Working closer to sixty than seventy hours a week now. I've arrived at a state where the macro of maintaining horizontal and vertical control over a city block's worth of parking structure is routine. Not that familiarity has bred anything close to contempt, of course. Far, far from it.
I still cannot prevent myself from listening to radio instead of cycling through my CD's on the commute. With radio comes network news and commercials.
The news talks about our communist president and imperial congress as if they were just the same old stripe of politicians. The commercials are going... well, going green. And going collectivist as well. Lots of PSA's talking about "doing our part" "helping the recovery". The aim is to appeal to community, but the execution is just damned sad and wrong.
My tax dollars paid for them. If I close my eyes I can here the script of 1984.
Or maybe THX1138.
I cannot talk politics with my family. But I can post links like this on the off chance somebody who knows me may wander through and perhaps follow it. There really is nothing to talk about. Nothing I could change. We could change.
I think it's time I bought a grain mill and several vac pacs of hard red wheat.
Depression is a bitch. I will grab a random stack of CD's off the shelf and put them in the truck tonight.
The fifth different surveying outfit to pass through my job has confirmed my control network and adopted my coordinate system. Funny how it all comes down to thousandths of a foot each time. "Close enough" is the goal. Nice that "close" in this case is damn near nuts on.
Back in the hole tomorrow.
(Link via American Digest)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Party On
I went to the Salt Lake City Tea Party at the Federal building. This location happens to be across the street from the hole in which I work.
I estimate minimum seven hundred people. The venue was not all that large, but it was packed. Speakers included the President of the Utah chapter of the Eagle Forum, Rep. Jason Chafetz (freshman, we kicked Cannon out last election), AG Shurtleff, Rep. Rod Bishop. I don't know if any elected Democrat spoke but I was only able to stay for a short half hour. All the speakers I heard made a point of the non-partisan nature of the Tea Party movement. Many passing cars honked in response to signs asking them to honk if they are taxed too much; many thumbs up.
I’ve got to get a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag for the yard; I’ll fly it alongside the Colors on holidays for the next little while.
The protesters were overwhelmingly working and family people and many kids were present. One goober did show wearing a Glock on a duty belt and cammie trousers bloused into Doc Marten boots. His tshirt said something about “combat training team nine” and I overheard him stating that Utah was an open carry state. He was ignored by everybody, including two uniformed cops. One guy on the periphery wore an Obama mask and had a Soviet flag on his shoulders. He danced around whenever a camera got close.
I leave my ball cap in my truck when I get to work in the morning. You have to be wearing your badge, hard hat, safety glasses, and vest to get into my site. So I stood hatless in the rain and listened to the speeches until the rain turned to snow. The crowd was growing larger when I had to leave.
No paper machet heads were hurt in this protest, and we didn’t even kick in the Starbuck’s windows.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Shooting Date
I will be at Lee Kay this Saturday, arriving at nine a.m. and staying for as long as the kids want to shoot.
Plan A was a west desert outing to shoot cannon but the weather just isn't going to cooperate.
Have a fine day.
Plan A was a west desert outing to shoot cannon but the weather just isn't going to cooperate.
Have a fine day.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Thursday, April 02, 2009
What Button?
The DGAF button is officially pushed:
*
What a joke this clown is. What a tragedy we are become.
Done with politics. Just work, chores, sleep. And pay taxes.
You have a fine day.
*
What a joke this clown is. What a tragedy we are become.
Done with politics. Just work, chores, sleep. And pay taxes.
You have a fine day.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Hot Saturday Night!
This is all I have planned.
Happy Saturday, all.
We are inventorying the Team supplies. This means that Mrs. Tmj will finally see the ammo count.
Shucks. Forget the ammo. Ammo is something you can run out of. The Mosin number is what is going to take some 'splainin, I am thinking.
Women just don't understand the finer points of armory markings, stock variations, and proof stamps.
(via Instapundit)
Happy Saturday, all.
We are inventorying the Team supplies. This means that Mrs. Tmj will finally see the ammo count.
