Friends, I received the following back channel from Alice-Anne Krishnan in NOLA. From what I gather there will be a physical 'gonzo clinic' event in NOLA at which homeowners seeking grants will be provided with assistance in completing their grant applications. Alice-Anne is asking for our BP (and I extend to PTN as well) help as a long-distance back up. As a few of you may be aware (though I do not particularly advertise it) my 'real' trade is estimating historic conservation work. Though I am a bit lite on residential and carpentry. I am going to make myself available in my office on this Saturday during the time slot Sat 12/9 from 12pm to 2pm (NOLA time I assume) to assist long-distance in fielding any calls & queries re: providing $$ estimates for grant applications. I will have my Means Residential Cost guide nearby... but again, this is histo presto work and not steel stud & drywall we are talking here. *If anyone would like to make themselves available on Saturday if I need back-up assistance please contact me at [log in to unmask] with your phone number that I may be able to reach at you in a hurry. I will be using Skype - and my PCLS business call in number is 631-731-1700. I will have my headphones on.* I have volunteered to Alice-Anne that I will act as a distribution point for cost queries so that she can concentrate on the on-the-ground interface with the individual homeowners and her not need to figure out which one of us to call for what. I know all of you and trust me, if I feel stumped I will call you. Please also confirm to me at my business e-mail your e-mail address so that if I do NOT need to call you for assistance that I can send you a report on the activity afterwards. Thanks, Ken Dear Ken, Something is wrong with my work email, so I am responding from my nonprofit email. Again, many thanks for your nice email way back when. It has been on my mind re contractors vs. the public. We have a special "preservation grants" for hurricane damage that was announced with a very short window of time, and I and others have been scrambling to make sure the public know about it and apply. The deadline is 12/15/06. You can find more info at: http://www.crt.state.la.us/hp/HBGrants.htm I thought it was a good opportunity to spread around some of your educational material. I think it is like advice re how not to meet a bad partner -- women read the lists, the warnings, but only really pay attention if they are about to get married. When talking about grants for repairs, people readily took it, but under other circumstances they seem to consider it information overload... Anyhow, I'm writing you with an urgent request for you to post on BP. We are having a gonzo clinic for the grants and I am wondering if anyone might be willing to volunteer from afar to help us dream up preservation work estimate numbers on the grant applications. Yes, I know this is not ideal, but the state isn't changing the deadline and contractors aren't returning calls. People need to get something down there on applications, even if it is an outrageously high guess. The volunteer would need to be available by phone or email this Sat 12/9 from 12pm to 2pm to respond to our inquiries, which will be based on whatever the public comes in with. A tall order, but sometimes ya just gotta make it happen and preservation emergencies seem to be my specialty as of late... Thanks, Alice-Anne Krishnan -- To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: <http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>