Hands-On Preparation

The Project Superintendent, Lloyd, decided we needed some help in the area of brick-laying, so Bud asked his friend Rusty, a real pro, to give lessons in laying blocks for some walls we'll be constructing.



Here they are reviewing the plans that we have received from the architect in Thailand.

Nothing happens of importance before food is consumed, so Nancy, Bud's better half, prepared a little cross-cultural meal for the team prior to the block-laying practice.

Then, it was out to Bud's shop where the block-laying practice began.  Good block laying begins with good mud, the bricklayer's term for mortar.  The team determined, based on the skill set that every man brings to the project, that Andy would be the mud mixer.  Tonight, it was camera operator, so Mike did the honors, while Rusty instructed us on the proper amount of water for the mixture.

Rusty announced that he'd probably never laid blocks on top of card board before, but tonight was a first for him.  We all learned a lot about block/bricklaying.  Pros like Rusty make it look easy, but it isn't.  The team has several block walls to construct in Thailand, so it was important that we learn to do it correctly.

Here we see Lloyd inspecting Rusty's work.  This would be the standard by which the work is measured.

Tim and Dennis built the first practice wall, while Lloyd inspected the workmanship.  That looks pretty good to me.

Bud tried his hand at it, too.  Bud was also noticing the mortar that was violating the cardboard border and ending up on his shop floor, but was a gracious host and never complained about it.

Roland tries the one-handed approach to block-laying, and was quite successful.

While block-laying practice was underway in one part of the shop, Lloyd was reviewing drawings and project plans with other team members.

Danny arrived a little after everyone else, but check out how he's "buttered" that block, while Dennis is working the mud in the background.

Jim got rave reviews from Rusty on his wall.  Here we see Jim putting on an end block.

Before the festivities ended, Lloyd and Bud had everyone review plans for rafters for a roof.  It has been an interesting process to convert measurements from metric to English, and back to metric.

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the herald, who proclaims peace, who brings news of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"  Isaiah 52:7