Shucks. Forget the ammo. Ammo is something you can run out of. The Mosin number is what is going to take some 'splainin, I am thinking.
Women just don't understand the finer points of armory markings, stock variations, and proof stamps.
(via Instapundit)
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Wowsers
Shooting day, finally! Yes, friends, it is possible to get off work early enough on a Saturday to actually make it to the range. Plan A was for my chain man to join me but we were just too late for him to make the range and get in his bike ride. He's doing a triathlon later this spring and is in training mode.
A few weeks back I mentioned that I had once again added an item to the wall o' Mosin down in the reloading room. I got to shoot that one today.
Just damn.
There is a definite issue with the extractor. It doesn't like to engage over the rim of the cartridge unless you slap the bolt with authority. Being that we are talking a Mosin here, "slap" is or should already be understood to be SOP, but the sad truth is is that I face planted right through the door way of our connex box plan/ break office this morning. The first part of my anatomy to kiss the linoleum was my right hand, which hyper extended backwards as the rest of my body tried to push it through the floor. I got through the rest of the work day with my right hand shoved in my vest and my motivated assistant performing the bulk of the tasks.
So I arrived at Lee Kay and signed in. Check in with the RO and get the last open bench on the line. There are about fifty positions. Full house and then some, today. The timing works out so that I can get my first target out and begin shooting immediately. I post at fifty yards, walk back with the rest of the crowd, and then begin shooting left handed off the bench. Even shooting weak side, I admire the solid, if heavier than preferred by most Westerners, trigger pull. The bolt operates well except for the tendency for the extractor to resist engaging the rim unless I shout "URRRAHH STALINO!!" as I slam the damned thing home with my wounded hand... and my three different flavors of stripper clips function well, too. So I merrily bang away fifteen well aimed rounds and put things aside to cool while I wait for the break to go forward and check targets. My spotting scope was still in the truck and since my glasses prescription is frankly more good intentions, now, than therapeutic I had no idea where things were down on the paper. Old age is creeping up on me at a dead run.
Dad/daughter was shooting on my left, dad/son on my right. I love seeing preteens hitting their targets with an AR. It's just... right. Son on right peeked down range with his binos and asked where I was aiming. I told him six o'clock on the bullseye and he said "You missed, here, look".
Fifteen rounds (Soviet ammo head stamped 1947, light ball, steel case) shot out of a Tula 1944 production 91/30, at fifty yards, shot weak side because of a sprained wrist, from a bench sitting position, not off a bag.
They all landed inside a three inch circle including four rounds in the X ring (NRA small bore 100 yard target).
I fired a satisfying string from the right side, in agony, and then went ahead and tried another of my 91/30's. That was a wasted effort since by then my thumb and wrist were ballooned too tight in my glove to continue shooting. So I came home.
The '44 Tula is going to get a reproduction PU scope - right after the blue job and the stock bedding and refinishing project. I will finally buy a cheap and simple digital camera to document the process, and will post the results here.
Hope your Saturday is going well. I'm off to clean some shooting irons.
(Okay, not all in a three inch circle:
... but that will do for me! The first five shots are the "L" shaped group at five o'clock. Breathing with a wee bit of flinch, I think.)
A few weeks back I mentioned that I had once again added an item to the wall o' Mosin down in the reloading room. I got to shoot that one today.
Just damn.
There is a definite issue with the extractor. It doesn't like to engage over the rim of the cartridge unless you slap the bolt with authority. Being that we are talking a Mosin here, "slap" is or should already be understood to be SOP, but the sad truth is is that I face planted right through the door way of our connex box plan/ break office this morning. The first part of my anatomy to kiss the linoleum was my right hand, which hyper extended backwards as the rest of my body tried to push it through the floor. I got through the rest of the work day with my right hand shoved in my vest and my motivated assistant performing the bulk of the tasks.
