43 Days To Rag: We Have Entered Berserk Mode

Just six weeks left to Rag Day, so we have moved from playing around with stuff to the intensive building phase. Goodbye slack days with time for cooking and playing. Today was my first 12-hour day (not counting the breaks). Altogether it's about 16 hours a day with 4 hours of break for lunch, dinner and random in-between drinks when I get too tired. Technically I am not part of the engineering team or the team head, so I can turn in earlier with the designers. But we have so much to do and so little time, that I think I should do my best to help the guys. Yes, Rag tends to divide roles according to gender. The guys do the carpentry and engineering whereas the girls design the float and costumes.

I guess I broke through that division today when I decided that the Games Room where we build our float needed a clean-up. It was impossible to walk without treading on bolts, wires, cardboard, glue, aluminium can remnants or sharp tools lying about. The plywood leant at odd angles everywhere taking up more space then was necessary, and some of the pieces were so old they were warped and rotting. So I spent the whole evening tossing damaged wood and rearranging the remaining pieces. It was like searching for buried treasure. I found several aluminium rods and bars, as well as slotted angle bars hidden between the plywood sheets. This stuff is expensive, and every 3m piece we find is a boon. As the rods were lying under the plywood, I had to drag them out. It was very tiring, but worth it for all the metal I found. At one point, James said something about me being "very power" because I do the "man stuff." Such an odd way to put it, but I shall take it as a compliment. If you are wondering how arranging wood can be "man stuff," it's because plywood comes in 4 by 8 feet pieces, so even half a sheet is heavy. I can hardly manage one sheet on my own as it is too large for my arms.

Arcane knowledge I have acquired through Rag Day preparations:

1) How to decapitate a can under 45 seconds with a tinsnip
2) Welding is a complex task with different methods and welding machines for different metals
3) A truck with no power steering is a killer to drive

I will write about my Cambodia trip when I have the time....if I have the time. The post is still hanging unfinished in the drafts section. Seems I hardly have time for anything besides Rag these days. I drag myself out of bed a little earlier to pray and read a little, though. I think I'll only manage to get through the next six weeks in a sane and gracious manner if I lean on Christ's strength rather than my own. It's easy to spot me burnt out. I start flipping out, losing my temper and blaming everybody except myself when things go wrong. Not a pretty sight. Rag, just like every difficult task in my life, will be both a test and measure of my character. How far have I come and how far do I fall short of the secret person I envision myself to be?