Adventures in disaster relief, an ongoing story. Hopefully.
Okay, anyone remember this entry from *mumbles* weeks ago? It was the one about me thinking about joining a civilian disaster relief organisation called THW. So, two weeks ago, I finally gave myself a kick in the ass and went to the local organisation. I was shown around and told that I'd have a couple of months probation period before being actually accepted (and get the equipment and stuff). It's probably gonna take until November but that's alright (they usually order the equipment for every new member and the members get it for free but the local organisation has to pay for it and it's fucking expensive). Best thing I can do is come regularly (Wednesday evenings) and be active.
Last week, I had to work overtime (and, since my laptop won't power on now, all the work I did is fucking gone) and also, I was really anxious because they're new people and I'm always anxious before meeting new people, blahblahblah, you know the drill. Today, I knew had to go there or I'd never do it, so I took a deep breath, packed up sturdy shoes, old jeans and an old t-shirt and marched there.
So, what can I say? It was a good decision! It was like "Okay, tonight's plan is [stuff]. Anyone volunteering? No? Alright, we'll just assign people. You, you and you... are you here to work over there (new person that I have never seen here before)?" - "Umyes?" - "Alright, you, too, [stuff] with [group leader over there]." so really good for someone who's too intimidated by new people to volunteer for anything.
So I put on my sturdy shoes and old t-shirt (kept the non-tattered jeans I'd been already wearing, though. Jeans were intended to be work clothes, after all. I put it into the washing machine, anyway...), got a pair of "your new personal work gloves" and started getting stuff done. They supported a punk rock concert two weeks or so ago and are apparently still pretty busy with getting everything cleaned up and squared away (apparently, there's a lot of mobile infrastructure you need for punk rock concerts. Like kilometers of cable.) so there was a lot of that kind of work. Also setting up a gigantic tripod (the kind of tripods you put over holes to winch someone up) over a hole which was erm interesting (the setting up, not the hole).
All in all, lots of heavy machinery and wood and crates full of technical stuff and water hoses (AND MOSQUITOS OH MY GOD SO MANY FUCKING MOSQUITOS) and for some reason, everyone wanted to convince me to learn how to drive a forklift truck O_o (they are training people to do that there, so...). I tried to tell them that I can't even drive a car in a straight line but apparently, you don't need that skill for driving a fork lift truck? I don't know. But it was awesome :D \o/
Last week, I had to work overtime (and, since my laptop won't power on now, all the work I did is fucking gone) and also, I was really anxious because they're new people and I'm always anxious before meeting new people, blahblahblah, you know the drill. Today, I knew had to go there or I'd never do it, so I took a deep breath, packed up sturdy shoes, old jeans and an old t-shirt and marched there.
So, what can I say? It was a good decision! It was like "Okay, tonight's plan is [stuff]. Anyone volunteering? No? Alright, we'll just assign people. You, you and you... are you here to work over there (new person that I have never seen here before)?" - "Umyes?" - "Alright, you, too, [stuff] with [group leader over there]." so really good for someone who's too intimidated by new people to volunteer for anything.
So I put on my sturdy shoes and old t-shirt (kept the non-tattered jeans I'd been already wearing, though. Jeans were intended to be work clothes, after all. I put it into the washing machine, anyway...), got a pair of "your new personal work gloves" and started getting stuff done. They supported a punk rock concert two weeks or so ago and are apparently still pretty busy with getting everything cleaned up and squared away (apparently, there's a lot of mobile infrastructure you need for punk rock concerts. Like kilometers of cable.) so there was a lot of that kind of work. Also setting up a gigantic tripod (the kind of tripods you put over holes to winch someone up) over a hole which was erm interesting (the setting up, not the hole).
All in all, lots of heavy machinery and wood and crates full of technical stuff and water hoses (AND MOSQUITOS OH MY GOD SO MANY FUCKING MOSQUITOS) and for some reason, everyone wanted to convince me to learn how to drive a forklift truck O_o (they are training people to do that there, so...). I tried to tell them that I can't even drive a car in a straight line but apparently, you don't need that skill for driving a fork lift truck? I don't know. But it was awesome :D \o/