Sam's Year of Service Adventure

 Today we started with our all-staff meeting.  It was mostly about stuff that did not involve me, but the 2 truths and a lie was pretty entertaining.  After the meeting, I took the resources van to the shop for an oil change, and then Doug picked me up and took me to Bentley.  At Bentley, we had to spend the morning inspecting really disgusting apartments that literally made me sick.  After lunch, I got started on a make-ready.  I did a little bit of patching and then kilzed some of the spots.  When I started touch of painting, none of the paint colors matched, and it seemed like the walls were pretty faded.  I decided to wait for someone else to help me decide if I should keep touching up or do a full paint.  I ran out of things to do in the make-ready, so I organized the maintenance room as it was becoming quite a mess.  At the end of the day, Jenni picked me up and took me home.  When I got home, I had some supper and then made s...

 Today was pantry day.  I started with my pickups at Trader Joe's and Sprouts.  When I got back from the pickups, we put all the food away, and then we had lunch.  After lunch, we got started, and it was super busy.  I mostly supervised, but towards the end of the rush, Jenni taught me how to use the tablet, and I found out that I do not know anybody's last name.  At the end of the day, we packed up and headed back to the office and put stuff in the fridge.  We talked with Doug for a while about how it went, and then I headed home.  When I got home, there was some chili for supper, and then Michael led us in part 2 of his learning component on Mormons.  It was very interesting again.  After the learning component, I relaxed the rest of the evening before heading to bed.

 Today I was with maintenance.  We started by having everyone come over to Bentley to help test the fire alarms.  We needed everybody so we could put someone on every floor so we didn't need to run the alarms for to long.  It took about an hour to test all the alarms at Bentley, and then we had to inspect all the sprinkler heads in all the apartments.  This was about 3 hours of me walking around with an inspector, knocking on and unlocking doors for him so he could look at the sprinklers.  When we had finished, we had to look at the cameras for a while because there was a fight over the weekend.  Then I spent some time cleaning up the trash around the property.  When I was done picking up trash, I took lunch.  After lunch, we did a bunch of little things.  We spent some time inspecting new make-readies, and then we found that bricks were falling off the building in the playground area, so we had to lock it down.  Then I spent some t...

 Today, we started by going to Sprouts for a pickup.  Then we went over to the pantry.  By the time we had unloaded all the food, Doug was over at Santa Fe and needed help unloading the dirt for the gardens.  We unloaded 100 bags of potting soil.  When we were done, I headed back to the pantry to help Jenni finish putting stuff away.  When we were done at the pantry, we headed to Westside and dropped off the bread.  On our way back to the office, we went to the pantry so I could pick up my lunch I forgot.  When we got back to the office, we took lunch.  After lunch, I went to Woodbine and picked up some books.  Then I went back to the office to grab a key for the shed at Ceders, and then I went looking for a garden hose.  Then I went back to the office and picked up Jenni, and we did libraries for most of the afternoon.  When we were done with libraries, we went back to the office, and I unboxed some of the garden stuff for Thu...

 Today we had church.  Before church, we had breakfast together, and Christian made some eggs and bacon.  After church, I sold some landscaping rocks on Facebook Marketplace and then had some lunch.  After lunch, I made some banana muffins and then relaxed the rest of the afternoon.  In the evening, I got a new phone case delivered, and we finished off the evening by watching an episode of Firefly.

 Today I slept in for a while.  When I did finally get up, I went and outside and hung out with Naomi for a while and then we had lunch.  After I did not do much, I went to the phone store to try to get my charging port cleaned out again.  Turns out the port was actually broken this time.  When I got back from the phone store, I went to the playground with Naomi.  We did not stay long and then came back home.  When we got home, I relaxed for a little bit, and then it was time for supper club.  At supper club, we had taco soup, chips and dip, and Dr Pepper floats.  After we were done eating, we watched "The Wall".  It is a TV gameshow where a couple anwsers questions, and there are lots of Plinko drops.  It did not make much sense, but it was fun to watch.  After supper club, we came home and went to bed.