So I arrived at Lee Kay and signed in. Check in with the RO and get the last open bench on the line. There are about fifty positions. Full house and then some, today. The timing works out so that I can get my first target out and begin shooting immediately. I post at fifty yards, walk back with the rest of the crowd, and then begin shooting left handed off the bench. Even shooting weak side, I admire the solid, if heavier than preferred by most Westerners, trigger pull. The bolt operates well except for the tendency for the extractor to resist engaging the rim unless I shout "URRRAHH STALINO!!" as I slam the damned thing home with my wounded hand... and my three different flavors of stripper clips function well, too. So I merrily bang away fifteen well aimed rounds and put things aside to cool while I wait for the break to go forward and check targets. My spotting scope was still in the truck and since my glasses prescription is frankly more good intentions, now, than therapeutic I had no idea where things were down on the paper. Old age is creeping up on me at a dead run.
Dad/daughter was shooting on my left, dad/son on my right. I love seeing preteens hitting their targets with an AR. It's just... right. Son on right peeked down range with his binos and asked where I was aiming. I told him six o'clock on the bullseye and he said "You missed, here, look".
Fifteen rounds (Soviet ammo head stamped 1947, light ball, steel case) shot out of a Tula 1944 production 91/30, at fifty yards, shot weak side because of a sprained wrist, from a bench sitting position, not off a bag.
They all landed inside a three inch circle including four rounds in the X ring (NRA small bore 100 yard target).
I fired a satisfying string from the right side, in agony, and then went ahead and tried another of my 91/30's. That was a wasted effort since by then my thumb and wrist were ballooned too tight in my glove to continue shooting. So I came home.
The '44 Tula is going to get a reproduction PU scope - right after the blue job and the stock bedding and refinishing project. I will finally buy a cheap and simple digital camera to document the process, and will post the results here.
Hope your Saturday is going well. I'm off to clean some shooting irons.
(Okay, not all in a three inch circle:
... but that will do for me! The first five shots are the "L" shaped group at five o'clock. Breathing with a wee bit of flinch, I think.)
Monday, March 02, 2009
The Archduke and a Horse Shoe Nail
There are going to be several wars, beginning this spring. Wars which probably would never have happened if America did not shirk the responsibility incumbent upon the most free nation on the planet.
We have not elected a president. We hired a baby sitter. He's got lot of ground rules that maybe, just maybe, all those folks looking for hope, change, and two for one hot wings on game day might should have paid a little more attention to...
Iran and Russia have no common interest in American interest beyond how far we'll retract from interfering in their goals - namely, reestablishment of Imperial Russia and Iran supplanting the Saudis as the leaders of the ummah.
It takes a lot of concentration to nationalize an economy. I can see Putin and Amadinejad going out of their way for eighteen months or even two or three years to say nice and play nice for Obama.
Not that that will do Georgia any good this spring, or stop Hamas from expanding their missile offensive into Israel, using Iranian weapons. Georgia and Lebanon again, only this time the Bear won't even pretend to leave. And Israel gets to choose whether it is better to fight and die on their terms, or to wait on the end of Obama's leash and wait for the blow to fall.
I'm done following politics or news for awhile. Work, sleep, chores.
We have not elected a president. We hired a baby sitter. He's got lot of ground rules that maybe, just maybe, all those folks looking for hope, change, and two for one hot wings on game day might should have paid a little more attention to...
Iran and Russia have no common interest in American interest beyond how far we'll retract from interfering in their goals - namely, reestablishment of Imperial Russia and Iran supplanting the Saudis as the leaders of the ummah.
It takes a lot of concentration to nationalize an economy. I can see Putin and Amadinejad going out of their way for eighteen months or even two or three years to say nice and play nice for Obama.
Not that that will do Georgia any good this spring, or stop Hamas from expanding their missile offensive into Israel, using Iranian weapons. Georgia and Lebanon again, only this time the Bear won't even pretend to leave. And Israel gets to choose whether it is better to fight and die on their terms, or to wait on the end of Obama's leash and wait for the blow to fall.
I'm done following politics or news for awhile. Work, sleep, chores.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Oops.
Small. Rifle. Primers.
Cabela's, Gunnies, Sportsman's. Nada. None to be had here, except for some Remington match primers, and only two boxes of a hundred each of those. I need ... more than that.
