Homemaking
We live in long metal buildings we call “the mods” for modular buildings. Each one is about 25 meters long and is divided up between seven rooms with six people per room and a bathroom at the end. If you picture a couple of double-wide trailers parked end to end then you will know what I’m talking about. Without the porch. And without the three-legged dogs under the porch.
In each room we have hung up dividers in order to give ourselves an illusion of privacy. We did this by using copious amounts of 550 parachute cord strung across the room as tightly as possible to anything we could find, including the electrical conduits with the stickers saying “Do not hang anything from this conduit.” From the crisscrossing cords we hung extra sheets purloined from the billeting office using duct tape (of course). Once you have a little space set aside, it’s time to go about the business of making it a home. Of course, this home is enough space for your bed and another 18 inches of space to one side of the bed. So it doesn’t take very much to outfit it.
That being said, there isn’t very much available to outfit it anyway. There is only about half as much furniture as advertised on the base so it is in very high demand. When the guys in my room showed up there were six beds though one had the metal bent so much that the middle actually touched the floor, it looked like a giant had decided to jump on the bed. There were also two wall lockers. This meant that four of us had no furniture and one of us had no bed. Over the next couple weeks we went on a series of fruitful missions in order to “acquire” more creature comforts. We would ask around to see when people were leaving and then jump in right after then to take their furniture.
A friend saw a set of shelves made out of plywood sitting outside somewhere and was kind enough to bring it back for me. The only problem was that it was way to big and I had to turn sideways to get between it and my bed. So, I managed to borrow an electric saw and stood outside in the gravel chopping the thing up until I had a size that would fit. Now I have a place to put my clothes.
I eventually ended up just walking through the mods opening up doors and looking for empty beds with furniture next to them. And it paid off. I managed to get a small two-shelf dresser from a room where someone had apparently just moved out. After finding it, I came back at night and furtively snuck into the room with my headlight and nabbed the dresser. It didn’t end up being as smooth as I intended though because as I was picking it up it kept getting caught on random lengths of 550 cord I couldn’t see in the dark. This cord was connected to the makeshift walls in the room and every time I moved it would shake the surrounding sheets. At the end I abandoned my attempt at subtlety as I heard someone stirring and made it through the door with a couple of good bangs and managed to get back to my mod before anyone got up the energy to see what was going on.
Now I have a nightstand. I feel quite civilized.
In each room we have hung up dividers in order to give ourselves an illusion of privacy. We did this by using copious amounts of 550 parachute cord strung across the room as tightly as possible to anything we could find, including the electrical conduits with the stickers saying “Do not hang anything from this conduit.” From the crisscrossing cords we hung extra sheets purloined from the billeting office using duct tape (of course). Once you have a little space set aside, it’s time to go about the business of making it a home. Of course, this home is enough space for your bed and another 18 inches of space to one side of the bed. So it doesn’t take very much to outfit it.
That being said, there isn’t very much available to outfit it anyway. There is only about half as much furniture as advertised on the base so it is in very high demand. When the guys in my room showed up there were six beds though one had the metal bent so much that the middle actually touched the floor, it looked like a giant had decided to jump on the bed. There were also two wall lockers. This meant that four of us had no furniture and one of us had no bed. Over the next couple weeks we went on a series of fruitful missions in order to “acquire” more creature comforts. We would ask around to see when people were leaving and then jump in right after then to take their furniture.
A friend saw a set of shelves made out of plywood sitting outside somewhere and was kind enough to bring it back for me. The only problem was that it was way to big and I had to turn sideways to get between it and my bed. So, I managed to borrow an electric saw and stood outside in the gravel chopping the thing up until I had a size that would fit. Now I have a place to put my clothes.
I eventually ended up just walking through the mods opening up doors and looking for empty beds with furniture next to them. And it paid off. I managed to get a small two-shelf dresser from a room where someone had apparently just moved out. After finding it, I came back at night and furtively snuck into the room with my headlight and nabbed the dresser. It didn’t end up being as smooth as I intended though because as I was picking it up it kept getting caught on random lengths of 550 cord I couldn’t see in the dark. This cord was connected to the makeshift walls in the room and every time I moved it would shake the surrounding sheets. At the end I abandoned my attempt at subtlety as I heard someone stirring and made it through the door with a couple of good bangs and managed to get back to my mod before anyone got up the energy to see what was going on.
Now I have a nightstand. I feel quite civilized.
posted by Jonathan Hassell at 13:40
1 Comments:
John, we are all praying for you here in The Newz. Are you out of Listerine?!! We're sending a package soon to you and G. You are never alone. We pray especially for the deep rest of Christ Jesus in your hearts wherever you go.
JBrewer
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