 Today I rode along with Josh.  We first went to UT and replaced some smoke alarm batteries, and then we went to Santa Fe and worked on a make-ready with Dion the rest of the day.  We had to put all the countertops back together and then replumb the sink.  We also had to put the stove and the fridge back where they go.  Then we found out the fridge did not work, so we did some diagnosing on it.  At the end of the day, I went back to the office and then home.  When I got home, I had some lunch, and then I mowed and weedeated the yard.  Halfway through mowing the yard, I got supper started in the crockpot.  I made some creamy chicken pasta.  After I finished mowing the yard, I hung out with Christian and Leigha for a bit before finishing supper.  I had to make some pasta and cut up some spinach and broccoli to finish off the meal.  Then we ate supper, and it was delicious.  After supper, we sat on the front porch for a while...

 Today I was back to painting doors.  I finished up the last three and then painted over the suite numbers.  When I was done with the painting, I took lunch, and then I went with Bill to Home Depot to buy some new numbers and letters to put on the doors.  When we got back to the office, I put the letters and numbers on the doors, trying to make them as level as possible.  We decided we didn't like the font of some of the letters, so I took them back off, and we were going to get some different ones next week.  Then I cleaned up and headed home.  When I got home, I hung out with Naomi and Josiah for a while and then ate some supper.  After supper, we made some banana muffins, and then we watched an episode of Firefly before I went to bed.

 Today was pantry day.  I started the morning with my pickups as always.  Sprouts was a pretty big pickup, so I was running late.  When I got back to the pantry, everything got put away quickly, and then we had a volunteer appreciation lunch.  Doug and Cristal picked up food from La Casita, and it was a really good lunch.  After lunch, we got to work.  It was a busy but uneventful day.  At the end of the day, we packed up and went back to the office.  From the office, I made a trip to Goodwill, and on the way back, I got really stuck in construction.  When I made it back to the office, I was tasked with putting the beer on ice for the retirement party that was happening in the evening.  When I had finished up, I headed to Josh and John's to meet Christian for our 1-on-1.  After our 1-on-1, we headed back to the house, where Leigha led a learning component about budgets to prep Michael and I for sharing the monthly budget in the...

 Today I started by going to Home Depot with Tressa and picking up some stuff for painting at the office.  When we got back to the office, I spent the next few hours painting the side doors to the office.  There was a lot of taping off to do, which was extremely frustrating.  When I was done painting doors, I cleaned everything up, and then I helped leasing put together a couple of shelves to help organize their files.  When I was done putting together the shelves, I headed home.  When I got home, I did some stuff around the house before Michael made us his wraps for supper.  After supper, we watched an episode of Firefly, and then I went to bed.

 Today we started with the Sprouts pick up.  It was not very good, but there were a lot of prepared meals.  When we got to the pantry, I decided to wash some of our organizer trays, but when I turned on the water, the hose I was going to use broke, so I helped put everything away instead.  We were expecting the delivery of some shelving while we were there, but it did not show up.  We had to keep ourselves busy for about an hour before we could go to Westside.  We left for Westside at 11 and delivered the bread.  Then I dropped Jenni off at the office and made a quick Goodwill run to get rid of some clothes we had.  When I got back from Goodwill, we took lunch.  While we were at lunch, Doug went to a FedEx store and got our shelves.  He made a great dad joke today to.  "Hey, Sam, did you know that FedEx and UPS merged?  Now everyone is real FEDUP."  When Doug got back with our shelves, we went back to the pantry, and while...

 Today we had holy humor Sunday.  It was a really entertaining service, and they put in a lot of effort to make it funny.  After church, we headed home for some lunch, and then I went and did the shopping for the week.  While I was out and about, I stopped at a gas station to wash the windows since I got them really dirty yesterday.  When I got back from shopping, I put everything away, and then we went to a park for a while.  When we got back, Christian and I made some delicious spaghetti.  After supper, I relaxed for a while, and then I finished the evening by watching an episode of Firefly.