They are the only reloading component I don't have in spades. If I can't find Winchester or at least CCI primers in Salt Lake next week I will buy a couple more cases of ammo for my lone EBR. I had never planned on reloading for my Bushmaster but after finding a few each commercial and home brew loads that do work spectacularly well with it I've decided to pick up a single shot or bolt in 5.56 and hope that the same accuracy may be realized across the two different platforms.
Or I may just end up buying a Century Arms AR A2 rebuild. They have three on the shelf here and my research into them shows that purists hate them and hobbyists are perfectly satisfied. I don't need a rifle length AR. I just want a rifle length .223 (yes, yes, I'd LIKE a NATO chambered boltie but I don't think those fall off the tree too often....
It could go either way.
Other than that, just a lazy weekend. No garages were cleaned - but Mrs. Tmj is out and about in her Miata for the first time since Christmas, topless.
Top down. DOWN.
Have a fine one.
Cabela's, Gunnies, Sportsman's. Nada. None to be had here, except for some Remington match primers, and only two boxes of a hundred each of those. I need ... more than that.
They are the only reloading component I don't have in spades. If I can't find Winchester or at least CCI primers in Salt Lake next week I will buy a couple more cases of ammo for my lone EBR. I had never planned on reloading for my Bushmaster but after finding a few each commercial and home brew loads that do work spectacularly well with it I've decided to pick up a single shot or bolt in 5.56 and hope that the same accuracy may be realized across the two different platforms.
Or I may just end up buying a Century Arms AR A2 rebuild. They have three on the shelf here and my research into them shows that purists hate them and hobbyists are perfectly satisfied. I don't need a rifle length AR. I just want a rifle length .223 (yes, yes, I'd LIKE a NATO chambered boltie but I don't think those fall off the tree too often....
It could go either way.
Other than that, just a lazy weekend. No garages were cleaned - but Mrs. Tmj is out and about in her Miata for the first time since Christmas, topless.
Top down. DOWN.
Have a fine one.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Just A Lazy Sunday
Howdy. These things happened last week:
1. I billed sixty two hours. I worked a few more than that. I actually wore shirt sleeves part of two days, too. No thermal under wear those two days, either.
We had our first top - out section on Saturday. My project was a muddy hole in November. Now it's got several hundred thousand tons of steel and concrete where some of the mud used to be. There will be millions before we are through.
2. My government told me that I was a fool to have gone forty seven years paying my bills and debts, and living within my means.
3. Barak Obama and his crew undershot my low expectations for their first month in office. Low by a considerable margin, in fact. I expected nefarious. The incompetence is actually more disturbing.
4. The AG told me I live in a nation of cowards. If you were an honest man, you might take a look about you and accept that the only three institutions in the country that give a damn what color you are are Government, Education, and the NAACP.
My nation is many things, but cowardly is not even on the list. Most of the weak or reprehensible qualities that have come to the fore in recent years are by the design of people just like you, Mr. AG. You think that people must be driven, not lead. You may think of it as baby sitting, even.
5. I observed that patriots actually protesting the destruction of our economy is akin to watching the Osmonds trying to cover Linkin Park. Not a machine made sign nor a paper mache head in sight.
But no masks. I don't think any Starbucks or MacDonald's got their windows kicked in, either.
Well, it's a start.
(Link via Instapundit)
6. I picked up a 1944 manufacture Tula 91/30 retired PU. Just another cheap, reliable bolt in .30 caliber. The barrel contour appears to be subtly different than all my other Mosins of that model; perhaps a tad heavier. The rifling is sharp and clear and the trigger is very crisp even if Mosin-typical heavy. I also picked up a 440 round can of Soviet manufacture light ball a few days later. Both these purchases were at Gunnies in Orem.
They give me a frequent buyer discount now, at least on firearms.
And here it is almost eight o'clock, and I'm looking to be in bed in an hour or so.
I Hope your life is roses and laughter with a healthy dose of spring just around the corner.
1. I billed sixty two hours. I worked a few more than that. I actually wore shirt sleeves part of two days, too. No thermal under wear those two days, either.
