Haleyeah

Shuttling golf's elite

2010-06-28T12:54:00.005-04:00

Other than a greeting when I picked them up and a "have a good day/evening," when I dropped them off, I spoke only when spoken to while volunteering as a player shuttle during the 2010 U.S. Open Championship at Pebble Beach.

I figured the players, their family or other members of their entourage should not have to put up with a chatty Kathy while being shuttled to and from the 1st or 10th tees. The players, in particular, had more important things to talk and think about ... like how to win what is arguably the biggest major championship in golf on what is one of the most beautiful courses in the world. Another thing that helped me keep my mouth shut was the risk of sounding stupid. Many times I wanted to ask, "So, who are you," but I did not think that would go over well.

I regretted my lack of initiative one time - when Erik Compton climbed into the backseat.

Compton is a heart recipient twice over. He was diagnosed with viral cardiomyopathy at the age of nine. He received his first heart transplant at 12 from a teen donor who had been killed by a drunken driver, then a second just two years ago. His second heart came from Isaac Klosterman, a volleyball player for the University of Dayton, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident.

Klosterman's family was with Compton at the championship. It was the first time Compton had played Pebble.

I did not know who Compton was until I watched a profile segment on him on the Golf Channel the week of the U.S. Open, and I hoped I would get to see him.

I looked at him in the rearview mirror several times as I took him, his father and several others from the 10th tee to the shuttle staging area. My brain was screaming at me to say something - something like, "You are an inspiration" - but I never did. I was sure he had heard those words many times before. Maybe he would have liked hearing them again; I'll never know.

He missed the halfway cut by nine strokes. To me, the more important thing was that he was there.

I kept missing other "big name" players by mere minutes.

Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Ian Poulter, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Tom Watson, Lee Westwood. They all slipped through my fingers, I am sorry to say. Instead, more often than not, I would be driving standard bearers, members of a player's entourage or other volunteers. And, back in line at either the 1st or 10th tee or the shuttle staging area, loaders would smile at me in consolation and say what I grew accustomed to hearing:

"You just missed (insert a famous player name here)."

On my second day of volunteering, I watched a young man walk up to the car I was driving and hop in the backseat. We both wondered aloud why volunteers were closing the gate in front of us, blocking the exit, then a few minutes later, the young man realized he needed to be in a different car to get to the 1st tee.

He climbed out and seconds later, another driver stuck his head through my driver's side window.

"Do you know who that is?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"No," I replied.

"Rory McIlroy."

"Who's that?" I asked.

McIlroy has been called the "next big thing." Ernie Els had said the young professional could be the next No. 1, and Trevor Immelman predicted the 21-year-old could slip on a green jacket in the near future. He's one of the longest hitters in the game and was paired with Tom Watson and Ryo Ishikawa on the first day of tournament play.

Ishikawa, also known as the "Bashful Prince," is another rising star. He posted the first 58 on a major tour when he won The Crowns tournament in Nagoya in May. I found him in my car last week in a stunning outfit - Pepto Bismol pink clothes from head to toe.

Would I volunteer at another U.S. Open Championship? You bet I would, especially if I get to drive around in a Lexus LX like I did at Pebble.

U.S. Open Championship @ Pebble Beach

2010-06-11T12:24:00.007-04:00

I know some of you are jealous, and I don't blame you. It's not every day that someone is picked to volunteer at the U.S. Open golf championship ... and assigned to the player shuttles committee, no less.

That was my exact thought last year when I came across the U.S. Open website and clicked on the link to submit a volunteer application. They'll never pick me, I thought when I hit send, I mean, I live about 2,588 miles from Pebble Beach, California, I am in my 20s (albeit late 20s) and I am a newspaper reporter. They won't want a person like me volunteering at an official USGA championship.

The application specifically said that each person who sent in an application was not guaranteed a spot as a volunteer. Individuals chosen are assigned to one of 20 committees — like player shuttles, ticket takers, scoreboard keeper — and are asked to work at least four six-hour shifts.

