Look what we made

So I'm not in either of these photos, but they are a couple of things that everyone in the apprenticeship program has made this week. In one of the photos is three of the four ornamental brackets. The other photo has a plaster medallion that we recreated from one that had originally been in a house.

Update

So we were out of the training portion of the apprenticeship, but they decided that some things weren't ready so we are back to training, building what they are calling mock walls, but is really more just the front facade of a house. Since the program has a curriculum designed by Delgado we are required to do some training in other crafts besides our own (which for me is millwork). That means that this week I have learned how to build a scroll work bracket, I have also learned cinder block foundations, brick masonry, stucco/plaster, wall layout and framing...and there's still two days left in the week.


Few personal updates are that Holly and I went to the Saints game last weekend. The Saints are now 8-0 and the city is abuzz with thoughts of the super bowl so keep your fingers crossed. Also in case you hadn't heard we were threatened with a late season hurricane earlier this week. The storm ended up dying down to be a tropical storm, as well as blew east to make landfall near Mobile/the panhandle and we didn't get really anything at all here. One final thing is that after almost six months of living in a partially renovated kitchen it seems as if our landlord is finally going to start taking some actions and giving us the kitchen (one with cabinets, a decent sink,and finished floors) that he promised when we moved in in June.

Only a 6 or so more weeks till we're back east for XMas.

Prince's Website

This is a link to the portion of the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environments website that deals with our program. Especially check out the blog at the bottom of the page which has day by day breakdowns of what we've done with photos and personal write ups on each apprentice.

Starting to get the hang of this art thing

So I started off really bad at drawing. We started by learning life drawing with a nude model. It was really hard at first since we were trying to draw without looking at the paper. I ended up drawing a ton of people with arms that looked like lobster claws. By the end of the week my skills had improved to the point where I was doing pictures with lots of shading and foreshadowing. We then moved on to drawing architecture. Again this was really tough at first trying to get perspective and whatnot. Mine came out all smooshed together and distorted in the wrong areas. But I kept at it and was able to get somethings down that looked like a real architect would have done it. Now its time to master the water colors which is a whole new beast. When I get a chance to post some pictures of my art I will do so.

Oh and today was pay day. First one in a long long time and it feels good to have money again.

The Blog is back

So I've had a lot of unblogworty stuff going on in my life since my last post almost six months ago. Most of that time I was working two jobs I hated. I was working tons of hours doing basic apartment maintenance and washing dishes in the French Quarter and not making much money at all. Hoping for a way out I joined the carpenters union and sat on the out of work list for three months with a total of only 5 hours worth of work.

Also during this time Holly and I moved into a three bedroom apartment very close to the heart of the Tulane campus. The place was a real fixer upper even as a rental, so we caught a good break on the rent. We put countless hours in so far to get things done, but still have far more to do.

News also includes that a few weeks ago I asked Holly to marry me and she said yes. Plans are still very much up in the air, but if you want more information on our wedding then you can check out http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/HollySullivan&BenSanady

And the biggest reason that I decided to resurrect this blog was because I finally got a new job, a good job, and a job I like. I'll be honest it’s really the job of all jobs and I figured that it would be good to blog about it over the next six month. So here it is. It is a carpenter's apprenticeship, and is a partnership among a number of organizations particularly the Prince’s [Charles] Foundation for the Built Environment, the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, Delgado Community College, Louisiana Technical College, and the local carpenter, brick mason, plaster, and iron worker unions. The purpose of the program is to teach old world high skill crafts to apprentices. These skills will be used to help do high quality rebuilding as with emphasis on historic preservation and ecologically sustenance. Essentially we want to build buildings like they were built a hundred years ago, but updated for the 21^st century. Currently we are in the middle of the first phase, which is three weeks of classroom training in which we learn more about this type of building as well as art classes, geometry classes, and studying New Orleans architecture. The second phase of this project is four months of daily work in which we will be working on different parts of five houses spread out around the Treme and Holy Cross neighborhoods. In terms of the carpentry we will be split into two teams, rough carpentry and millwork, but it seems as if I will be doing millwork in which they spent over $50,000 to outfit with tools and equipment. In the final part of the apprenticeship we will travel as a group to England to work in some historic buildings there including possibly Windsor Castle. The program will conclude with a big graduation ceremony in which we will all be handed diplomas by and photographed with Prince Charles himself. Throughout the program all supplies including tools is provided to us and we will be earning a certificate of technical studies from Delgado. The program also is intended to place us in work situations after the program is through so we can continue refining our skills. So like I said it’s a good job.

Stay tuned for more blog posts as I share my experiences as I go through this remarkable program.

New Address

So its been a few weeks since I moved in, but I just finally have some free time and wanted to update people with my new address.

1909 General Taylor
New Orleans, LA
70115

Here's a few photos of the place

Time to Move On

While this has been going on for awhile I haven't been able to write about it partly because I have been busy and partly because I just haven't been ready to write about it.

But a few weeks ago I found out that On-Site Relief, the organization I have been working with for the last 8 months, is closing its doors. That being said I needed to figure out my life. Where would I live? Where would I work? How would I eat? How would I get around? How would I pay for things? I went through a few days of panic and then got everything together. Holly got me that truck that I posted photos of a few days ago so there is the getting around part. That helped get a job (which I start this week as doing some construction/carpentry). With a way to make money lined up and therefore a way to pay rent I knew that I wouldn't be homeless. And finally today I found a place to live. I will be staying with Holly for another couple weeks until I move in with Tony, Dale and Dale's weimaraner, Sunday, on April 1.

