A Girl From Home - Old Blog

2005-02-11T10:13:00.000-05:00

Bookmark Change

I have moved this blog to another location,
Please update your bookmarks to this...

http://agfh.blogspot.com

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And to the one who helped me with this site.....

Great way to have my back man!
I thought you would step up yesterday, but no.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
They'll figure out who you are eventually....but not from me.

And to whoever threatened my father.......
To threaten someone who didn't even know this existed makes no sense.
Anyone could have said/bitched/yelled at me.

2005-02-06T23:45:00.000-05:00

Random Crap From A Random Girl

Good Super Bowl halftime show.
It was a smart move on Fox and the NFL's part to go with a safe show this year.
Paul McCartney put on a great show, though that is no real surprise.
The game itself was good, not great, but good.
No real excitement.

The commercials were pretty good.
Cadillac ruled, FedEx was great, the Diet Pepsi one with P Diddy had me rolling.

The Simpsons Special was odd to say the least.
Watching American Dad now......bizarre, but it's made by the same guy that makes Family Guy so that is no real surprise either.

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I hate Yahoo Games!!!!
I have a weak spot for those stupid little games. Been playing Bejeweled2 for the last two days.
My eyes hurt......ARGH!!!!

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I am not looking forward to tomorrow.
I hate going to work the day after the Super Bowl and the World Series.
Too many hung over guys.

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Have you seen the Burger King commercials with The King?
God he creeps me out!!!
Just one more reason I won't go there.
Wendy's Kicks Ass!!!!

2005-02-05T09:28:00.000-05:00

George W Sure Can Screw Up Traffic!

Good old George W was in town yesterday for a speech on social security......and no I did not go!
But it DID effect me. Traffic was so screwed up with his coming and going that it took me an hour and a half to drive 16 miles!!!!
It would have been SOOOOO much easier if they had just helicoptered him to the convention center.....I mean come on!.......there is a big plaza outside that would have made a great landing pad!

Work has gone well this week.
We only have about 30 piles to go at the jail.
The piles we are doing are called "sister piles". This means we are adding addition piles to pile cap locations that were out of place. One half of the entire building was 4' off.
Sister piles are placed (in this case) directly beside the originals. This makes each pile cap bigger of course, and is adding many $$$ and many days to the project.
I'm not sure at this point if the piles were misplaced due to surveyor error or design error. I do know that 2 of the design engineers were recently fired, but there are conflicting stories as to why.
You gotta love gossip!

Not only were some of the piles misplaced, they are now finding that some of the original piles were never even put in!
Once a group of pile is placed in a particular pile cap location, the ground is dug up around them to expose the steel. Then more steel is added to form the pile cap itself.
On this job a pile cap would have either 2, 3, 4, or 6 piles. In some cases they are finding that a 4 only had 3 or a 6 only had 5.
According to all of the previous paperwork (the original inspector's also), all of the piles were put in. Now I know piles can't just disappear!
I sense some underhandedness!!!
Since all of this is happening, they keep adding more piles to my crew on a daily basis. Plus they decided that since more were being placed, they might as well add another big elevator which added 9 more.
The crew I am working with would normally be able to do the remaining 30 piles in one day, but since they are so close together we will have to do half on Monday and then the remaining half on Tuesday.
You can't drill 2 piles in the same day that are less than 10' apart because you risk blowing out the one you just did. That would not be a good thing!

2005-02-02T21:02:00.000-05:00

All Piled Up At The Jail

Day 2 of the piles at the jail went very well.
On this job we are doing displacement piles.
The difference in displacement piles as opposed to drilled shafts is that there are very very little spoils generated.

This is a picture of a typical displacement pile set up...

We are using a 16" drill bit that in essence compacts the grounds outwards.
The holes are drilled to an average of 50'6" deep and then filled with a very thin grout (5,000 psi.)
The grout is pumped in as the drill bit is backed out of the hole. When the drill bit is totally out the steel is pretty much squashed down inside.
Simple and to the point.

If you want to read more about displacement piles, and even see a video of how they are done, visit *This Site

While I realize that it's probably not the most interesting thing to see, some of you may actually enjoy it.

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Being at the jail is pretty intimidating!
I have a good friend who is a guard at a prison (HI OM!!!!!!), and I have no idea how he does it.
We are on a small plot of land in the middle of the jail property. It is totally enclosed by 15' fences that are topped with razor wire. How fun!
Since the basketball court and the horticulture area are next to the fences some of the prisoners are right with us.
Now I don't want people to think that I am afraid of the people themselves! That couldn't be farther from the truth. What I am afraid of is this.....
We are not allowed to speak to any of them at all. If anyone says anything to you, you are not to acknowledge them in any way. One thing they REALLY want is for you to throw them cigarettes, which is NOT GOOD! If you are caught giving them cigarettes you will be immediately arrested for "introducing contraband into a maximum security facility" which is a first degree felony!!!
Yeesh!
There are razor-wired fences everywhere. Can you tell that I hate razor-wire???
What really amazes me is how many prisoners are allowed to walk around outside of the gates without any guards. I know these are the trustee's, but it's still odd to see.
They've had to start keeping the female prisoners away from the fences because they were flashing all of the workers. How sad is that!?!?

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Time to watch The State Of The Union Address........come on George.....make me proud!

2005-02-01T21:30:00.000-05:00

Tuesday Quickie

Dead whooped tired.
I started the displacement piles at the jail today. Actually they are "sister piles."

All of the original piles were done 2 months ago, but one half of them were a few feet out of place. We are now adding sister piles to each pile cap (making the pile caps bigger.)

It's hard being at the jail.
I will explain why tomorrow......I am beat down tonight.

2005-01-30T22:32:00.000-05:00

Mirror Mirror On The Wall...Who's The Clumsiest Of Them All?

I took a trip today....literally.
I was on the carport this afternoon minding my own business (yes I know, that's a rare occurrence in itself), when I saw one of my cats playing with something in the grass. Naturally I had to go see what it was.....hey maybe I could play too!
unfortunately I got my pant leg caught on a bed frame.
Yes a bed frame.
If you remember, I told you that we got a new bed last week. I took the old frame apart and stacked the pieces on the carport where they still sit.
Where was I?
Oh yes. I got my pant leg caught on the bed frame.
As I was hopping up and down trying to get unstuck I grabbed the grill.....for support.
Never grab a grill for support that has WHEELS!
The grill went scooting off into the grass taking me with it.
By this time I had my pants caught and my legs in a tangle.
BANG!
I hit the ground HARD!!!!
Tore the skin off my ankle, in fact at first I thought I had broken my ankle.
I hit my head on the leg of the grill as we rolled off the carport.
Then I landed on my hands which jammed my left shoulder into my ear (I didn't realize my shoulder would fit in there!)
Though I am sure it all took about 5 seconds, it felt more like it took 5 minutes.
I wish someone had filmed it because I had to have made a real spectacle of myself!!!
My shoulder still feels like someone tried to rip my whole arm off and my ankle is totally swollen.
I am such a clutz sometimes.....sheesh!

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Ap0k left for Atlanta tonight.....over 2 hours late.
There was a bad storm in Atlanta yesterday that still has air traffic screwed beyond belief. He is only going for a meeting and will be home tomorrow night. YAY!!!

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Watching "The Last Days Of Pompeii" on Discovery. Very disturbing.
Seems that the people closest to the volcano didn't just burn up.....they actually turned to charcoal.
They are showing plaster casts of the bodies of the poor people who died. It's amazing to me the detail they are able to show with the casts.
Scientists think the Mount Vesuvius will have a major eruption again within 100 years. Why do so many people (millions) live under it?

2005-01-27T22:48:00.000-05:00

Guys With No Necks Kick Ass!

THL has made some disparaging remarks about weightlifter type guys lately (Hi THL!) and I just felt the need to defend them.