We had our first top - out section on Saturday. My project was a muddy hole in November. Now it's got several hundred thousand tons of steel and concrete where some of the mud used to be. There will be millions before we are through.
2. My government told me that I was a fool to have gone forty seven years paying my bills and debts, and living within my means.
3. Barak Obama and his crew undershot my low expectations for their first month in office. Low by a considerable margin, in fact. I expected nefarious. The incompetence is actually more disturbing.
4. The AG told me I live in a nation of cowards. If you were an honest man, you might take a look about you and accept that the only three institutions in the country that give a damn what color you are are Government, Education, and the NAACP.
My nation is many things, but cowardly is not even on the list. Most of the weak or reprehensible qualities that have come to the fore in recent years are by the design of people just like you, Mr. AG. You think that people must be driven, not lead. You may think of it as baby sitting, even.
5. I observed that patriots actually protesting the destruction of our economy is akin to watching the Osmonds trying to cover Linkin Park. Not a machine made sign nor a paper mache head in sight.
But no masks. I don't think any Starbucks or MacDonald's got their windows kicked in, either.
Well, it's a start.
(Link via Instapundit)
6. I picked up a 1944 manufacture Tula 91/30 retired PU. Just another cheap, reliable bolt in .30 caliber. The barrel contour appears to be subtly different than all my other Mosins of that model; perhaps a tad heavier. The rifling is sharp and clear and the trigger is very crisp even if Mosin-typical heavy. I also picked up a 440 round can of Soviet manufacture light ball a few days later. Both these purchases were at Gunnies in Orem.
They give me a frequent buyer discount now, at least on firearms.
And here it is almost eight o'clock, and I'm looking to be in bed in an hour or so.
I Hope your life is roses and laughter with a healthy dose of spring just around the corner.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Required Reading
Via Professor Reynolds, this gem:
"Republic is a complex and profound morality tale in which we can see, if darkly, the reflection of our own republic. Its story is not exactly ours, but we have a lot in common with this once-beautiful city. Specifically, we have the same moneylenders and borrowers. The eeriest similarity to Plato's moneylenders is the agressive (sic) marketing of credit cards to college students. However, the reckless use of home loans on the part of both lender and borrower has proven more devastating."
Working. And more working. Set my second tower crane base on Friday night - a thirteen hour day. Also on Friday they began building the one I staked back in December - adding the number of thirty foot sections necessary to get up to around a hundred thirty feet for the boom. Plus I have been tasked with monitoring two areas for purposes of determining concrete slab/deck shrinkage.
At least the weather hasn't been as nasty. And I couldn't ask for a sweeter control network. Bless those Utah street and sidewalk builders of the past. I can jump outside my hole on three sides of my block and tie into originating control that I can trust at any time.
I have informed the powers that be that I'm only working a few hours next Saturday. I have a shooting date with a busload full of young adults that are friends of my friends, friends of my daughters, and just people who have an interest in learning how to shoot. So next Saturday I'm loading up a butt load of mil surps, an EBR or two, some pistols, an excessive amount of ammo, and heading over to Lee Kay some time around noon.
Last time I was there it was only four dollars to shoot. I don't know if they've had to raise their rates or not. Aside from not allowing silhouette targets or full auto, it's an excellent venue, either for solo shooting or for safe instruction.
Party on! It's like, 1978 all over again.
"Republic is a complex and profound morality tale in which we can see, if darkly, the reflection of our own republic. Its story is not exactly ours, but we have a lot in common with this once-beautiful city. Specifically, we have the same moneylenders and borrowers. The eeriest similarity to Plato's moneylenders is the agressive (sic) marketing of credit cards to college students. However, the reckless use of home loans on the part of both lender and borrower has proven more devastating."
Working. And more working. Set my second tower crane base on Friday night - a thirteen hour day. Also on Friday they began building the one I staked back in December - adding the number of thirty foot sections necessary to get up to around a hundred thirty feet for the boom. Plus I have been tasked with monitoring two areas for purposes of determining concrete slab/deck shrinkage.