 This morning, after breakfast, I headed up the mountain to go hiking.  It was about 10 miles up a super curvy dirt road.  The hike was really beautiful and had some great views of the city, the mountains, and the plains.  When I got done with my hike, I found a little Mexican restaurant just off the road from where I went to the trail.  It was a really long wait, but it was a super cool place, and the loaded nachos were delicious.  When I got back to the house, I relaxed for a little bit, and then we went to a park.  From the park, Christian and I went to DQ to get some blizzards, and then we went back to the park to play some more.  Then we headed back to the house, and we warmed up some more pizza and mozzarella sticks.  After supper, I played with Naomi for a while, then held Josiah while Christian put Naomi to bed.  Josiah got pretty upset, so Christian had to put him to sleep.  Then I relaxed the rest of the evening before goi...

 Today I started my day at Bentley.  Since I had to come back early, I drove the Honda.  I did a few work orders at Bentley, and then it was already time to come back.  When I got back, Olivia and Alexus had a lot of flyers they needed help folding.  There was a lot of folding, but we visited the whole time, which made it go faster.  When I was done folding, I took the van home.  When I got home, I had some lunch and then relaxed for the afternoon before making some sloppy joes and baked beans for supper.  After supper, we watched a couple of episodes of Firefly, and then I went to bed. 

I started my day by driving the Honda down to the shop for the oil change.  Bill picked me up from there, and we went to inspections at North Weber.  They were uneventful and nothing crazy.  When we were done with inspections, Bill took me over to Bentley.  On the way, he bought me a burrito for lunch from Quijotes.  At Bentley, I finished the last make-ready, did a few random work orders, and then had my lunch.  After lunch, I helped Alden clean out the pit of doom again.  When the pit was clean, I did a few other work orders, and then Bill picked me up.  We went back to the shop to get the Honda, and on the way back, I tested the sound system, which was exceptional.  When I got back to the office, I backed it into the parking spot so everyone would know I drove it.  Then I headed home.  When I got home, I ate some food. I don't know if it was supper food, but it was food.  Then I relaxed the rest of the evening.

 Today was pantry day.  We were down a few volunteers today, so I did the Trader Joe's pickup by myself.  When I got back from Trader Joe's, we put everything away and made some Vash boxes.  Then we had lunch.  After lunch, we opened the pantry.  It was a really calm day for the most part, other than having to turn a drunk lady away.  We had a new leasing agent at the pantry today for her training.  At the end of the day, we packed up and headed back to the office.  At the office, we put stuff in the fridge, and then I headed home.  After I got home with the box, I headed to the urgent care to have my stitches removed.  It was quick and easy, and I stopped for milk and some liquid bandage on the way home.  When I got home, we had some grilled cheese and tomato soup for supper.  After supper, I led a learning component about Kansas and the towns of Goessel and Newton.  After the learning component, I relaxed the rest o...

 Today I was over at Bentley.  We started by watering our retention pond and then checking out an apartment that we thought might be abandoned.  After that, I got to work on some make-readies.  The first one I went to, I glued a drawer back together, and that was it.  Then I went to another make ready and put on some new door stops and fixed a door hinge.  The next make-ready, I had to touch up and reinstall some sliding closet doors.  I also had to patch some holes in the walls and do some touch-up painting.  Then I headed to the next make-ready.  In this make-ready, all we had to do was finish installing a door.  We got the holes for the new hinges cut and then got the door hung.  Once the door was hung, we took a lunch break.  After lunch, I had to go remove tape from a door that someone had put on there to try to mess up the door.  Then we had to go install a new screen door for a lady.  After that, I went and got...