First off let me start by explaining that I am married to a guy with no neck.
Yes...Ap0k has no neck.
When I first met him he was skinny as heck, basically a stick figure. In all fairness, even though he was 19, he wasn't finished growing yet.
He started working at a VERY physical job that required ALOT of lifting. He then went through his final growth spurt and went from Stick Figure Boy to No Neck Man in no time flat. Over the years he has just gotten bigger and bigger. He now weighs 100 pounds more than when I met him.
After all the years of working and all of the years of weightlifting he is now crazy strong.
If you need a fridge moved, he's the one to call!

Not all No Necks are stupid either.
Ap0k is possibly the smartest person I have ever met. He has a near photographic memory, so once he reads something he rarely forgets it.
Many of the guys I meet on jobsites are weightlifter types. Trust me, you can't be stupid and still be able to read a set of plans. And then to build a perfect building from a drawing......that takes brains!
Ap0k can build computers in his sleep. Takes brains to do that!

While I have met No Necks that had no manners (staring, rude comments, etc), I have met WAY WAY more small guys who are rude as hell. For the most part the bigger a guy gets the more manners he seems to have.

Maybe it's just No Neck Southern Guys who are like this???
Are Northern No Necks rude asses???
I would hope they weren't.

As a final note on this subject, I want you to take a look at this picture of perfection...

How can you not look at this picture and not swoon hysterically???

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Work Is Sucking The Big One!

I have come to the conclusion that I am job cursed!
Almost every job I have been scheduled for in the last 3 weeks has cancelled on me.
I was supposed to start the sister piles at the jail tomorrow, but of course they called at 5:30 this evening and cancelled.
So, joy of all joys, I get to do dispatch tomorrow so my dad can go to the doctor.
Will the fun never end????

2005-01-26T23:49:00.000-05:00

New Music

I uploaded a new song for you. Get it while you can.
The server only allows 1 gig of transfer and you guys blow through that at amazing speed!

Today's song is:
"She Talks To Angels" by The Black Crowes.
It was originally released in 1990 on the cd "Shake Your Money Maker"
This is a very haunting song that always gets to me.

Give it a listen, I think you will like it.

You can buy the cd by clicking on the album cover.
You can read more about the Black Crowes HERE .

2005-01-26T23:16:00.000-05:00

Life In The Zoo Part 2 - And Some Kick Ass Erotica

Time to introduce you to a few more of my goons.

Meet P.
P is another female technician. She's been in the business for about 18 years.
While I like P, it's hard to trust her.
One time I had to go to one of her jobsites to explain how to make block prisms to her and a block mason. I thought nothing of it since she is from up north somewhere and Florida tends to do most everything different than other states. When she came back to the office she tried to tell my boss that she had to tell ME how to do it! Luckily my boss is not a buffoon and knew the real story.
She has done the same thing to other people too so I know not to trust her.
I think the problem is that P is alot like me in that she doesn't really like other women much (I can't stand them!)
Over time we have started getting along a bit better.
P's problem is that she seems to be falling apart at a rapid pace. She has had to go to the hospital 4 times in the last 3 months.

This is H.
H is a real cutie. He's originally from Boston and still has the accent.
All the girls in the office think he a little hottie.
H has a problem with doing all his days jobs too fast. He doesn't care if a job is scheduled for 2pm...if he is ready at 10:30 then off he goes.
Actually he is too fast at everything. It's like being stuck in a whirlwind when he's around. After having a conversation with him you feel like you need a nap!

Goonettes J and L
I have to introduce you to J and L.....they are our goonettes.
J is my little sister and works in the lab. She just turned 21 and thinks she is all grown up.....HA!
L is my daughter and works as a marketing assistant. She is ALMOST 19 so of course she knows all!
J and L live together, work together, and play together. In fact they are pretty much inseparable. Being so close in age and growing up together they are more like sisters than aunt and niece.
I can't think of anyone in the office who doesn't just love both of these girls.
It's hard for me to come up with anything negative to say about either girl of course, since I am so attached to them. In fact they just left here. I think they eat here more than anywhere else. My refridgerator is their grocery store. And my wallet is their bank!

More on the goons next time.

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Erotic Art

Not Safe For Work!

I found this site tonight and thought some of you might like a peek.
While it is called erotic art it is more like arty porn.
Check it out HERE .

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M*A*S*H

Why can I never change the channel when MASH comes on?
I have seen every episode at least 100 times and yet I can't make myself change the channel.
Is anyone else having this problem?

2005-01-25T23:31:00.000-05:00

Life In The Zoo

As promised I will tell you about some of the goons I work with......and when I say goons I lump myself in there too!

First we have S:
Next to Ap0k, S is probably my best friend. That being said I feel I that I can be honest about him.
S is the person I would call in the middle of the night if I got arrested.
S is a good technician......but a big whiney baby. If someone gets a day off, S will whine until he gets one off too.
He is also the worlds biggest tattle-tale. Make sure you don't do or say ANYTHING wrong around him because he will run straight to our boss with the news. Of course he thinks he is allowed to screw off and no one should say anything.
S is also one of the luckiest people I know. At topping out parties he always wins big prizes, if he tries to win something on the radio he almost always gets it. Just today he brought in that new traffic reporter doo-dad that he won on the radio.
While he has his flaws I have to admit that I love him death.

Now we have D.
D is another threshold inspector and one of my closest friends.
Even though he tries not to be, D is a raging Metro-sexual. Dirt will not stick to this man! His hair is also always exactly in place. Drives me crazy!
The other girls and I like harass him. When he walks out of the room we hoot and holler about watching his butt. It makes him blush like mad. Too funny! We tell him he has a great "walking away" about him.
If he has any real faults it's that I have had to listen to him say he is quitting for the last 8 years. That and he is totally ruled by his wife. (you didn't hear that from me!)

Meet B.
B has only been a technician for a year, but has made the most progress of anyone I have ever worked with. B is the man you can always count on. No matter what job it is he can always manage to handle it somehow, even if he has never done it before.
Even if he has worked a 15 hour day and you need him to cover one more job, he never complains. Either he really likes his job, or he is just crazy.
Right now I can see that they are doing to him the same as they did to me, turning him into a "disaster fixer". When someone else screws up a job, they send him in to fix it. I had to do that for years and it is NOT easy. You have to kiss people's asses....you have to try to figure out what has and hasn't been done......you really are damage control for the company. Sometimes it's really stressful, so I am wishing him the best of luck.

You have now met 3 of my goons. I will introduce you to more tomorrow.

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Little Ninjai Update!

For those of you who have visited the Little Ninjai site.......Chapter 11 has been released! It's pretty gory, but still cool as heck.
I am enamored with Little Bird!

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Well I had a job for in the morning, but it cancelled on me. Then I had another and it cancelled too!
As of now I will be going to the hotel to do a threshold inspection.
Cross your fingers that it doesn't cancel also!

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Ap0k started physical therapy today. It went very well. I don't see him having any problems.
It does make his shoulder burn like it's on fire, but that just shows that he's doing it right.

2005-01-24T22:27:00.000-05:00

Doing My Nephews Homework

Just got done printing out a piece from cnn for my nephews homework. He's doing a report on this study that suggests whales and hippos may be related. Evidently more info has recently come to light while studying fossils that makes them even more sure of the fact. Pretty interesting reading actually.

Went back to work today. Hung around and helped out with dispatch for awhile.
I have come to the conclusion that I really do work with a bunch of loons.
I am going to work on trying to describe them to you in the next few days.
Apparently it is almost a sure thing that we got the inspection on the new Trump Towers. I am sure I will work on it a bit, but since it is a 52 story building I am afraid it may be out of my league. I am happiest when my buildings are under 5 stories.
Our new offices are almost complete. We are going to have separate rooms for my Dads office, a new office for the welding inspector, and a larger tech room. We have always been shoved into one tiny room in the back that has minimal a/c in the summer and no heat at all in the winter. While that is bad enough for the techs (we are in and out all day anyway), it really sucks for my dad.
The build is slow going because the lab manager is doing it all whenever he has a spare minute.

The weather has been chilly chilly!
I know some of you are dealing with COLD weather right now, but when it gets down in the 30's in Florida we think we are freezing to death.

Ap0k starts physical therapy tomorrow afternoon. I think they are going to be pleased at the progress he has made by himself already.