At least the weather hasn't been as nasty. And I couldn't ask for a sweeter control network. Bless those Utah street and sidewalk builders of the past. I can jump outside my hole on three sides of my block and tie into originating control that I can trust at any time.
I have informed the powers that be that I'm only working a few hours next Saturday. I have a shooting date with a busload full of young adults that are friends of my friends, friends of my daughters, and just people who have an interest in learning how to shoot. So next Saturday I'm loading up a butt load of mil surps, an EBR or two, some pistols, an excessive amount of ammo, and heading over to Lee Kay some time around noon.
Last time I was there it was only four dollars to shoot. I don't know if they've had to raise their rates or not. Aside from not allowing silhouette targets or full auto, it's an excellent venue, either for solo shooting or for safe instruction.
Party on! It's like, 1978 all over again.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Required Reading
Still breathing. Panting, actually. I've still not seen a Saturday, excepting Christmas weekend, since October.
And I love it.
I am almost at full stop where blogging is concerned. The reasons are simple and unambiguous:
1. I got into blogs and finally blogging in order to explore ideas and engage in debate.
2. I was ignorant of the true character of the Left. I thought they were too stupid to recognize evil when they saw it. Far from it.
This post I found via American Digest pretty well covers all the ground I've traveled these last few years, and then some.
You argue with a competitor. Even an opponent. but what is become of the part of the American polity that supports creatures like Reid, Pelosi, Gore, and Obama are gone a far, far toss beyond of what "loyal opposition" could ever be stretched to mean.
You defeat an enemy. That's all that's left to do.
My sixty-hour work weeks don't leave me time for proselytizing for individual responsibility and against increased government. I have had time to collect about twenty copies of "Atlas Shrugged" over the years. I drop one or two a week off in various public places.
Sounds silly, you say? Our elected government just spent more money in the last six months than it has in the years since I left high school. Harry Reid is Senate Majority leader, the Republicans ran John McCain for their candidate, Charlie Rangel chairs Ways and Means, and Joe Biden is in line of succession to the Presidency of the United States.
Not so silly, I'm thinking.
And I love it.
I am almost at full stop where blogging is concerned. The reasons are simple and unambiguous:
1. I got into blogs and finally blogging in order to explore ideas and engage in debate.
2. I was ignorant of the true character of the Left. I thought they were too stupid to recognize evil when they saw it. Far from it.
This post I found via American Digest pretty well covers all the ground I've traveled these last few years, and then some.
You argue with a competitor. Even an opponent. but what is become of the part of the American polity that supports creatures like Reid, Pelosi, Gore, and Obama are gone a far, far toss beyond of what "loyal opposition" could ever be stretched to mean.
You defeat an enemy. That's all that's left to do.
My sixty-hour work weeks don't leave me time for proselytizing for individual responsibility and against increased government. I have had time to collect about twenty copies of "Atlas Shrugged" over the years. I drop one or two a week off in various public places.
Sounds silly, you say? Our elected government just spent more money in the last six months than it has in the years since I left high school. Harry Reid is Senate Majority leader, the Republicans ran John McCain for their candidate, Charlie Rangel chairs Ways and Means, and Joe Biden is in line of succession to the Presidency of the United States.
Not so silly, I'm thinking.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Building At A Breakneck Pace
No time to follow politics. Precious little time to get ready for the arrival of the inlaws come Christmas week. I haven't heard news outside of top-of-the-hour radio this last five weeks.
I am typing this on our new PC. The old one finally cratered a few weeks back and it is only in the last few days that the new beast (suitably Death Star in appearance) has been up and running. Vista. Meh.
Tomorrow we are placing about 1800 square feet of concrete pad. I will be on hand to check grades and assist with any conflict resolution that pops up. Concurrent with that, the pile contractor will be drilling a total of eight seventy foot deep 24" bores for our second tower crane location. The pipe guys (who yesterday buried four connections I needed to shoot for asbuilt purposes, and then disappeared) will be pushing north with two ten inch, one six inch, and two twelve inch lines that I must stake and then map.