Imagine my surprise when, a few months later, I received an e-mail saying I had been accepted as a volunteer. A flurry of correspondence kicked off then. I had to submit to a background check, a driving history check, pick three committee assignments to be considered for and a host of other stuff.

The next surprise came when they notified me I had been assigned to the player shuttles committee. Score! You are reading the words of the girl who will be golf carting a portion of the 156 players from the clubhouse to the 10th tee. I'll be rubbing elbows with some of the world's best golfers. Unfortunately, I think the only time I'll be "rubbing elbows" with them, literally, is if the golf cart jostles us around. I don't expect them to be very chatty. Too bad cell phones and cameras aren't allowed on the course during the championship otherwise I'd be snapping pictures like it's my job. Oh, wait, it is ... part of my job, at least.

As for my uniform, I was sent two polo shirts designed specifically for the 110th U.S. Open Championship at Pebble Beach: a logoed windbreaker, vest and visor (which I had to pay for *grumble*). And, I am responsible for my airfare and lodging. Kakhi pants complete the uniform. Pants of "appropriate length." And, get this, they sent a swatch that I had to match the kakhi color to. It's all so bland. The polo shirts have thin red and navy blue horizontal stripes over white and combined with the light kakhi ... Boring! But, I remedied that real quick. I found a pair of red spikeless golf shoes to wear on the course, and boy, do they pop.

I have a credential valid for all seven days of the championship so I can get onto the course on the days I'm not volunteering. This is the 5th time Pebble Beach has hosted the U.S. Open.

I like to play golf, though I am not very good. I get bored watching it on TV but I know seeing it up close and personal will be a different story. And, the course? Fuhgedaboutit.

Keep checking back here for updates, and follow me on Twitter. The name is "haleyeah."

I'll tell Tiger you said hello.

Some U.S. Open fun facts:

Nearly 15,000 bleacher seats will be constructed and installed
15,000 pounds of salad served
200,000 prawns, 850 pounds of smoked salmon and 55,000 pounds of beef will be prepared and served
180,000 servings of beer will be sold in the concessions
Approximately 6 miles of fencing will be installed around the championship grounds
4,500 volunteers across 32 committees will donate their energies to the success of the event
1,500 media from 40 countries anticipated to be on site to cover the event

Third Saturday of Work - 3/1

2008-03-02T01:14:00.003-05:00

Doors closing flush at the Women Build site hinges on my ability to screw in hinges correctly.

Ha. I thought that was funny.

On my third Saturday of work out at the Habitat for Humanity Women Build, I was a jack of all trades.

I began the morning sanding down door molding so other women could come behind me and touch up paint. The job was done quickly and then I was looking for something else to do.

Reggie, the assistant to the top guy on site, then assigned me and another woman to door hinges in a back room of the house. We were to use a tapered tool and scrape down the inset area on the face of the door where a hinge sits. The hinge won't screw in flush and a door won't close flush if dried paint is caked in the inset. Essentially, our job was to off scrape dried paint. When that was done, we screwed on the hinges.

A little bit of trivia for you - door hinges are identified as male and female for the number of door pin holes they have. Male hinges have two; female hinges have three.

The other woman I was working with, Susan, and I agreed it had to have been a male inventor or contractor who thought up the male/female thing.

Male hinges are screwed in to doors while female hinges are screwed in to door moldings.

So, I tackled the paint scraping job and spent the majority of my day doing that. This detail had never occurred to me. But once I began the work, it made perfect sense. Without removing the dried paint from the hinge insets, the actual hinge sat at an awkward angle or did not fit inside the inset at all.

It's the little details that pay off. I understand that now.

By lunchtime, all hinge insets had been scraped so Reggie and I moved on to installing a metal rack in the laundry room. The factory rack had to be cut down so he and I measured it and marked where I would cut ... with a hacksaw. That's right, a hacksaw. With all the wonderful construction technology these days, I wondered why there wasn't a saw that could cut through the rack in a matter of seconds. Maybe there is and it just wasn't available Saturday.

Whatever the case, I spent a good 10 minutes laboring over the hacksaw as it painstakingly made progress through the solid metal rungs. My right arm will no doubt be sore tomorrow.