Gov. Bush Loses Appeal in Fla. Right-To-Die Case

I am so happy to see this happen!
15 years ago Terri Schiavo went into a vegetative state. Since then her husband and her parents have spent most of their time in court trying to decide if her husband can or cannot have her feeding tube removed. Come on people! After 15 years shouldn't this poor woman be allowed to die?
You can read about the latest developments HERE .
I would be interested to hear your views n this subject.

2005-01-23T01:26:00.000-05:00

Catch-22

I am stuck in a catch-22 situation.
As you know I have been home since Wednesday. In that time I have almost completed the bedroom remodeling job. I am terribly proud of the fact that I have done almost all of it myself. I have proven to myself that I CAN do it.
I know now that I could do the rest of the house myself.
Here is my catch-22:
To really have the TIME to do the whole house I would realistically have to quit my job....but....to AFFORD to do the whole house I need to keep working to make the money it will take to buy everything.
*sigh*
Sometimes life stinks!

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Ap0k is doing great.
No pain pills at all. He is able to lift his arm a little bit higher today too.
He can also get his clothes on by himself now. I still have to tie his shoes though.

He doesn't care about this, but it really bothers me.
Why has no one but the girls come to see how he is?
Ap0k has spent literally days in the hospital with my father and yet the man hasn't even CALLED to check on him.
Sad.

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I'll finish the bedroom tomorrow if it kills me!

2005-01-22T13:07:00.000-05:00

Hum Hummmm YODEL!!!

Ap0k's recovery is going extremely well. I took him to the doctor today for his post-op checkup.
The poor thing was standing there, no shirt, just a sling, when the doctor came in.
He thought the doctor was going to peek under the bandages, but nooooooo!
He walked up and SNATCHED the sling off and RIPPED the bandage off all in about 10 seconds.
The looks that Ap0k got were priceless. First pure terror, then sheer shock, and then total amazement when he realized that he hadn't died on the spot.
While the bandages were off I took a real good look at it.
GORY!!!!
The slice is about 4-5" long and is stapled shut. I have seen several people who have been stapled back together, but I have never seen staples this big before. They look like the staples you put couches together with!
The doctor replaced the bandage and told him not to wear his sling anymore.
He also said to start using his arm as much as he can.
As of now he can lift his shoulder up and down, but can only lift his arm up a teeny bit.
It won't be long though. He's already messing around in the yard.
Plus he has already stopped taking the vicodin.
I am sooooooo thrilled at the progress!!!
What I am really amazed at is his total lack of boo-hoo'ing.
Normally he is such a baby when he is sick, but this is completely different. He is dead set he is going to set a recovery record I think.

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Our bedroom is almost done.
I got the walls all painted.
walls= Pepper Spice with texture added
ceiling, beams and door= brown tepee
trim= cinnamon cake
We got a cool new corner shelf and a new fan.
Tomorrow I will put the cording up. I also have to install the new blinds, hang the curtain rod and curtains and install the new switch and outlet plates.
All that will be left is the closet door which I haven't bought yet.
It's coming together surprisingly well.

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2 more days of no work!
It's been like having a mini vacation so far (except for the day spent at the hospital.)
I've gotten alot done (alot of shopping!)
All in all I am having a pretty great time.

2005-01-19T22:51:00.000-05:00

Sliced And Diced

Ap0k finally had the surgery done on his right shoulder today.
They ended up cutting off 1 inch of the bone. They also screwed pig intestines to the bone, then pulled his muscle back up and sewed it to the intestines.
Pretty gory huh?
The pig intestines will be absorbed within a year. Their purpose is to create a "ladder" for the muscle to climb and hold on to until it can reattach itself to the bone.
In approximately 8 weeks they will do the left one the same way.

All of the doctors and nurses treated him VERY well!
We got to the hospital at 9:30am and had him back home and in bed by 2:30pm. I have to admit that I was shocked.

The doctor said that "he is all giant bones and huge muscles."

He is really in alot of pain right now. I know that because he actually took one of the pain pills they gave him. Remember, this is the man that won't even take aspirin!
It took us almost 15 minutes tonight just to get him undressed and into bed.

I have the rest of the week off to take care of him.
Being a "nurse" is HARD! He is so much bigger than me that getting him dressed and undressed is a bit difficult to say the least.

It's amazing how little movement actually effects your shoulder. Just standing up stretches it out some.
I'm not allowed to be funny! He said laughing hurts so I can't be goofy.
Well you know me......that just made me be goofier!

He's all slinged (slung) up right now. No idea how I am going to be able to go to bed tonight. Bet I will end up on the couch.

2005-01-16T23:53:00.000-05:00

Book Review

Just finished reading the book How To Make Love Like A Porn Star - A Cautionary Tale written by Jenna Jameson with Neil Strauss.
This is the autobiography of porn star Jenna Jameson .
Most of you know by now that I am pretty much a porn fiend. I really wanted to end up liking this girl because she brought some legitimacy to the porn industry.
Sadly I was left feeling that she was and is basically a bitch.
The book tells the story of Jenna's life and how she became known as the Queen of Porn.
I'll admit I was hoping that there would be more juicy gossip.
The book is fairly well written, but tends to jump around a bit. There are also several inconsistencies in her story making me question some of the facts.
The cartoons are amusing, and she does say how much money different levels of the stars make which is pretty interesting.
I can understand why a girl who has millions of men lusting after her can turn out this way. She seems to trust no one. She just seems sad. While part of you wants to feel sorry for her, the other part reminds you of how bad she treats people who do try to befriend her.
I do recommend this book, but only for entertainment purposes only.

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TV Show Recommendation

I know I am way behind the times on this one, but tonight was the first time I have ever watched Boston Legal .
This has to be one of the funniest shows I have watched in quite awhile.
William Shatner is an absolute hoot and he and Candice Bergen play off each other better than any other tv characters I have ever seen.
James Spader plays Alan Shore, a lawyer who is notorious for harassing his secretaries. To solve this the firm gave him a new secretary tonight........Betty White!.....who promptly called him a duche bag. Now that is classic tv!
I will DEFINITELY be watching this again!

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The Pittsburgh Steelers

Did you SEE that game on Saturday???
By the time it was over I needed a nap!
And to think.......Ap0k and I were THIS close to flying up to watch the game. Darn Darn Darn.

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The New Bed

We finally bought a new bed!
The last bed had a 10 year warranty.......which expired about 6 years ago.
As you can imagine it was NOT the most comfortable piece of furniture in the house anymore.
Why did we wait so long to get a new one?
Your guess is a s good as mine.
We had several excuses such as:
"Wait until the kid moves out and we get the bigger bedroom" (she moved out 9 months ago and we are still in the little bedroom)
"Wait until we get the new flooring in" (the flooring was bought about 6 months ago and is still in boxes)
"We'll go buy one NEXT weekend" (been saying that for the last 6 years)
"It's too expensive" (we can afford to buy my little sister a car but can't afford a bed? ppfftt!!)
Well today we finally caved and Tuesday we will be picking up the new bed. I will probably sleep for a week solid.
The bed we have is sooooooo bad. Half the time I can't even stand up in the morning. Plus I am up and down all night long.
I can't wait!
(After I read what I just wrote......all I could think was....how pathetic are we???)

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The Future Trip

I am thinking that quite soon I am going to get to go on a train trip through Wales and England.
Ap0k seems unbearably keen on the subject lately. In fact he is starting to email me travel brochures (from across the room!)
I hope he keeps this interest up. I think it would be a pretty amazing trip.
The only place besides the US that I have ever been was Canada, and that was for about 15 minutes.

2005-01-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

Saturday Night Linkage

Are people becoming way too "politically correct"?
The Vermont Teddy Bear Company released a new bear for Valentines Day that is sporting a straight jacket. The saying on the bear's jacket says "I'm Crazy For You".
The bear also comes with "commitment" papers to give to your loved one.
I personally think that this is unbelievably cute.