I missed my first shot at seeing youngest goddess' Christmas dance concert last Friday; plan A was to be done and gone by four but I ended up hitting the road home around six thirty. This is the magic hour of the Salt Lake commute wherein all Utah drivers remove their brains and sit them in the mason jars on their dashboards. What is a nominal forty five minute commute at five AM becomes by five PM an hour and a half trial by fire. I have my second chance tomorrow, and have already let the powers that be know that I'm leaving by four.
Since the laborers are going to be there by four thirty AM to strip blankets, the carpenters and finishers there by five thirty, myself by six, and the pipe guys by seven, I have a reasonable shot at making it to the show.
Too many people here in Utah are jobless, or know that they soon will be. I met a man last night who lost his state job a few weeks back and whose entire extended family is either laid off or closing their businesses.
He was buying a gun. There's a lot of that going on. I'm buying Christmas presents (on a modest, so modest scale) and more food - the food being for long term storage.
I think that the "in the event of" is just about to hit.
Merry Christmas to you.
I am typing this on our new PC. The old one finally cratered a few weeks back and it is only in the last few days that the new beast (suitably Death Star in appearance) has been up and running. Vista. Meh.
Tomorrow we are placing about 1800 square feet of concrete pad. I will be on hand to check grades and assist with any conflict resolution that pops up. Concurrent with that, the pile contractor will be drilling a total of eight seventy foot deep 24" bores for our second tower crane location. The pipe guys (who yesterday buried four connections I needed to shoot for asbuilt purposes, and then disappeared) will be pushing north with two ten inch, one six inch, and two twelve inch lines that I must stake and then map.
I missed my first shot at seeing youngest goddess' Christmas dance concert last Friday; plan A was to be done and gone by four but I ended up hitting the road home around six thirty. This is the magic hour of the Salt Lake commute wherein all Utah drivers remove their brains and sit them in the mason jars on their dashboards. What is a nominal forty five minute commute at five AM becomes by five PM an hour and a half trial by fire. I have my second chance tomorrow, and have already let the powers that be know that I'm leaving by four.
Since the laborers are going to be there by four thirty AM to strip blankets, the carpenters and finishers there by five thirty, myself by six, and the pipe guys by seven, I have a reasonable shot at making it to the show.
Too many people here in Utah are jobless, or know that they soon will be. I met a man last night who lost his state job a few weeks back and whose entire extended family is either laid off or closing their businesses.
He was buying a gun. There's a lot of that going on. I'm buying Christmas presents (on a modest, so modest scale) and more food - the food being for long term storage.
I think that the "in the event of" is just about to hit.
Merry Christmas to you.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Dispatched In Haste
Three weeks (including Saturdays) into the new project and aside from aches and pains things are moving right along. We have been blessed with warm and clear weather for the last week and it should stay nice, if cooler, until at least Thanksgiving Day.
We get that one off. Work Friday and SaturdaY, though.
I'm learning AutoCaDD Light. Once I am on the distribution list to receive plan addenda and changes electronically I'll be a lot better positioned to backstop my superintendent(s). Our client (and their architects) don't have an adequate appreciation for just how fast my outfit moves once we've got the word to go to it. If they've got it in their mind to change anything, they better publish it quick before we build right past them.
Politics? What's that? We've still got a commie for president, and looking at how he delegates, not a very bright one, at that.
I've read my history, Mr. Obama, and while you may be mistaken for a sorry Che wannabe in some nutroot fever swamps, you don't even land on the same shelf as Mr. Lincoln.
When I first heard credible reports that Ms. Clinton was being seriously considered for State, I assumed that Obama was just maneuvering her for a killing shot; get her up in front of the microphones once or twice and then release a previously unknown (there's so much we already know) scandal and knock her right off the public stage for good.
Nope. He's not smart enough for that. For a guy from Chicago, he sure doesn't understand winning.
Hope you have a great week! I probably won't be back before next weekend. I am off to make a dent in household chores, and hopefully have enough time left to get out and buy a second pair of boots.
We get that one off. Work Friday and SaturdaY, though.