It was finally cut to size and Reggie and I measured and marked the wall for where the rack's supports would go. And that's when the highlight of my day came - I got to use the power drill. It was awesome. I drilled holes through the sheet rock then pushed in plastic supports the rack would snap into.

The power drill is the tool to have. I would buy one tomorrow except it would sit somewhere collecting dust ... other than the times I would turn it on just so I could.

March 15 is my last work day at the Women Build house and I'm told March 30 is the dedication. Keep checking the Aiken Standard for updates.

Second Saturday of Work - 2/16

2008-02-16T22:26:00.003-05:00

"Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door." - Coco Chanel

When I arrived at the Women Build site Saturday, the outside of the house had not changed much since I left it last in January. The inside had. When I left on my first Saturday of real work on the house, all that was on the walls was sheet rock. Now there was mudding and interior paint. Everything is really starting to come together.

The flooring has not been laid yet and cabinets have not been installed, but it is easy to imagine those things there.

There were less people on the site than the last time I had been there and I preferred it. We weren't bumping and running into each other so much and there were no good-natured squabbles over who got to use tools.

I was put to work painting doors with another volunteer, Kim. We were lucky. We got a mini paint roller. Another woman painting doors in a back room only had a brush. Other women were painting window and door trim.

We used the brush to paint the door's inset panels and used the roller on the rest. Kim and I soon fell into a natural rhythm which worked out very well for us the whole day. By the time she had finished using the brush, I would need it. By the time she had finished with the roller and was starting on another door, I would need the roller.

We were instructed to spread the paint thin and to avoid drips and runs at all cost. We did an excellent job if I do say so myself.

So, I spread the paint thin and was worried when the door looked blotchy. That was when I discovered I am a perfectionist when it comes to painting. I pressed down on that roller and spread that paint until the whole door was an even shade of white. It had to be even. I couldn't have it looking blotchy. Who knew if workers on another weekend would come behind us and put a second coat of paint on everything?

I think it was after the third or fourth door when we learned they would be. So those concerns were laid to rest. And we learned after lunch that when the paint dries, the color evens out.

(Speaking of lunch, I must digress here to note that I know everyone appreciates the various church groups and clubs that take turns providing lunch to the site every Friday and Saturday. This Saturday was the Ladies Club of Cedar Creek, I believe. I thank them. The food was great and they were so kind and courteous even when I inadvertently knocked over an entire platter of homemade brownies into the dirt. We were able to salvage some and they were still delicious.)

By the time the day's work came to an end, Kim and I had painted seven doors between the two of us. That's not counting the number of doors the other volunteer painted in another room

Work progressed smoothly and quite uneventfully.

Keeping looking in the Aiken Standard for new posts to my Women Build blog.

First Saturday of Actual Work - 1/12

2008-01-12T17:12:00.000-05:00

Phrases heard Saturday:
"This had to have been invented by a woman."

"We're at the 'whatever' point."

"I can't find a stud to save my life."

"Who knew they had that?" (a foot controlled lever-type apparatus that lifts sheet rock off the floor to make room for molding)

My shoulder muscles are hurting now even as I type this and it hasn't even been 12 hours since I left the Women Build site on Florence Avenue.

Much has happened at the house since I last posted a blog back in November 2007. When I last saw it at the groundbreaking ceremony, it was a muddy plot of land. When I drove up this morning, an actual house stood there. A house complete with doors, windows, a front porch and sectioned rooms.

Work started where the last crew had left off — sheet rock. Some had already been nailed up, featuring nice, straight pencil lines marking where studs are. Remember, you always want to nail sheet rock into a stead. Always. Otherwise, the sheet rock could buckle and collapse over time.

I don't know why we didn't draw those same nice, straight lines on our sheet rock in line with studs. I guess it just never occured to us. So, for the first 4 hours of the work day, the women and I were doing our best to line up nails up and down the sheet rock by sight only — gauging where they would need to go by what other nails were in place. We would hit a stud, I would say, 80% of the time. The other 20% was extremely frustrating and finding the stud after the failed attempt was that much harder.