Sadly the Vermont Association for Mental Health finds the bear offensive and wants the company to discontinue it.
They state that the bear is "tasteless use of marketing that stigmatizes persons with mental illness."
Oh Give Me A Break!!!!!
It's a friggin bear for goodness sake!

Read more about it and see a picture of the bear HERE .

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Hello Kitty Ferrari

When I saw this car I immediately thought of THL.
It is a perfect match to her Hello Kitty gun!

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Hero Father

A father in Tampa has just caught and beat his daughters stalker.

A 14 year old girl was being stalked at her bus stop by a 45 year old man.
Her parents contacted both the schools resource officer AND the Tampa Police but neither was able to do anything.
The girls father caught the perv and beat the holy shit out of him.
The article is HERE
While the article says that the father "tussled" with the man, I saw pictures of the man after the father was done with him and he was a bloody mess.
3 cheers for this father!!!

The father will NOT be charged.

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Crime Spree

If you are a fan of true crime then you may want to give this site a look...

The Crime Library

This site is FULL of amazing information on crimes both past and present.

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Darth Tater

Playskool will be releasing their new Mr. Potato Head figure in Febuary.
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Darth Tater!

How could you not want this sitting on your desk?
I must have one!!!!

2005-01-14T23:36:00.000-05:00

Can Boredom Actually Kill You?

This has been the slowest week on record. Jobs are slow at the moment so I have had almost nothing to do at work. To top it off we had some pretty good rain this morning which meant most jobs cancelled. I was off and at the grocery store by 2pm. Not good for the paycheck!
I will admit that I passed on the chance to work tomorrow. The thought of monitoring stone pile vibration operations just didn't do it for me for some reason. Go figure.

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New Song Over There<<<<

I put up a new song a couple of minutes ago.
Todays selection is:
Donny Hathaway - I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know.
This song was released June 18th (my mom's birthday!), 1973, on the album "Extensions Of A Man"
Donny Hathaway was an extremely talented artist, but sadly he committed suicide on January 13th, 1979
This song is VERY important to me, so if you could take a second to give it a listen I would be very happy.
You can read more about Donny Hathaway HERE .

Does anyone have any type of music in particular that you would like to hear?

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How To Be A Better Writer???

I know that I am not the worlds best writer.
I read several blogs every day and each writer is able to fill their posts with humor and intelligence. When I read my own it seems flat.
What am I doing wrong? Are there any sites I could visit that might give me some insight into better writing? Trust me.....I can use all the help I can get.

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Am I Getting Old Before My Time.....Or Am I Just Boring???

Here it is Friday night 11:30PM....and I am watching Clean Sweep on TLC.
I spent the whole evening watching Antiques Roadshow and What Not To Wear.

I am only 39 years old!

Well at least I am AWAKE! Ap0k went to bed at 8:45PM.

Is this a sign we are prematurely old or are we just boring as hell?

2005-01-14T18:15:00.000-05:00

Quick Message To redder

I spoke to 3 geological engineers today and all 3 told me the same thing.
The only way to check the soil bearing capacity at the bottom of a drilled shaft is to do a load test on a completed test shaft..
BUT
They also said that method is in question as to it's validity right now.
It is still the recommended practice until someone comes up with something different.

2005-01-14T01:19:00.000-05:00

My Biggest Job

Anonymous (who are you??) has asked if I have ever done any jobs that people would recognize.

While I have mainly worked on jobs such as schools (elementary through high school), theaters, hospitals, etc., I did do one job that most people will at least have heard of in passing.
If you are a football fan you have definitely heard of it!

The largest job I have ever done is also my most well known.
Me, another technician, and a welding inspector worked on Raymond James Stadium home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This was in 1998.

In the top picture you can see the original Bucs Stadium. It was demolished shortly after this picture.

Please visit this link for a WONDERFUL view of the construction site!!!
http://tour.tbo.com/tour/stops/rjsconstruction.htm
If you hold and drag your cursor around the picture you can move it around, zoom in and out, etc.

Me and the other technician did all of the materials testing. Concrete, densities, block, mortar. While we did not do the structural inspection, we did do all of the handicapped inspections.
Normally only one person does the materials testing on a job but this one was just too much for one person.
We worked on the stadium for approx. 2 years. The first year and a half was the major construction and the final 6 months was finishing which was done AFTER the stadium opened.
One of the most unique parts of the job was the actual building/inspection of the ship.

Another fun day was the Mega-Flush. It really was a big to-do and people were fighting to be part of it.
We turned on all of the sinks in all of the bathrooms throughout the stadium. Everyone had a designated toilet or urinal. At the sound of the alarm we had to continually flush all of the toilets for 15 minutes straight.
This was to make sure that during a game the plumbing would not literally explode.

We made a gazillion concrete test cylinders on that job because each deck pour averaged 1000 yards. Each racker (the beams under the upper decks) each held 85 yards.
I had a paper at one time that told all of the amounts...I will have to find it.

Oh......there it is!!

1.Over 47,000cy of concrete were placed from the 2nd level racker beams (150feet)
This amount does not take into account the first level, all of the sidewalks, curbing, etc.
2. Volume Of Concrete is equivalent to a 3' wide by 3' thick sidewalk 356 miles long!
3. If you lined up bumper to bumper all of the concrete trucks needed to hold that volume they would extend 26 3/4 miles.
4. The weight of the concrete is 188,000,000 pounds.

5. Over 10,672,367 pounds of steel was used.

6. Beginning at the 2nd level there is 1,978,580sq.ft. of formwork. A football field is only 54,000 sq.ft. which means we used the equivalent of 36 1/2 football Fields covered with plywood (610,831 sheets of 4'x8' plywood)

I did all of the inspection on the Fields watering/sprinkler system. The pipes are placed in a herringbone configuration. They are under a layer of small pebbles.
After they were placed and the rock put on top there were front end loaders and other heavy equipment driving on them. Right before the sand/soil/turf was placed I had to crawl over the entire field feeling every inch of the pipe to make sure that none of it was crushed. I marked any damaged areas and they were then repaired.

I did all of the "hands-on" inspection on every piece of handrail in the stadium.
For this I had to literally FEEL all of the handrails AFTER they were installed. Yes I had to flag any sharp spots on them ( from being paint-dipped) so they could be sanded. Yes.....I climbed every step in the place FOUR times! By the time I was done with this I really did have buns of steel! Wish I still did!

The handicapped inspection included making sure all areas were wheelchair accessible.
All ramps had to be at the correct slope. All doorways had to be the right width. All of the handicapped bathrooms had to have the toilets and handrails at the exact right height and distance from the wall.

We did stress testing on all of the glass used on the stair landings. They had to be able to withstand the weight of a grown drunk man rolling down the stairs into them.
For this test we attached weights to the railings and bashed them into the glass. Highly technically huh? But hey......it worked!

I think I am still deaf from the day they tested the sound system. A paper cup was placed in the middle of the field and they tried to knock it over with the sound. Yes.....the police were called after people complained. It was fun!

This was the job that almost killed me!
We were pouring concrete in one of the driveways and had one lane of the road blocked off. A woman who was paying NO attention followed a concrete truck in to the barricaded area. When she realized what she had done she panicked and swerved right at me! I had to jump INTO the road to keep from getting hit. She missed me by about half an inch. Then she had the audacity to get out of her car and yell at US for being in the road!!! We were in a blocked off area! Some people.....sheesh!

The stadium opened on September 20th 1998.
To commemorate the day I got a tattoo in the morning and then went to the opening game. It is a day I will ALWAYS remember!!

All of the red seats in the entire stadium were guaranteed not to fade. Well they did and now they are a lovely shade of PINK!
The seat manufacturer will be replacing ALL of the red seats either this year or right after next season at no cost to the stadium owners.

I have tons more stories from this job. I will write more about it now and then unless anyone has any specific questions.

2005-01-13T06:17:00.000-05:00

redder Has A Question

"If we asked for the design bearing pressure to be verified when the contractor is placing a spread footing, what piece of equipment would you use in the field to check the soil after they excavated and before they placed the concrete? Then, if we were in a similar situation with a drilled pier (caisson) into shale, what would you use to verify the quality of the shale? Again, in verifying the proper assumed bearing pressure that was used when it was designed..."