 Today, we started by going to Sprouts to pick up food.  Then we went over to the pantry to put everything away.  When everything was put away, it was time to reorganize since we got a new fridge.  We decided to move our canned good storage shelf to a different wall so the fridge fits better.  Next, we adjusted a bunch of shelf racks so we could fit extra apples and potatoes on the shelf, so they would not be sitting on the floor.  We finished up by dealing with the doomsday food that was donated.  We had to repackage some of it, and we just put the rest out on our freebie shelf.  When we were done at the pantry, we headed over to Westside and delivered the bread.  When we got back to the office, we took our lunch.  After lunch, we had a volunteer show up who was going to get our library organized for us.  After we took her over there to get started, Jenni and I ran around and did a bunch of libraries.  After we were done with ...

 Today we had the Easter Sunday service.  It was an alright service.  After the service we had Easter brunch, and there was lots of good food.  When brunch was over, I went with my host family to their house.  We went for a nice hike in the afternoon, and when we got back we watched some baseball, ate some peacan pie, and then I headed back to the house.  When I got back to the house, Naomi wanted to go to the playground, so we went.  After we were done playing at the playground, we biked over to Pizza Hut and got a pizza and some free wings.  We ate in the park and then headed back to the house.  In the evening, I went with Michael to watch the sunset at Garden of the Gods with some of his friends.  It was a fun time, and then we came home, and I went to bed.

 Today I slept in for a while.  When I got up, I went to a playground with Naomi.  After lunch, I relaxed and watched an episode of Firefly with Christian and Leigha.  When we were done watching, I went and picked up Michael, and we headed to Calhan to watch the El Paso County dirt track races.  They were super fun to watch, and it was a great night of racing.  It was really cold, though, and everyone was bundled up.  When the races were over, we headed back to Colorado Springs and got In-N-Out for supper.  After supper, we headed back to the house, and I went to bed.

 Today was our half-day Friday because we voted to keep it.  I went back down to Bentley and was ready to hang the door, but we realized the hinges were cut backward, and we did not have a router to cut them in correctly.  When we had given up on the door, we went and finished changing furnace filters.  When we were done changing filters, I had to turn up a water heater, and we finished by putting a new handle on a microwave.  When I was done for the day, I went home and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.  For supper, I made pizza pasta.  After supper, I went to the Good Friday service.  When I got home from that, we watched another episode of Firefly, and then I went to bed.

 Today I was with maintenance.  I got a big list of make-readies from Bill that I had to go check out and see the damage.  I started my day by cutting some locks off that we didn't know the codes for.  Then I spent my whole morning and some of the afternoon going through all the make-readies.  When I was done, I took a quick break for lunch, and then I got to work on a make-ready.  I started by doing some touch-up painting and then finishing up some patchwork.  I spent the rest of my day hanging a door.  I had to go over to our storage unit to get a new door, and then I had to get it painted and put the hinges on.  I got it ready to hang, and then I ran out of time for the day.  When I got home from work, I had some supper and then relaxed the rest of the evening.

 When I got to the office today, I found out it had been punked for April Fools.  Bill's office was covered in TP, and there were wet paint signs everywhere, and all the bathrooms said they were out of order.  We had an official office meeting where we were told that the half day scedual would stay.  After the meeting, we got donuts for resources because it was their appreciation month.  We finally headed over to the pantry a little late, and then I went to Trader Joe's.  When we got back from Trader Joes we got all the food put away, and we also had to bag up a five-gallon bucket of pinto beans.  Then we ate lunch.  After lunch, we got started.  It was pretty calm at the beggining but as the day went on, I felt like I was just going crazy.  We had a new resident move into Plaza, and he is such a nice guy.  We found out that he was not given a hot plate when he moved in, so I gave him one in the pantry, and he immediately got up and...

 Today I started by painting our big light-up sign in front of the office.  It took a lot more time to tape it off than to actually paint.  When I was done with that, I took a long lunch break, and then Bill picked me up and took me to The Ridge to work on a make-ready.  I spent the rest of the afternoon patching walls, sanding walls, kilzing the walls, and then painting walls.  There was a lot to do with the walls, and I did not finish.  At the end of the day, I got a ride back to the office, and then Jenni took me home.  At home, Michael made us supper, and then I finished watching the first episode of Firefly with Christian and Leigha.