Dayton, Ohio

Flat, windy, and aerobars meant that I had a great day yesterday. I actually heard some people who weren't so happy about it because you don't really get a break from wind the way you get with downhills. I was flying along though: back on home territory.

By nighttime, I was feeling slightly under the weather. I think I might be ailing with the Jeff Hunt disease, which means flu-like symptoms. It's not that bad though, and if I still feel not so great tomorrow, I'll ride in the van.

Today was a great build day! Dayton's Habitat chapter is really excited to have us, and they began the build day with the chief of police giving us a speech about how great we were, and a lot of press getting coverage. I actually feel slightly awkward about all the speeches we've been getting about what great people we are. I've never really gotten all that used to getting complimented, as it's not really part of Korean culture, and I feel like giving back to the community is just something I should be doing.

Anyway, they had large concrete type blocks that they didn't want to pay to remove, so they had us build a small landscape type wall with it. Apparently Julie has had quite a bit of experience with trail building and waterwalls, so it worked out pretty well. Unfortunately, some of us walked through a patch of poison ivy, but Joe hacked it up and Sean(? Shawn?) was incredibly nice and went to the store to buy us some Tecnu, which gets off the oil and prevents rash. (I am thus rash free. Breath easy.)

After lunch, I got to chatting with a fellow named Jonathan who also had a bachelors in architecture from OSU. It was nice to be able to talk architecture a while. He and Brock are both studying to become LEED AP's for Habitat. Apparently, this chapter of Habitat is attempting to make all their houses become sustainable and LEED rated, which is awesome.

I was really disappointed I didn't get to work on the concrete foundation because I JUST took a class on concrete this past semester! We didn't really learn about specific admixtures and the actually pouring bit, but I can still do a general analysis of a slab and one way slab construction (I think ...). It was fun to watch, at least. It was much more watery than I expected it to be, and Joe explained it was because they were having a hard time getting it to spread out. (More water means weaker concrete ...)

The dry wall muddying was finishing up for the most part, but Jon showed me how to tape up electrical outlets to muddy as well, so I had plenty to keep me busy for the rest of the afternoon. It sounded like everyone felt like they got in a really good day's work.

Dayton Dragons baseball game tonight! It's also sponsored by Dayton's Habitat! They love us. It's really great to have these enthusiastic receptions. We're even going to have a police escort out of town tomorrow :)