Before we can check the compaction on anything we first have to pick up a proctor sample. A proctor sample is approx. 45 pounds of the particular soil you are going to be testing. The soil is taken to the lab and they run various tests to give us either a modified or a standard proctor.
A modified proctor is the most commonly used. Standard proctors are usually only used in roadways by the FDOT.
Now that we have an actual proctor number we can go out and do nuclear density testing on the area in question.
The equipment we use is called a Troxler .
If you are doing density tests on a flat surface you just tkae your test with no adjustments.
If you are taking a density test in something like a footer or up against a structure of any kind you will need to do a trench correction factor within the machine because the walls of the footing will cause the moisture readings in the Troxler to read way too high.
The readings that the Troxler gives you are "wet density", "dry density", %moisture", and "% compaction"
All of these are recorded by the technician.
The number the contractor is looking for is the "% compaction".
Most job specs call for either 95% or 98% of the actual proctor value.

Now the problem comes in when you talk about densometer (troxler) testing at the bottom of a drilled shaft.
In my experience drilled shafts are anywhere from 20 feet to 100 feet deep, and are 24 inches to 96 inches in diameter.
How would you get the densometer to the bottom of the shaft? Remember most densometers only have a one foot probe.

Now we come to the real problem....

Drilled shafts are full of water!
If you remember I once explained how drilled shafts are constructed. The soil removed is replaced with a water/slurry. This is to keep the sides stable so they won't collapse.
Even if you are drilling into rock you must keep the shaft full of water or the core drill gets to hot and can cease up.
If you were to completely remove all of the water you still couldn't put a person down there for fear the sides would collapse in on them. Way too dangerous!

When I talked about drilled shafts before I think I skimmed over the cleanout process.
You must remove a majority of the slurry from the shaft, but you must replace it with clean water.
You also replace the drill bit with a "bucket-like" attachment. This bucket is used to clean the very bottom of the shaft because the sand sinks and is too "fluffy" or mucky.
This bucket is partially open on the bottom and when the rig spins it, it closes it up. The bucket is then raised and dumped outside of the shaft. This is done numerous times to ensure as clean and stable a bottom as possible.
Now an inspector will do a sounding test to check the bottom.
This is simply a heavy weight attached to a tape or light rope. The weight is lowered to the bottom of the shaft where an experienced inspector is able to tell if the bottom is stable or if more bucketing is needed.
It is easy to feel if it is fluffy or muddy at the bottom because your weight will stick in it. A hard bottom makes the weight "bounce" for lack of a better word. Kind of like bouncing a quarter on a newly made bed.
Inspectors also do tests for viscosity and sand content. A sample of the material is taken from the bottom of the shaft to perform these tests. According to FDOT the viscosity readings need to be near 30 and the sand content must be below 4%.

Now if by some chance you were able to completely drain the shaft and had no fear of the sides collapsing....and you found someone stupid enough to go down in there....you would have to use a trench correction factor on the densometer because the walls of the shaft would give you false readings.

You could place a camera in the shaft but while it would show you if there were any problems with the walls of the shaft, It could not tell you any real information about the bottom.

I have read about a test called Gamma Gamma Logging. It almost does what redder has asked. It checks for anomalies in the drilled shafts during and after the concrete placement, but not actually the compaction of the bottom.
You can read about it Here and Here .

Now....keep in mind that I live and have always worked in Florida.
Florida is nothing but sand, clay and swiss cheesed limerock.
I have never worked with shale.

2005-01-10T23:00:00.000-05:00

Quitting Smoking Will Be The Death Of Me

I have to stop smoking, but I think the process will kill me faster than smoking will!
I will end up fat and bald, but at least I will be able to breathe......I hope.
Does anyone have any tips for me?

--------------------------------------------------------

I went down to Siesta Key today to monitor pile driving. They are going to replace 8 bridges over some of the canals.
After driving 2 hours down there and then waiting an hour and a half for the crew to repair a pump we finally drove TWO piles.
There are 8 piles per bridge, but just like the last bridge I did, you have to tear down half of the bridge and rebuild it before you do the other half. That means you do two piles for each corner...or two piles one day, two piles the next.......then in two weeks or so you do the other four.
In the end this job will take me months to complete. At least it won't be every day. That is one heck of a drive through mad-ass traffic.
I will also be doing Seismograph readings on this job. The point of seismograph readings is to make sure that the ground vibrations during the driving operations are not too high. There are houses VERY close to the bridge and if the vibrations are too high it can cause minor to major structural damage.
Today was also the first time I have ever used a Saximeter to monitor the pile strokes and hammer drops. Talk about making things brain-dead easy!
No clue what I will be doing tomorrow yet.

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Not Safe For Work

Bryna mentioned that she couldn't check my links yesterday because she was at work and wasn't sure which were safe.
From now on I will mark any that are not safe for work.

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Lies....All Lies

I have nothing more to say on the subject.
(this will probably only make sense to people who live around here)

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2005/1/10/67869.html

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Vince Neal Marries Girlfriend

Vince Neal married Lia Gerardini this past Sunday.
MC Hammer officiated!

Don't they make a cute couple....

2005-01-09T22:24:00.000-05:00

New Poll

There is a new poll over there on the left.
Please take a second to answer it when you get the chance.

2005-01-09T21:15:00.000-05:00

Music Update

I updated the music over on the left.
Todays artist is Cowboy Mouth.
I saw this band live a few years ago and was thrilled to death with them.
The song I selected is called "Love Of My Life" and was released in 1996 on the cd titled "Are You With Me."
This is definitely a band that deserves a listen to!

2005-01-09T20:43:00.000-05:00

Chicken Wings Kick Ass!

Pretty much NOTHING happened today......at......all.
I think you really can die of boredom.
The high point of the day? Ap0k grilled chicken wings for dinner.
Can it get any more exciting than that???

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Porn Rules The DVD World

Seems that the porn industry tends to set the standard in dvd technology
This article gives the details...

Porn And DVD's

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Man Loses 450 Pounds

And still has more to go.
Stories like this are what make me realize that I really am not as fat as I usually feel.

Massive Weight Loss

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Fun For Sleepovers!

Here is a nifty little thing that every girl needs.
A Kegel Muscle Strength Indicator.
Now tell me this wouldn't be the hit of any girl's sleepover!

How Strong Are You?

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Puppet Sex

People asked for it.....and here it is!!!!!
Honest to goodness Puppet Sex!

Make sure to check page 2 for the $shot

Hot puppet Sex

2005-01-08T22:30:00.000-05:00

Sex Makes My Ankles Hurt

Have had a great time since Ap0k came home from Ohio!
The sex has been so good that even my ankles hurt. I will let you try to figure THAT one out!

Besides doing "that" we haven't really done much else.

-------------------------------------------------------

Updated some of the links over there on the left.
I added a link to Bryna's page...."A Day In The Life Of Me"

I also added a small banner linking to "Music For Relief"
If you remember I posted on this site earlier. It is the site that Linkin Park and The Red Cross have set up to gather money for the Tsunami Relief Efforts.
Please take a moment to look at the site.

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Sad news....Brad and Jennifer are officially separated.
Oh boo-hoo

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My daughter showed me this site today and I just had to pass it along...

TripleXGoldTeeth

Check out the spinners in the middle!

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Want to see something odd?
Look at this....

Mirror
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Are you guys enjoying any of these links I post?

2005-01-07T00:14:00.000-05:00

New Toys, A Hotel, And Random Trash

I got rid of that crappy soundblox thing and replaced it with something new that should actually work.
Sometimes it's just easier to stick with programs you know.
Today's song is "I Want To Take You Higher" by Sly and the Family Stone.
It was originally released in 1969 on the album "Stand!"
To get a good taste of Sly and the Family Stone I would recommend getting the double cd compilation titled "The Essential Sly & the Family Stone [LIMITED EDITION] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]"
You can get it from amazon by clicking the pic link above the player (and no.....I do not make any referral money off of the link.....I have a job!)

