Freaking exhausted
but wanted to share whats up in the land of dflo today. For starters, I finally lead a training today that I was nervous/ excited about. It was a company training about conflict resolution. I was training company staff members over webinar. I haven't done a webinar group workshop before ( I have lead a lot of live workshops) so I was unsure how it would all work out. I think it went good!
I also coached some English students. Then, when I had some extra time, I went down to sandbag again. The situation with the flood here is looking pretty bad. The water is going really fast, and it is rising fast. When it breeches banks, it continues to travel fast and is carrying debris and also potentially chemicals and stuff from sweeping through houses and cars. I have not seen the most dangerous flood zone first hand because it is blocked off by the police. People are upset about this because they want to go to the homes they have been evacuated from, and retrieve belongings, but its just not safe or possible. One woman said a small bridge she had made across some flood water to her house broke yesterday with her on it, and she fell into the water. Somehow the water was so deep she could not touch the bottom. I cant even wrap my mind around this. I just dont even worry about it. I just go down there and start sandbagging.
I kind of wish I could do it all day right now but I cant. I have to work, and I am studying for a major exam that is finally happening on Monday. One of my favorite people in the world is graduating on Saturday as well (
We are all stronger than we think we are
That was the lesson I thought about today. Because after one hour of hauling filled sandbags onto pallets ( I filled at least 4 pallets almost myself), I thought I was getting tired. But then someone rushed onto the scene and said that they need as many adult volunteers as possible to go sandbag a berm that was about to be breeched by the flood. They explained if it breeches, it will flood an entire neighborhood. If we can sandbag it quickly, we might be able to prevent a lot of property loss.
The Berm
The berm, as you can see in the photo and in the video, is not very wide, and its very muddy. And, there is a flood threatening to cross over it. Therefore, vehicles could not travel on it. We had to form an assembly line and pass the sandbags as far down as we could go. How far? I dont know. I didnt ever walk down there. I didnt have time. I just hoisted sand bags for another hour or so, and lost track of time. My arms were aching, and a dude with arm muscles the size of my calves was passing sandbags to me. Even he was getting tired. That made me feel like a tough little scrapper, let me tell you!
Whoops! Time Exists!
I got so into the moment that I forgot that I still had coaching students! I had to run home! I hitched a ride back to my car, and barely made it home on time, covered in sand and smelling like burlap. (I threw some nicer clothes on, at least.) In fact I still am in this condition. I haven't moved from my desk yet.
I taught one student, then ran downstairs and microwaved the meatloaf and potatoes I made last night, ate them as fast as I could, ran back upstairs and taught another. Both lessons were very fun, because my students shared a lot about their countries with me today, and that was just fun to learn, so I didn't notice how tired I am until I finally stopped. I am freaking exhausted. But I must. Finish. This post.
The people
Everyone always says it but is there anything ,and I mean anything truer than the cliche that people come together in amazing ways under crisis? The people I hung out with today sandbagging , were all people I would never have a chance to talk to otherwise. And they were just awesome. We joked around, and that made my inner goofball come out probably Tooooo much... but those who know me might be familiar with this side of me. I go into a mode where its like "lets make the goofiest idea even goofier..." When it started hailing on us,
yes , it started hailing on us,
The guy next to me started saying how its just like every disaster movie. Except, no, the wind should be howling and someone should be yelling "THE LEVEE IS GONNA BREAK!!"
Which made me, between sand bags, get out my phone and play Led Zepplin's "When the Levvee Breaks" (this was a lot harder than it sounds. It prolly took me 6 sand bags passing by me to get out my phone and mess with it and then setting it down to pass a bag). And even though we could barely hear it , the hail hailing on my phone that was laying on a sandbag, those ever famous chords going du-nuh duh nuhh..we were all like "yessss. Perfect." These were good folks.
We dont know if its even going to help
All that work could be for nothing, but we had to try. I mean, whats worse, not trying and then all those houses getting flooded, or trying, and maybe it slows it down a little. I dont know. None of us do. All I know is I am super tired, but I am also really glad to be able to join in and help, and use this body for something good. I think its okay to be happy about giving to society. And anyone can do it at any time. If you are in a shitty mood, go volunteer somewhere. Just for an hour. It might just turn you right back around, and your small contribution might be a part of something bigger, that makes a difference.
See you all tomorrow
Dflo
My video is at DLive