When a wall was completed, nail heads more resembled the erratic pattern of smashed bugs on a windshield than anything else. (Sheet rock nails are supposed to go in 16 inches apart. Guess how often that precise measurement was taken? Right. Never. Our hammers were about one foot so we judged measurements by them.)

I hammered with two other women while two others measured and cut sheet rock. I hammered alllll day .... Not only are my shoulders sore, but my knees are scraped raw from kneeling on the subflooring to nail even though I was wearing pants and my right thumb is developing a blister even though I was wearing gloves.

I soon learned that I couldn't pick up sheet rock nails with a gloved hand so I tucked the left one away and kept my right on. The fingernails on my left hand suffered. They were the grimiest, most chipped nails I've probably had in my entire life. I loved it. I was getting down and dirty.

I have to admit I was anxious the morning of, afraid I had completely forgotten what I learned in the Lowe's training classes. But then it all came back to me, thankfully.

Hammering I had experience with. Using a motorized "saw" to cut through sheet rock I did not. But I learned how to use that bad boy Saturday ... and got a mouthful of sheet rock dust for my efforts.

Keeping looking in the Aiken Standard for new posts to my Women Build blog.

Groundbreaking

2007-11-18T18:15:00.000-05:00

"Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm. As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands -- one for helping yourself, the other for helping others." - Audrey Hepburn

On Sunday officials with Aiken County Habitat for Humanity, Lowe's, community leaders and the Aiken Junior Women's Club ceremoniously broke ground on Lancaster Street for the third Women's Build house. The homeowners -- Jennifer, Elijah and Elijah Jr. -- were there.

By the way, thanks Junior Women's Club, for taking on the sponsorship duties for this house.

As I stood among the crowd, listening to what inspirational things the aforementioned people were saying, I tried to picture in my mind's eye what a house would look like on what is now just a lot of sand. I could clearly see the framing walls up and maybe some drywall, but my imagination stopped there. I couldn't see the finished project in my mind.

I guess it hasn't struck me yet ... that I am going to help build a HOUSE for a family. I will build a house. A house. No, it still isn't sinking in.

To three people, this house will be the answer to their prayers. They will sleep, eat and laugh there. They won't have to worry about the ceiling or walls caving in or their floor giving out. All of these things I take for granted. I don't understand what it's like to fret over the safety of any place I've lived, the health risks that it might pose. I'm thankful I haven't, but others are not so lucky.

I'm glad to be doing this even if the long-lasting gratification of what I will be doing hasn't been fully realized.

Jennifer, Elijah and Elijah Jr., I can't wait to get started. I look forward to working with you and I appreciate the opportunity I've been given to help make your lives a little brighter.

Sixth Saturday - Trim and Painting

2007-10-22T19:44:00.000-04:00

"A man paints with his brains and not with his hands." - Michelangelo

I missed the introduction to trim because I was late getting to class. I had scheduled a canoe ride at Aiken State Park for Saturday, which conflicted with the Lowe's class. I thought I knew how to get to the park, but it turns out I was wrong. By the time I realized I was going the wrong way, the canoes had already shoved off. I turned out and drove to Lowe's instead.

What can be said about painting? It's easy, but it's easy to get wrong too if you forget a few steps. First, after the wall has been sanded smooth where joint compound and tape has been applied, wipe down the wall with either a dry paintbrush or damp cloth. If you don't, your paint finish won't be smooth at all because all that dust will be trapped beneath the layers of paint.

Second, prime first. This we did not do to save ourselves a step in the class. But you always, always want to prime first. The joint compound and tape could easily be seen through our first coat of paint, which, as Robin said, is why so many customers begrudgingly stomp back into Lowe's after buying only a can of paint and not primer.

Third (and I picked up on this in the last class) always wash new rollers before you paint with them. If you don't, the roller material (I don't know if it's fur or what) will stick to your wall with the paint.

Our wall Saturday was this putrid pink color, what Robin affectionately called Pepto-Bismol. I can handle pink, but only in small doses. This was a large dose.