Please let me know how the player works for you.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I also added a BlogNewsBox over there on the left too. It is a good way to keep up on the latest blogging news.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I started the inspection on the hotel today.
I think it will go well. The superintendant seems like a nice guy who actually knows what he's doing.

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Ran across s funny site tonight.
Famous Female Buttcracks
Now how silly is that????

http://www.buttlooker.com/fwpb/

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At first look I thought this was just someones great idea for a joke, but after looking into it I realized it is for real!

http://www.thehelixloaded.com/trailer_theater.htm

Proof is here:
http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0401462/

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This is a pretty cool site to waste some time on.
I know THL is especially going to like it!

http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/

Here is the one that I made:
http://artpad.art.com/?i9xi36u18ug

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And last but definitely not least:

APOK COMES HOME TOMORROW!!!!!!!!

2005-01-05T20:28:00.000-05:00

Wednesday Night Quickie

Nothing much going on for me at work this week really.
My dad has been sick since Sunday so I have been doing scheduling and dispatch.
What fun!
I am starting a new job tomorrow. It is a hotel just off the interstate. For now it will be me and one other inspector on it until the other hotel starts up in Largo, then he will do that one and leave me in peace with mine.
It's not too far from my house so I will end up coming and going from home alot instead of going to the office every day.
It will be a little while before it goes full time, so I will still be hanging out alot doing nothing.

Today was one of our FDOT inspectors last day. He kept saying he was quitting trying to get more money and finally our boss said "Fine.....hit the road then."
Sad to say, I am NOT sorry to see him go. He is a complete jackass.

Another inspector got tossed off his job for doing his job too well (go figure!?!), so I spent all day today trying to rearrange people without pissing them off. That is not an easy job!!
The reason the guy got booted was because the client actually thinks he is TOO picky. What kind of crap is that???
Oh well.......some people really have no clue.

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Heidi and Seal

Heard today that Heidi Klume and Seal are getting married.
What is the connection between supermodels and singers??

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The Ashlee Simpson Debacle

Poor Ashlee Simpson.
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for her she goes and gets booed horribly at the Orange Bowl last night.
If you haven't seen the video you can get it here:
Ashlee Debacle
Why doesn't the poor girl hang it up and realize that she will never be as popular as her sister?

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Just got off the Nextel with Ap0k.
I miss him SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!
I know it sounds sappy to say that, but we have been married for 19 years and have only been apart one other time.
It's like someone took half of me away.

2005-01-03T22:34:00.000-05:00

Certifications

John (who lives in Dallas) has asked what kind of certifications that Florida requires.

The most common ones of course are ACI - Levels 1 and 2.
ACI = American Concrete Institute
This certification is geared towards concrete testing in the field.
Level 1 is the most basic certification a technician can have.
These certifications are given by CMEC (Construction Materials Engineering Council), and last 5 years before recertification is needed.
The tests include both written and hands-on portions.

Then we have the FDOT certifications.
FDOT = Florida Department OF Transportation
The certs we focus on in this area are:
FDOT Earthwork 1 and 2
and
FDOT Concrete 1 and 2
Earthwork deals with soils (density testing, monitoring backfill operations, etc)
Concrete is just another one similar to ACI.

Another common certification is in Asphalt testing.
There are 2 certifications in this:
Asphalt field testing
and
Asphalt Batch Plant

Of course there are other certifications available such as:
CWI = Certified Welding Inspector (My father is a Master CWI)
Threshold/Building Inspector
Ff/Fl (Floor Flatness/Levelness Inspector)
Several different certs dealing with Roadways and Bridges
etc.

Different departmentss of course have different certification needs.
The Enviromental and GEO Departments have numerous certs available and I can honestly say that except for different forms of pile driving I am not sure what they are.
I know there is an asbestos certification, at least 1 roofing certification, there is 1 that has something to do with sinkholes.
I guess I should check into those!
I never worried about them because I don't have them and no one ever asked me what they are before.

One good thing though........most engineering firms will pay for your certifications. No money out of your pocket, which is a good thing because they can be VERY expensive!

2005-01-03T22:01:00.000-05:00

Random Crap 'Cause I'm Lonely

Sent Ap0k off on a plane to Ohio this morning. His flight went well.....except they "misplaced" all of his luggage. Evidentially Delta decided it needed to be on a different plane than he was.
It is supposed to arrive and be delivered to him HOPEFULLY by Wednesday.
So there he is.....with no clothes......and no coat!
Poor baby!
I miss him already. What am I going to do all by myself until Friday???

------------------------------------------------

Want to redecorate your house, but feeling a bit gloomy?
Why not take some advice from "The Gothic Martha Stewart"
http://www.toreadors.com/martha/

"If you're handy with scissors, measuring tape, and either glue or a needle and thread, you can make quite a few things to goth up your home."

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Are you the type that just loves to read anything?
There has to be something here you find interesting:
http://textfiles.planetmirror.com/directory.html

Read things such as:
*THE PYRO-MANIAC'S GUIDE TO FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
*Cracking the Universal Product Code
*Aphrodisiacs, by Aquarian
*The Twelve Commandments of Flaming, from David Byrnes
*The Information Superhighways of Tomorrow, by Albert Gore, Jr
*Circumcision, an Overview, by Geoffrey Francis
*The Guns of Dallas: Theories on the Assassination of JFK
*How to Start Your Own Travel Agency
*A Collection of Quotes from Norm of "Cheers"
*Making Pine Soup
And a BAJILLION others!
-------------------------------------------------

Are you a fan of Pin-Up art?
Rion Vernon is definitely at the top of his field! I can't get enough of him:
http://www.pinuptoons.com/

------------------------------------------------

Feeling nostalgic?
This site is a dream for children of the 80's and 90's.
Has sound and video available too!
http://www.retrojunk.com/

-------------------------------------------------

There is no real way to describe this site other than "The Bible According To Lego's"
http://www.thebricktestament.com/

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Who has the world's biggest penis?
Who has the world's largest breasts?
Who deflowered the most virgins?
This site can answer all of these questions and more!
http://www.sexualrecords.com/

Solon, a Grecian law-maker, showed his genius for public relations by establishing the first publicly administered brothel in Athens in the year 549 BC. Operated and inhabited by imported slaves, the bordello simultaneously solved several problems: it provided a means of sustenance for the lower classes, it generated tax revenues, and it created an outlet for virile men to satisfy their lustful impulse.

--------------------------------------------------

Are you one of those nit-pickey people when it comes to movies and television?
Then this site will be right up your alley:
http://www.nitpickers.com/

In the movie "Casablanca"
German soldiers are shown wearing the World War 1 Modell 1916 stahlhelm (Model 1916 steel helmet) which is incorrect for the period depicted in the movie (1941). The correct helmet is the Modell 1935 stahlhelm.

--------------------------------------------------

And what list would be complete without....
The illustrated ACME Catalog:
http://home.nc.rr.com/tuco/looney/acme/acme.html

---------------------------------------------------

All of the above links hold a special place in my heart for some reason or another.
If you like these I have tons more.

2005-01-02T01:21:00.000-05:00

New Years Eve - A Fire - Drunk Family Members - And A Flat Floor

New Years Eve went off pretty much as usual this year.
My little sisters birthday is January 4th so we ALWAYS have her party on New Years Eve, and we ALWAYS have a bonfire and cookout. Normally it is just family members, but since she is turning 21 this year we had some friends over also.
For a pretty cool treat we got a big jumpy thing that looked alot like this:

Imagine getting in that thing with an 18y/o and two 21y/o's!
How I didn't end up with broken bones I will never know. It WAS alot of fun though.

We had a big bonfire:

Since the temperature outside was in the 60's you can bet I stayed away from it! In years past it has been positively freezing out so the fire was a good thing.