I'm learning AutoCaDD Light. Once I am on the distribution list to receive plan addenda and changes electronically I'll be a lot better positioned to backstop my superintendent(s). Our client (and their architects) don't have an adequate appreciation for just how fast my outfit moves once we've got the word to go to it. If they've got it in their mind to change anything, they better publish it quick before we build right past them.
Politics? What's that? We've still got a commie for president, and looking at how he delegates, not a very bright one, at that.
I've read my history, Mr. Obama, and while you may be mistaken for a sorry Che wannabe in some nutroot fever swamps, you don't even land on the same shelf as Mr. Lincoln.
When I first heard credible reports that Ms. Clinton was being seriously considered for State, I assumed that Obama was just maneuvering her for a killing shot; get her up in front of the microphones once or twice and then release a previously unknown (there's so much we already know) scandal and knock her right off the public stage for good.
Nope. He's not smart enough for that. For a guy from Chicago, he sure doesn't understand winning.
Hope you have a great week! I probably won't be back before next weekend. I am off to make a dent in household chores, and hopefully have enough time left to get out and buy a second pair of boots.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Priorities
The sole reason for the financial shell game undertaken over the last eighteen months by the federal government was to prevent the collapse of the U.S. economy until AFTER the election.
The numbers are so big now that they are meaningless. And the baldfaced criminal actions of all the public "servants" involved will go unpunished, except for those who screw up their escape plans.
We are at the point where the two Chinese gentlemen were, there in the bottom of their hole selling rocks to each other.
One will end up with all the rocks sooner or later. But he will starve, too, just the same.
The numbers are so big now that they are meaningless. And the baldfaced criminal actions of all the public "servants" involved will go unpunished, except for those who screw up their escape plans.
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn't require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return.
We are at the point where the two Chinese gentlemen were, there in the bottom of their hole selling rocks to each other.
One will end up with all the rocks sooner or later. But he will starve, too, just the same.
Second Monday
The plans make a lot more sense than they did last week.
The weather is still a challenge. Rain all day today.
I watched the collapse of five floors of the building they are demolishing on the north limit of my project. A warning would have been nice, but since there was one bored guy playing a fire hose over the rubble after the dust cleared we reckoned that there wasn't anybody under the pile.
This company lives by "Get it done or go home". There's nothing different about that mindset from any other employer I've had in this business, but here in a straight up construction outfit there are about five hundred of us getting it done simultaneously, from pile drillers to electricians, and all inside of two city blocks. The ethos is amplified. Tact, diplomacy, and the willingness to stand your ground gracefully are all in great demand.
It's a job. I am grateful for it. It will be something to see in six months or so. I will be most happy to see the last of the mud.
The weather is still a challenge. Rain all day today.
I watched the collapse of five floors of the building they are demolishing on the north limit of my project. A warning would have been nice, but since there was one bored guy playing a fire hose over the rubble after the dust cleared we reckoned that there wasn't anybody under the pile.
This company lives by "Get it done or go home". There's nothing different about that mindset from any other employer I've had in this business, but here in a straight up construction outfit there are about five hundred of us getting it done simultaneously, from pile drillers to electricians, and all inside of two city blocks. The ethos is amplified. Tact, diplomacy, and the willingness to stand your ground gracefully are all in great demand.
It's a job. I am grateful for it. It will be something to see in six months or so. I will be most happy to see the last of the mud.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Look At It This Way
A comment I left here:
Hope. Change. You betcha.
Look at it this way:
The Republican rank and file are bummed because they failed to execute due diligence on their own party. As a result fiscal responsibility, moral leadership, and government dedicated to preserving individual opportunity were all abandoned by their leaders.
But the Democrats are actually in even worse shape.
Their leaders, instead of ensuring that they could continue farming populist divides and manufactured victim groups for personal wealth and power have gone and elected themselves a genuine communist. With a plan.
Watch closely as the Democrat plantation undergoes a renovation that would make Norm Abrams blanch. And then watch as Change really begins to happen.
Now how's that for some shite?
Hope. Change. You betcha.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
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