After using painter's tape to protest our crisp, white trim, we were given a roller, a paintbrush and two painting tools that help with your paint line along trim then in corners. The one I picked up had two rollers on the bottom and after dipping it in the paint you drag it straight along the trim line. It gave nice coverage. I liked it.

That was our last training class. The next time I see these ladies who have become part of my Saturday routine, it will be at the job site when we break ground on the house.

Keep checking this blog for my write-up of the Habitat for Humanity house groundbreaking.

Fifth Saturday - Insulation and sheet rock

2007-10-14T17:10:00.000-04:00

I'm not scratching. That's a good thing. A very good thing.

The fifth Women Build class at Lowe's covered insulation and sheet rock. We were advised by e-mail to wear a long-sleeved T-shirt to class because insulation is made of fiberglass and, if it comes in contact with skin, can cause some serious itch-age.

Everyone was glad for the suggestion not only because of the irritating material we were dealing with and because it was COLD Saturday morning! We were also told to dust baby powder on our skin to help shield it. I didn't do that. I'm not even a fan of sunscreen ... which is why I'll probably look 60 when I'm 40.

The one, brief period I touched the insulation (I held a tape measurer over it) I pulled the sleeve of my shirt over my fingers. It worked.

Gary rolled out the bale of insulation and instructed us to put it up, which was extremely easy. You measure it to fit, cut it with a boxer cutter and pat it in. Then we folded over the paper flaps on either side and using a staple gun, secured the insulation to the studs.

But there is one very important detail you can't miss: the paper side of insulation faces the interior of the house. Otherwise, insulation is worthless. Under a microscope, Gary said, insulation looks like a bunch of tiny cups threaded together. The cups trap and hold air, which helps warm and cool a house.

Sheet rock was nearly as simple. For our small wall, we cut two rectangles: one for the top of the wall and one for the bottom. Sheet rock is always "laid down;" never "stood up." Let me rephrase that. Sheet rock SHOULD always be laid down. Sometimes it isn't. The reason sheet rock is laid horizontally along a wall is so joints always meet on a stud. If it's laid vertically, that won't always happen and later on, the wall or ceiling could buckle.

Gary said he has worked on houses in a certain upscale, gated community in Aiken where contractors have laid sheet rock vertically.

When nailing in sheet rock, you always want to "dimple" the nail. This means driving it in far enough to make a dent. When joint compound mud is later wiped over it, the area will be smooth as the mud will fill the indentation.

The women volunteers will not be taping and mudding over sheet rock at the Women Build site. The work will be hired out. Many breathed a sigh of relief when they heard. They tell me that taping and mudding is frustrating work. I'll have to take their word for it. I'm the youngest of the group, have never owned by own home and have never remodeled or built. From what I gather, most of the other women have. They were mumbling under their breath that Gary made it all look so easy.

Please join us Monday, Oct. 15 at O'Charley's from 6-9 p.m. on Whiskey Road for Celebrity Waiter Night benefitting Habitat's Women Build. Meals are $25, the cost of which will be split between O'Charley's and Habitat. But 100% of your tips will go to Habitat. Be sure to look for me there.

I just remembered I have scheduled a canoe ride with a ranger at Aiken State Park for Saturday, Oct. 21 for a first person narrative story, which conflicts with the last Lowe's class! The next ride isn't offered until November and I'm sure construction of the house will be underway then. I would rather miss the last class at Lowe's than a building day. Please be looking for teasers in the newspaper of when my next blog will be.

Third Saturday — Siding

2007-09-29T13:06:00.000-04:00

"The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists." - Charles Dickens

"Siding is so easy," Gary said Saturday, "that I'm going to let women do it."

A chorus of "boo" rose up from the gathering of women at Lowe's. A pair of work gloves flew over the top of everyone's heads and struck Gary's chest.

We were installing siding over a solid wall but were told if there was a door or window, the brick molding surrounding them would have to be installed before any siding. But when that is taken care of, a "J channel" is used to surround doors and windows. A J channel is called such because when you sight down the strip, it curves like the letter "J."