We had tons and tons of food including 3 different cakes!
And then there was the alcohol.....
My mother drunk is pretty funny. She rambles on and on and on......about nothing! (kinda like me on a normal day huh?)
My Dad gets all huggy, and my middle sister gets LOUD.
My little sister get's "loose".
My uncle (who is only 6 months older than me and used to be confused for my twin) is the fire tender. I swear to god he is a pyro at heart. Year after year he is there poking away like a mad man.
A girl from work only made it until 10PM and then she literally passed out in her car. She surfaced in sorry shape this morning.
Neither Ap0k or I drank anything but soda and water because we both had to work today.....bummer!
When we left last night everyone was hootin' and hollerin'.....and my 18y/o daughter was toting around a bottle of champagne. Scary! I hid my little sisters keys so they couldn't "take a ride" like they always want to.

We got to bed around 2AM and Ap0k got back up and went to work at 5AM. I was lucky and didn't have to go in til 10.

I went to Target and was FINALLY able to do their floor flatness test!!!
And to make the year start out right.....they legitimately passed......gotta love it!

To end the year right I found an envelope in my truck that had $90 in xmas money I had forgot about. I could have bought more presents!

Will spend tomorrow getting Ap0k ready for his trip. He leaves Monday morning. What am I going to do without him for 5 days?????

2005-01-01T08:09:00.000-05:00

Holiday Shmoliday!

Yes it is New Years Day......and yes I am going to work!
I will get this floor flatness test done if it kills me!!!

Will tell you about last nights annual party when I get home.

Thanks to the ONE person who answered my poll!

2004-12-31T15:37:00.000-05:00

Another New Toy For You To Play With

I added a soundblox player over there on the left<<<<

I will be adding music that I find particularly pleasing.
It will be different genre's so give each one a shot and let me know what you think of them.

Please let me know how the server acts also!!!!

2004-12-31T09:16:00.000-05:00

New Poll

I have posted a poll over there on the left<<<<<

Poll courtesy of Blogpoll

http://www.blogpoll.com/

Please take a second to vote.
I will be changing the poll questions quite often so keep an eye out for them!

Thanks to Wayne and THL for letting me know about it.

2004-12-30T23:22:00.000-05:00

Linkin Park Teams Up With The American Red Cross To Start "Music For Relief" To Aid Tsunami Victims

I wanted to let everyone know that Linkin Park and The American Red Cross have set up the site/organization "Music For Relief".
It's purpose is to gather money for tsunami victims aid.
To start it out Linkin Park has donated $100,000.
All proceeds will be going to the American Red Cross. After seeing the Red Cross in action after the hurricanes this year, I can't think of a better charity to support!

Bravo to Linkin Park!!!!
The world need more people like you who are willing to stand up and do whats right!

http://www.musicforrelief.org/

2004-12-30T17:49:00.000-05:00

Neato Art - Thanks To THL

THL had this site posted on her blog:
http://www.typogenerator.net/

You can make really cool art out of any text you wish.

Here are the 2 that I made....

2004-12-30T13:27:00.000-05:00

I Want To Know.....

*I want to know why people can't merge onto the interstate. If the traffic you are aiming to enter is going 70mph do you really think it's safe to merge doing 40???

*I want to know who gave the go ahead to release the movie "Showgirls"? This has got to be the worst movie ever made! Why does everyone keep running off? The only saving grace to the movie are 2 songs from Prince "319 and Ripopgodzippa" which strangely (?) weren't even on the soundtrack album.

*I want to know why when it gets cold in Florida there are some people who insist on wearing socks with sandals? Can we say TACKY!?!

*I want to know why a woman would want a man who is too weak to move furniture? Give me a guy who can pick up a refridgerator and tote it outside any day!!

*I want to know why people who spend 2/3 of their life at work don't take it seriously.

*I want to know why it is so hard to find ice cream sandwiches made with strawberry ice cream and vanilla cookies.

*I want to know what Ap0k is really thinking sometimes. He can read my mind, why can't I read his?

*I want to know why I can't eat macaroni and cheese with every meal.

*I want to know why smoking has to be bad for me. It's the one bad thing I do. I don't drink, I don't take drugs, and I try to eat well. One dang bad habit and it's one that could kill me.

*I want to know why even though Ap0k and I are almost never home the house still looks like a pig sty most of the time. I don't remember throwing all this stuff around. I think maybe there really are trash fairies.

*I want to know why I am not independently wealthy.

*I want to know why with 500 channels on my tv I am still watching this stupid movie!!??!!

2004-12-27T23:26:00.000-05:00

Double Time Kicks Ass!

Even though today was an official company holiday I still had to work.
No complaints from me though....it was all double time!

My first job today was a second attempt at doing the floor flatness test at Target.
When I got there the floor was still a giant puddle from the rain on the 23rd.
It's kinda detrimental to a computer if you drag it through a big puddle! I told them to squeegee it all off and I will go back on Thursday to try AGAIN.

My second job was alot more successful.
I went to the hotel in St, Pete to do a threshold inspection.
Want to see some pics???

Here is what a pile cap looks like...

It's my job to make sure all of that rebar is in there and in the right place.
Fun stuff!
It involves alot of walking in circles, alot of counting, and alot of recounting because you blinked.
A pile cap is built on top of the piles (hence the name pile cap!) and serves as a giant footing.

Here is a picture of the first floor section of the service elevator shear walls...

For this one I have to climb to the top and look down inbetween the forms to make sure all of the rebar is there and that the correct clearance is achieved.
The rebar can't touch the form work (that's called "burning") or it will stick out of the concrete when it's poured.

We are going to pour both the pile cap and the service elevator walls tomorrow. I will try to take pics of that to show you.

--------------------------------------------

Out of nowhere today some pics I had taken at Christmas completely disappeared off of my computer.
I swear I did not delete them!
In the end I used a program called "Active Undelete" and was able to recover the files.
It's no wonder people get caught with illegal files on their computers!!!
I was able to recover files dating all the way back to my last reformat.
Just deleting files does NOT delete them!
Beware!

--------------------------------------------

Song Recommendations of the day:

Heatwave - "Grooveline"
One of the best funk/disco crossover songs.
Heatwave had quite a few good songs such as "Always and Forever" and "Boogie Nights", but Grooveline is the type of song that always puts you in a good mood.
The song was originally released in 1977.
You can read more about, and hear clips of various songs from Heatwave here:
http://www.mp3.com/heatwave/artists/3807/summary.html

DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - "Summertime"
Yes....good old Will Smith!
This song is off the album "Homebase" and was originally released in 1991 way before Will Smith ever became an action movie hero.
This is one of the songs that I listen to after I have had a bad day. It never fails to cheer me up.
To read more about DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and to hear sample clips of "Summertime" and other songs visit this page:
http://www.mp3.com/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-&-the-Fresh-Prince/artists/52613/summary.html

2004-12-25T22:12:00.000-05:00

I Am So Spoiled That I Stink !

Well Christmas has come and gone once again.
And once again I was spoiled completely rotten!

Here's a list of what I got from Ap0k:

2 books
*Traci Lords "Underneath It All (shown below)
*Jenna Jameson - How To Make Love Like A Pornstar

DVD
Porn*Star - The Legend Of Ron Jeremy

Camera with Printer
Kodak EasyShare with Printing Dock

And the Absolute coolest thing EVER!

A Combination Tunneau Cover/Toolbox For My Truck!!!!!

Yep.......I am spoiled!
And I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

I gave him a bunch of Craftsman tools and a big Craftsman toolbox.
I actually listened to him when he was working on his car. When he would say "I need a" I would write it on my list.
That made shopping easy!

My nephew gave me a really pretty set of windchimes for my carport.
We also got a gift certificate for Chili's.
Ap0k got a really cool beer stein.
We gave my little sister the PDA she wanted so badly.
The daughter got all kinds of things.......a $100 gift certificate to her favorite salon, an mp3 player, a Mental Disorder encyclopedia that she said she would DIE without, and a whole bunch of clothes among other things.
We gave Dad a Black and Decker cordless drill, and Mom a 20 cd set of all the old Sherlock Holmes radio programs.
Gave my sister and her girlfriend a set of glass bakeware.
For the nephew we found a really nice Sony portable DVD player.

