A couple dudes straped on the super dome roof, pressure washing.
I have to first give a big thanks to everyone that took advantage of our rent sale last month. With a mix of those wallet sales, generous contributions from close friends, hammering on concrete, and odd job work- we made rent! The concrete job I spoke of last time didn’t really pan out. Not only was it some of the most grueling work I’ve ever done (think air hammer or angle grinding for 8 hours a day), but it was also very dependent on the weather. So I would get a call at 5am that there was no work for that day, or would get a call at 8pm that I could come in and work for a couple hours that night. I spent a week dealing with that but after getting several no work calls because of rain, I posted an ad on craigslist for a handyman service called “Ivy League Remodeling,” putting my very expensive and still yet-to-be-paid-for masters degree to work. And from that ad, I’ve gotten several jobs. I’ve fixed a dinner table, did emergency drywall (who knew there was such a thing?) for a local Law Firm, and just today put in a bid for drywall and insulation in a completely gutted house (I’m assuming a Katrina victim) in the upper middle class neighborhood of Lakeview. The part-time gig at Loyola University started last week, with us still moving into our house (all my clothes have turned into a huge pile that the dog favors over his bed) and me trying to do my own artwork, and of course wallet orders to boot- I’ve been busy to say the least. This is the first time I’ve been able to sit down and take a breath, but It’s actually been really awesome because I just don’t have time to be stressed about it all.
Only in NOLA do people find value in and stock pile plastic bead necklaces, and then donate them in bulk to thrift stores. Two side notes: Mardi Grai equals a week vacation for public school students and the oaks on the major parade routes have beads hanging in their branches year round.
When we lived on the bus with Transit Antenna, winging it was a norm but we didn’t have rent to pay and often it was cheaper for us to be moving than to stay put. So despite two years of odd jobbing it on the road, now that I’m doing it while on the hook for rent and everything else that comes with a stationary life style, it feels about as close as I will ever get to having a religious faith. It’s not all that different from growing up with my single waitress mom, hustling endless hours for a meager salary. I, like her, am putting faith in the fact that everything will be OK. And really every major venture I’ve ever been a part of – Redux, Transit Antenna, Is Not Broke, Shake Sugaree – has been the same; that we will be able to do whatever the hell we want with little money and in the end it will all work out.
totally true you know.