So, we got right down to it. We measured and snapped a chalk line towards the bottom of our wall to properly install the starter strip. A starter strip anchors the first piece of siding in place. After that, siding hooks onto the strip below it. The starter strip was nailed in place then came the outdoor corner molding. The corner molding was measured one-fourth of an inch away from the top of the wall because siding "breathes," Gary said. It expands and contracts with the weather and the extra space allows for that.

The first nail hammered in has to go at the top of the nailing grooves so the siding can hang from the nails. Additionally, the nails must not be nailed flush with the siding in another step that allows it to breathe. Nails were hammered in every six to eight inches to code.

We weren't using the 16 penny nails as we had in previous classes. We were using roofing nails, which are much more pliant.

I was one of the first ones to take up a hammer and try to nail one in. I couldn't seem to hit the nail right on its head maybe because it was so close to a rise in siding, but the nail wasn't going in at a straight angle. And a woman standing above me kept reminding me every few seconds.

I finally turned to her and asked nicely, "Do you want to hammer it?"

I ended up pulling the nail out.

Robin with Lowe's did mention in the first class that a Women Build house has more nails in it than others. That doesn't surprise me in the least.

Unfortunately there will not be a blog on the fourth Women Build class Oct. 6 on installing roof shingles. I will be at the Clemson v. Virginia Tech football game. Go Tigers!

Second Saturday - The Wall

2007-09-23T13:24:00.000-04:00

"The bad workman blames his tools." - Proverb

The confidence I built last Saturday wielding power tools dissolved yesterday when our task was to build a wall. Perhaps the most fundamental project in home building, the thing might just as well have been the insurmountable Berlin Wall to me.

At least I know what bothers me about it — numbers. I do not work well with numbers. It may be a mental hang-up as my Mom pointed out during a recent phone conversation. Whatever it is, I always flashback to middle school and high school math classes when I was the only one that didn't get it. Everyone else flew right by me.

So, my eyes crossed when Gary of Lowe's began talking about measuring "16 inches on the center" for studs, but actually you measure 15 3/4 inches to adjust where siding will be nailed.
(Www.doityourself.com explains that, "This 3/4 of an inch adjustment is made so that the edge of your first piece of sheathing or siding will come to the outside edge of the corner stud rather than the center of it. All sheathing [except the first and last piece] needs to fall on the center of the studs to provide a nailing surface for the adjoining piece of sheathing.")

Oookay?

Oh, wait, but first you had to "sight" the wood to turn the "crown" up. At this point I'm assuming the crown is the natural bend in the wood?

Then there was my confusion with the corner studs — we used two studs sandwiching blocking — and having to compensate there for overlapping walls.

I was hopelessly lost. I melded into the crowd until it came time for nailing. Nailing I can totally do — just show me where.

And this is where the leaders separate from the followers. Group dynamics have begun to form — there are the ladies that have worked on do-it-yourself projects like this before and jump in with gusto, nodding knowledgeably with every bit of information Gary shot forth. Then there are the others. I'm in that group. My previous experience includes nothing more than nailing hooks into walls to hang pictures and following step-by-step instructions to assemble book shelves and DVD racks with pre-drilled holes.

But by God, we got that wall up and secured into place. (With practically no help from yours truly.)

And I feel bad. I feel like I'm letting the Women Build team down by not getting how to build a wall. In order to redeem myself, I am going to march myself into Lowe's this week and ask to be shown again.

I am going to get it.

Check back on Sunday, Sept. 30 to read my blog on the third class covering exterior siding installation.

Women Build - First Saturday

2007-09-15T18:35:00.000-04:00

"Living a life is like constructing a building: if you start wrong, you'll end wrong." - Maya Angelou, American poet

I've spent a fair portion of my day trying to think of the proper way to kick off this first post. Having no original thoughts of my own, I had resigned myself to using the oft-used quote from the movie "Field of Dreams:" "If you build it, they will come." But then I found the quote by Maya Angelou and thought it was much more fitting.

But, I digress.

Welcome to my blog. I am Haley Hughes, reporter at the Aiken Standard newspaper. This blog will take you through first-hand accounts of the Habitat for Humanity Women Build training classes offered by Lowe's all the way to when we hand over the keys to the house to a deserving person.

