, and then we went to do the Trader Joe's pickup.  When we got back, we unpacked everything and then had lunch.  After lunch, we opened the pantry.  It was another uneventful day, and at the end of the day, we packed up.  When we got back to the office, I put the items in the fridge and then headed home.  When I got home, I relaxed for a while, and then we had a learning component about toddler development.  We learned about the different stages they go through and what those are called.  Then we tried some of the thinking experiments on Naomi that we learned about.  My favorite one was hide and seek, where we could hide in plain sight and as long as our heads were hidden, she would never find us.  After our game of hide and seek, I headed to bed.

 Today I started by going down to Bentley.  We started by trying to figure out why our heater in the maintenance room would not work.  We found nothing wrong with it.  When we had given up on the heater, we went and replaced a broken faucet.  After that, we cleaned up the property.  I found some things to fix around the property while we were checking, so I took care of those things, and then I headed back to the office to have lunch.  After lunch, I went with Jenni to Natural Grocers.  We got our pickup and then went to the pantry and put everything away.  When we got back to the office, we headed over to The Attrium and helped with mobile market.  We don't have to do much there, but it was fun to be there.  After mobile market, I went back to the pantry and dropped off some other stuff.  Then I went over to Woodbine and organized the library.  I did not get everything organized, but I made a dent.  Then I headed hom...

 Today we started with our Sprouts pickup.  Then we went over to the pantry and put all the food away.  Then I got the pantry cleaned.  After I was done, we went to Westside and dropped off the bread.  Then we returned to the office and had lunch.  After lunch, I went over to Woodbine and picked up a bunch of books.  Then I went and visited some of our libraries in downtown before returning to the office and picking up Jenni.  We went over to Ceders and found out that people had already broken my new library door.  Then we went and did a bunch of other properties for the rest of the afternoon.  Then I headed home.  When I got home, I made some chicken patties in the airfryer and then we watched some of The House of David for worship night.  After worship night, I was really tired and went to bed.

 Today we had church.  It was kids' Sunday, so the kids of the church planned and put on the whole service.  I would highly recommend watching it if you get the chance.  After church, we had a potluck with lots of good food.  During the potluck, we also had our business meeting.  After church, we were presented with our new van, which I immediately took for a joyride.  It was a big upgrade from the old van.  When we got home, I headed to the store to get groceries and gas for the week.  It was a short list this week, which made my job easy.  When I got back from shopping, I soon headed over to my host family's house to watch the Super Bowl and eat some good food.  We had Dwanye from church over as well, and it is always fun when he is there.  After the Super Bowl, I came home and played some Overcooked with Christian and Leigha before going to bed. Here is the link to kids sunday https://www.youtube.com/live/lno-KqESLNU 

 Today is half day Friday.  I got a ride over to Bentley, where I did a quick property check, and then I got picked up by Tony, and we went over to Woodbine to let a vendor in.  After Woodbine, we went to the locksmith where we got some keys made and mastered, and picked up a lock cylinder.  Then we went back to Bentley, where I finished up one of the make-readies while Tony finished up the other make-ready.  When we were finished at Bentley, we had to go to the office and move furniture so the carpet could be cleaned.  After we had moved all the furniture, Tony gave me a ride home.  When I got home, I started on my crockpot chicken meal.  After I had gotten it started, I made some banana muffins.  Then I spent the rest of the afternoon going to the doctor and then getting my prescriptions, which took forever even though the pharmacy was about 10 steps from the doctor's office.  In the evening, we had chicken sandwiches that I had made f...

 Today I was with maintenance.  We spent the whole morning driving around and delivering lease renewal papers to people.  We went to around 10 different properties.  Once we had delivered all the papers, we decided that we needed to do a deep clean of the van.  We drove it right up to the dumpster and started throwing all the garbage away.  It took us about 4 hours, and we went through years of trash and parts.  When we were done cleaning out the van, we went to the gas station and got some lunch.  After lunch, we knocked out some of the make-ready stuff that needed to be done, and then we wrapped up our day.  I got dropped off at the office and then rode home.  When I got home, I had some supper and then hopped in the car with Christian to go to The Y and meet Leigha and Naomi.  I took Naomi home on the bike, and they went to the support committee meeting.  I fed her supper, and then we read a bunch of books and did some drawi...

 Today was pantry day.  When we got to the pantry, I had to take all the temperatures of all the fridges and freezers.  When our volunteers got there, we went and did the Trader Joe's pickup.  The pickup was a little light but not bad.  When we got back to the pantry, we put everything away and then had a long lunch.  We opened at noon, and it was not very busy.  It was steady all day at least, and we had people in the pantry most of the time.  At the end of the day, we packed up and went back to the office.  At the office, we unpacked everything, and then I headed out.  On the way home, I met Christian and Naomi downtown for some ice cream and out 1 on 1.  After our 1-on-1, we headed home, and we had learning component led by Michael.  We learned about ancient Babylon, which was pretty interesting.  After learning component, I went straight to bed.

 Today I started out by going to an eviction at Kittyhawk.  They were gone, and there was no stuff to move out, so it was pretty easy.  After the eviction, I went back to the office and picked up some trash.  Once the office was immaculate, Doug sent me to put more doors on the libraries.  I took care of Clark Mellen and Bentley.  After I finished at Bentley, I went to Goodwill and picked up some books.  I took the books over to Woodbine and dropped them off.  I made it back to the office just in time for lunch.  After lunch, I went to Natural Grocers and did the food pickup.  I did not get a whole lot of food, but it was still good.  After I put all the food away, I went back to the office, where I thought Doug and I would have to move somebody, but it got called off.  Instead, I organized the closet and made all the snacks look pretty.  When I finished organizing, I did a few other tasks around the office before heading ...

 I accomplished a lot today.  We started by going to Sprouts to pick up the donation.  Then we headed to the pantry, where we put everything away, and I got the cleaning done.  While at the pantry, we found out that we were now responsible for storing a moterized wheel chair.  We were done early at the pantry, so I went with Jenni to Westside.  We were back early, so I ended up going back to the pantry to plug in the scooter since Doug decided we needed to try and get rid of it.  When I got back to the office, I took lunch.  After lunch Jenni and I headed out to do libraries.  We started by picking up books and Woodbine and then going to Rocky Mountain, Santa Fe, and Citadel Arms.  After those libraries, we went to Home Depot to pick up some hooks for installing doors.  Then we went back to the office to pick up more books and take Doug to his SOS apt.  Then we went back to Woodbine and grabbed more books.  We headed over ...

This morning we had breakfast and a business meeting.  After the business meeting, we played a tier game where we ranked different aspects of Service Adventure that we liked and disliked.  When we were done with the activity, we headed to church.  I helped with the offering this morning, and it was quite awkward.  After church, I went home and had lunch.  After lunch, I played some video games until Christian went shopping, and I joined him because I was bored.  When we were back from shopping, I played some more video games, and then we played Pandemic together.  We lost the first round but won the second time.  After playing the board game, we played some Overcooked, and it took us a lot of tries to beat one of the levels.  When we were done playing video games, I did some planning for my worship night the next day and then went to bed.