Gazpacho said:

I hope you are not talking seriously.

Jabch: Florida was hit by four hurricanes last year, and was the first to be hit by Katrina. You also are right when you said that Mexico had sent Mexican Marines to help on the Gulf Coast. I thought of you when they were shown on TV. On be half of eveyone in the US, and especially the people of the Gulf Coast, THANK YOU.

Hey Gazpacho, thanks for the emotional tirade about lack of opportunity and individual achievement in the US due to "liberals" (there's that buzz word again! I'm scared!!)Gee there,you right wingers are such individualists,veritable "lone wolfs", don't need no gov't help! Funny though I just read a bio on Mr.Conservative the late Supreme Court Justice Renfield,oops I mean Renquist who it turns out went to college on the GI bill of rights after WW2,(socialist plot no doubt), and Mr.Right wing nut Jerry Falwell and his "tax free" tv evangelical situation,(praise the Dollar ah I mean the Lawd!and let's get those godless liberals!) and the other evil twin Newt Gingrich who got his home congressional district more Federal "Pork $$" than any other in the US while screaming about welfare mothers, etc; etc;etc;the hypocrisy starts to make one look for the "vomitarium". And Gazpacho your ode to our country's founding fathers was truly inspirational, your wanting to give us back to the English was very thoughtful, but wait a minute wasn't it you "Tory's(Conservatives of olde)who wanted to stay with King George back then "the landed gentry class must be maintained!", Whoa! I just had an epiphany,we still do have a "king George",. And to DD I'm sorry I must turn down the "Border Patrol" position after all, the tremendous job being done by our "no nonsense law and order" Texas Ranger type regime would leave a guy with nothing to do on the "Frontera".
Orale!

TJGuy: I am a little surprised to read that labor is that short in Florida. Also the install of the trusses, decking, then the roofing taking ten days. Depending on the size of the house that might be flat rate time, it could be slow. Ten days on a 2500 ft house that would be snails pace, ten days on a 12000 ft house that would be about right. The construction trades are all busy here in Arizona five and six days a week. The problem that we have is getting materials. A few years ago you could order concrete three days out, now it is close to two weeks.

MM: Your input on using the displaced people of the Gulf to help in the construction is not a bad idea. However let me point out that unskilled labor on a job site can slow down the process, thus increasing the costs. The second point is one of safety. Power tools are dangerous, ladders slip and cause accidents. The Desert Dweller himself put his thumb through a table saw in June of 2004, then had a ladder turn while he was getting off of a roof in Jan, of 2005 fracturing two vertibrae. Those are two accidents by someone that has been on constructions sites since he was about three. I agree there is work they could do that would not envolve power tools or ladders, but still, safety has to come first. My last point is more of a question for you a lefty. What are your labor unions going to say about using scab labor on those job sites? Good ideas, but food for thought.

Desert Dweller: It's an honor that the U.S., has accepted our humble support. Thanks for your words.

About the mistaken statements of politicians, like "a heck of job brownie" or "hurricane Karina." That only reinforces my idea that our politicians, I mean our politicians of the world, spend too much time planning their political agendas and very few on making our communities, jobs, and companies something better. This reminds me of a story about a Mexican president who said he didn't understand people complaining about traffic in Mexico City. He forgot that every street he drives by gets closed for his safety, so there's no traffic!!! They just seem to live in another world.

Hey ya DD:

everything, including trusses and laying of plywood is ABOUT ten days, i'm guessing here. Our roofing requirements in Florida are much more stringent than elsewhere in the country - special connectors at every truss point, a specific number of nails and other things I'm sure I don't know about. After Hurricane Andrew, building a roof in Florida became completely different than building elsewhere.

Oh yeah, the houses I see worked on aren't a simple inverted "V" shape. Loads of peaks and valleys. I was guessing at ten days. I'm only assuming full days because when I leave for work they are on the roof and when I come home they are on the roof - I honestly don't know what they are doing while I am sleeping at my desk.

Lots of bums in Florida want work, but no one WANTS to work a five day work week, SOBER. Its easy to find bodies here but getting them to do a quality job is impooooooooossssssssiiiiiiiibbble. Plus, the Florida new housing market is booming so the big builders (Lennar for example) take the quality guys because they offer multi-year steady work with benefits.

oh yeah, getting concrete sucks here too. It can take forever -

DD and TJGuy,

Love hearing you guys talk about work. How's the telephone situation down there in Florida? Still lots of lines down? Coming up on October, Florida doesn't sound that bad from here in Michigan.