When the paper's Managing Editor Mike Gibbons and I were laying out the plans for this little venture, he asked if I had any experience in construction.

"Oh, sure," I replied. "I took shop in middle school. I got to use a miter saw thingey and a metal thingey that flew sparks everywhere."

Gibbons just laughed.

I didn't lie. I had taken shop in middle school (it was required) and I did use power tool thingeys to make the class projects -- one out of metal and one wood. I just hadn't touched any power tool since then. I watch with fascination just about every show on HGTV that has to do with home remodeling, but that was it. In no way does that constitute first-hand experience.

So, I eagerly took on this assignment. An added bonus: I have always wanted to help build a Habitat for Humanity house and this was my chance to do just that.

I and 20 other women gathered at Lowe's Saturday morning for the first in a series of six training classes -- this first one happened to be on power tools. I wanted to make Tim the Tool Man proud and let loose with a masculine grunt but was beat to the punch by a woman off to my side.

Robin Ford, a specialist with Lowe's who led the training sessions, has worked with Women Build since its inception in Aiken. Ford said she was given a baby doll as a Christmas present one year when she really wanted her first hammer.

"All the boys were building forts," Ford said. "I wanted to be out playing with them."

First came safety -- closed toes shoes, eye protection and gloves. We were regaled with stories of sawed off digits and even worse, death, all because someone looked the wrong way, didn't pay attention or didn't follow proper safety instructions. Then came the tape measurer. (I learned a simple hash mark does not cut it when noting on wood where to cut. You must draw a "V" with your pencil and then cut down the middle, effectively slicing the letter in two.) Then came learning how to hammer a nail into some 2x4s. But all the while my eyes kept shifting to the miter saw and circular saw. We tackled those next.

Once Gary with Lowe's demonstrated how to properly use the miter saw, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I don't care for the way it spews dust everywhere. I believe I'll be eating sawdust for a few days yet, but I like to think I used it like a seasoned pro. Well, OK, maybe not like a seasoned pro but I did well. My effort earned me a "Good cut" remark from Gary.

A miter saw works by pulling a spinning circular saw blade down onto wood in a controlled motion. The wood is typically held against a "fence." My right hand controlled the blade while my left held the wood (A VERY safe distance away from the gruesome spinning, toothed metal blade) steady for the cut. I could easily imagine things going very, very wrong but they didn't. I was thankful we were cautioned before any work began that safety is the foremost concern.

Each woman got a go with the miter saw.

I learned that the wood falling off to right is considered your "waste" when you utilize a miter saw. I also never knew that your cut marks always want to be left on the wood you use. The blade should slice just a hair left of your cut marks. This allows for measurement hitches.

Next: the circular saw. I was comforted by the stationary positioning of the miter saw. It sits atop a flat surface. Not so with a circular saw. It is not attached to a base. There is no base to speak of. Gary didn't help my apprehension when he mentioned that the circular saw can have a kick back, which if you stand directly behind it, can throw the blade back against your body. With the saw unplugged, he demonstrated this by touching the toothed blade against his thighs.

I have no doubt every woman watching grimaced. I may just be extremely morbid, but against my will I was envisioning a blood bath. Similar to the blood bath the Tennessee Volunteers suffered at the hands of the Florida Gators Saturday night. A circular saw just looks like it was made to inflict serious damage.

I was one of the last to try my hand at the power tool of death after I had watched several other women tense up and the blade sputter and die halfway through the 2x4. I approached it, gripped it and lined up the marks to cut along the pre-drawn lines. The blade started up with its high-pitched whine and then I was cutting wood. Only a slight amount of pressure is needed to guide the blade through, it propels itself very smoothly. The four inch block I had just sliced off spun to the ground and I released the trigger.

There came another "Good cut" from Gary.

"Have you ever done this before?" the woman holding the 2x4 asked.

"No," I answered with a smile.

Check back on Sunday, Sept. 23 to read my next installment on the Lowe's training class covering wall and roof framing.