Hope everyone is doing well and is happy to know that my life is going to be better in the end.

My new truck

So as you may or may not have heard Holly bought me a truck for my birthday. It took me about a week and a half to get some work done on it and fix it all up but here it is. And just fyi I replaced the two doors and the right fender which is why their different colors. And yes Dixie absolutely loves being in the truck.

I got a job

Just figured that I would let everyone know that I do now have a job in addition to being On-Sites Project Manager. Holly got me (and my boss Justin's girlfriend, Sarah) jobs at the restaurant she's been working at called the Alpine. They are both servers and I am a dishwasher. Kind of a shitty job, but I am ok with it since its a decent place and because I really just needed some way to make some cash.


Hope everyone is doing well and having a good Carnival season.

Update to the Big Sleazy Post

I wanted to give an update with todays news:

1) Holly and I went to pick up her beautiful new pit bull. Its about a year old and had the name Cappuchino but we don't like it and are working on changing it so if anyone knows a good name for a red pit with a red nose were all ears.

2) When putting up beware of dog signs the cop who we met with yesterday came back to say hi, let us know that other officers were aware of our situation and checking in during patrol. This is a very good thing to hear.

3) Holly and I and dog went out to get some pet supplies at PetCo today (again in the late afternoon around 4 PM). As we were checking out one of her roommates calls to say that another middle aged black man jumped on the front porch and looked in the window. When he saw someone sitting there he waved and ran away. The roommate instantly called the police and Officers Nolan and Smith (were on a name basis so not sure if thats good or bad) were there in minutes to get a description and search the neighborhood. Nothing panned out.

4) Holly's landlords came over to discuss security mesaures that were being put in place this week including lights (regular and motion detetcion, alarm system, and security bars on windows). Hopefully the more deterents we put in the more our minds will be at ease.

5) I have received some complaints that my post yesterday may have had some racist or racial profiling undertones and I wanted to clear that up. The reason that the fact that these were all committed by middle aged black men was a few. First off is that with the three most recent things (so not the major robbery) all the perps have been caught in the act by one of Holly's roommates and they have all been middle aged black men so I am not making a generalization, just stating a fact. This brings up why do I feel the need to state that this is a fact? The reason is because I wanted to show patterns between these crimes. They all have perps that fit similar (albeit semi-generic) descriptions and are happening at the same time of day (late afternoon). This has led us to believe that whomever broke in the first time has either come back themselves or let their (presumably crack-addicted) friends know that there is an easy house with a lot of valuable stuff. We are hoping that by adding all of these security measures the house will get off this easy target list just as quick as it got off.


Keep all of us in your thoughts

Ben

The Big Sleazy

I knew coming down here that crime was a problem. Pretty much for the last six and a half months I've heard of it happening. Robberies, auto thefts, guns, drugs, murder, etc.

It all started last week when my girlfriend, Holly, (yes if you didn't know I do have a new girlfriend and she is amazing) called me on her way out of work (several hours before she should have been done) saying that her apartment had been broken into and her and her roommates had lost thousands of dollars worth of stuff including jewelery, laptops, electronics, clothes, perfume, and a few other kind of sentimental items. While the police did their thing nothing really came back and the crime is still unsolved. The house was only empty for an hour from 5:30-6:30 PM.

Saturday night a woman (no one I know) was walking with a male friend on the way home from work in the French Quarter. Three fifteen year old males who had just robbed someone a few blocks before approached the couple and demanded money. The woman resisted and was shot and killed. It was about 8 PM.

A few hours later a woman was coming home in the Uptown area of the City (near where Holly lives) and while walking to her front door men aged 15 and 17 forced her to her knees at gun point and took her car. They were followed on a high speed chase to Slidell (a neighboring city) where they crashed the car.

Sunday night Holly was at work while her two roommates and one of their boyfriends were home watching tv with plenty of lights on. One of the girls heard a rustling at the window where they had come in two nights prior to see the face of a middle aged black man staring at her. He walked away casually. It was 4:30 PM and still light out.

Thursday night Holly dropped me off at about midnight. As I walked to my house a man approached me saying that he had just gotten his car broken into and that was he crazy or did I too just see the Military Police car (MP's are just as common down here as NOPD) drive past us. I had.

Today Holly and I had gone out to buy bars for some of the windows and dog supplies since they are going to be fostering a pit bull starting tomorrow as a form of protection. About 3o minutes after we got home one of the boys who lives in the upstairs apartment of their house knocked on the door saying that he had just witnessed a middle aged black man with a crowbar wedged in Holly's car window. When her housemate confronted him he said he was looking for "Sam" and walked away. It was 3:30 in the afternoon.



Although the police and landlord have been helpful there is little they can actually do. I don't mean to worry ya'll but I just needed to write and get this out. Personally I have not witnessed anything but have taken the precautions at my own home by locking windows, covering large open windows with blankets and keeping my valuables locked in our wall of lockers. I wish there was something more we can do but we really can't. While it is very hard I want people to keep us in their thoughts but not worry too much.

Love you guys

Ben