--------------------------------------------------------

We spent the afternoon at my sister's house.
It actually went very well this year. No one got in any arguments at all.
Dad and Ap0k spent all day watching a "World's Strongest Man" marathon.
That is without a doubt my favorite sport.
Since we go so big for Thanksgiving dinner we go small for Christmas. We had sandwiches, pasta salad, potato salad, and desserts.
Everyone seemed pleased with their gifts.
All in all it was a very nice day.

-----------------------------------------------------

We have to go coat shopping tomorrow.
Since Ap0k is going to Ohio on the 3rd, and the weather up there has been so bad we figured his regular Florida zippered sweatshirt just wouldn't do it.
Shopping on the day AFTER Christmas???
Yes.....we have officially lost our minds!

2004-12-24T23:49:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve and Pornography

Ap0k let me open one of my Christmas presents tonight.
That was different because we always open them on Christmas morning.
The gift he gave me tonight was the biography of Traci Lords....

Does he know me or what??

--------------------------------------------------

We are off to my sisters house in the morning.
Woo-Hoo!!
Yep.......that was definitely sarcasm.
Presents, lunch, naps all around.

-------------------------------------------------

Ap0k's shoulders are hurting him worse every day. I am so glad that his surgery is so close now.
It hurts me to see him hurt like that.
No worries though......after his surgery I will take mad care of him!

-------------------------------------------------

It's getting late.......I had better go to bed or Santa will pass me by!

2004-12-23T21:54:00.000-05:00

Bloggers Block

I sat down to write tonight and my mind has gone totally and utterly blank!

Work was ok today.
I went to WalMart today to pick up the moisture test kits. Had to reattach the carpet in all 3 areas.
At least security didn't get me this time.

I went to the new Target to do a floor flatness test but it started raining when I got there.
Since the Target is on the second floor of the building everyone but me has to leave. When you test elevated slabs only the inspector can be on the floor because walking on it causes the machine to get screwy readings.
I felt bad that I couldn't do the test because that meant a whole sites worth of workers got screwed out of a half days pay.
We've rescheduled the test for Monday even though it is a holiday for our office.
I don't mind though because I will get paid double time!

I also have to go to the hotel on Monday. Again....double time for me!
Gotta love it.

-------------------------------------

New Song Alert:

Eminem - Toy Soldiers
It uses the old Martika song "Toy Soldiers as the background, as he talks about the stupidity of violence in the rap community.
Very good message in this one.

-------------------------------------

Movie Suggestion:

I, Robot
Starring Will Smith
While I would recommend any Will Smith movie, I have to point this one out specifically.
The storyline is very well written. I like the little tidbits of info that are let out throughout the movie.
At first it appears to be a Robocop rip-off, but the ending is not what you are expecting.

--------------------------------------

My livingroom is full of presents.....and some of them are mine!!!
I want to go rip them open NOW!!!!

---------------------------------------

See what happens when I go blank......total gibberish.

2004-12-21T21:49:00.000-05:00

NAH NAH NAH...I'm Done Shopping!!!

Finished up my Christmas shopping today.
I bought my daughter and my little sisters last presents.
I also bought Ap0k's big present. You should have seen me trying to get it in the house!
I can't tell you what it is yet because sometimes he reads this (not very often though.)
I had one hell of a time getting it out of the truck, in the house, into the back room, and then wrapped.

Oh yeah.... I am publicly announcing that I am the worlds worst gift wrapper.
I can't cut.
I can't tape.
I can't put ribbons on straight.
Pitiful!!!

The rest of the families presents still need wrapped, but I think I will try trading Ap0k a blowjob for wrapping.
Think he'll go for it?

--------------------------------------

Took my daughter to court today.
She was found "Not Guilty"!

So all in all it was a great day.
Can't ask for more than that :-)

2004-12-20T19:54:00.000-05:00

Smile! You're On WalMart's Security Camera!

The first job I had today can only be classified as bizarre.
I had to place concrete floor moisture tests kits at a WalMart SuperCenter. Easy right?
WRONG!

I am used to working on buildings that are in the construction phase. This WalMart has been open for years. And of course since it is almost Christmas the store was packed. And I do mean PACKED!

After being directed to every corner of the building, I finally found the manager in the snack bar eating a BLT. Of course she couldn't walk around with me......she was too good for that. She called an assistant-assistant manager to help me pick the test locations. I asked her to inform security of what I would be doing but she just said, "Oh don't worry, I am sure they will bust you. Just tell them anything and they will leave you alone." Boy, what a great help she was!

Her flackey and I wandered around the carpeted areas of the store picking locations that would maybe be safe for the kits. At least he tried! As soon as I knew where I wanted to put them he disappeared too.

Location #1
In the shoe department under a shelf of slippers. I had to total dismantle the shelf to get under it. No one paid me any mind until I started CUTTING the carpet.
Here comes security!!!!
Evidentally 2 employees had called him over and were now HIDING behind him. Keep in mind that the security officer was about 20 and as big as my 12 y/o nephew.
OOOOOO.....I was scared!
him: "Ummm, Ma'am......what do you think you're doing?"
me: "Putting down concrete moisture tests kits."
him: "Ummm, Ma'am.....who told you that you could do that?"
me: "WalMart's CORPORATE Office."
him: "Ummmm, WHY are you cutting the carpet?"
me: "How else am I going to test the CONCRETE?"
him: "Oh"
Then he turned around and walked away.
Some security!
At least the 2 employees thought to ask me WHY I was testing the floor. When I told them they were going to take out the ugly carpet and replace it with wood flooring you would have thought they had won the lottery.

Location #2
women's lingerie (do men have lingerie....or just underwear?)
Imagine standing on your head under a rack of underwear trying to cut a 1' square in a carpet that is majorly glued to the floor.
Now imagine the 2 big fat ladies who, even though I told them I would be done and out of their way in 2 minutes, just HAD to look at the underwear hanging on my head. I wanted to poke them with my scraper.

Location #3
Under a rack of men's dress shirts.
I don't know who glued the carpet down originally, but I hope they got a raise after that job! I had a hell of time trying to get it off the floor.
I guess using a dull box cutter wasn't helping. Why didn't you remind me to bring the extra blades?
What I want to know is, why are there so many rude people in this world?
Here I am on the floor with my big ass in the air. You can't tell me the guy with the cart didn't see me. BAM! He ran right into my butt and then PUSHED like I was a wrinkle in the carpet or something.
"Excuse me", I said, "Could you please go around the other side?"
"Oh, I'm sorry" was all he said and then pushed right past me running over part of my paperwork!

When I finally had the tests kits down I went back to layaway to write my report.
They were having an employee meeting in the lay-away hole so I had to stand there and wait for the manager to get done talking before I could turn the report in to her.

WalMart Really IS A Cult!
I have never listened to anything so bizarre in my life!
I had always heard that WalMart has odd rituals that they make the employees go through, but I thought that it was all rumors.
Well it's not.
They sing, they chant, they have special clap routines when a new person is going to talk.
It was weird to say the least!
If we had to do anything like that where I work I would end up getting fired for laughing my way through it.

But I still have to say..... I LOVE WALMART
Yes, WalMart is my favorite store. They have just about anything a person could ever need.....and it's cheap!
So if they want to be all culty that's fine with me.

------------------------------------------

My second job today was the big hotel in Clearwater.
Just had to look at some columns and shear walls. Nothing overly taxing to the brain.

------------------------------------------

Have to take my daughter to court in the morning.
Wish me luck!

2004-12-18T21:19:00.000-05:00

Office Parties - Why Must We Have Them???

I had to attend two different office parties yesterday.
Wow....what fun!

Party #1
This was the official "Office Party"
We had a bunch of food brought into the large conference room.
Lasagna, stuffed shells, wings, sandwiches, pies, cakes, cookies......and much much more.
The food was fabulous!
The company on the other hand was not so "fabulous."
Keep in mind that none of the departments socialize and each thinks they are better than everyone else.
Also remember that since I am a field tech I am at the bottom of the barrel.
Conversation was forced at best.
In the end all of the techs stuck it out for a bit, but then we took our food back in the back where we are happy.
It's hard to be pleasant when people are looking down their noses at you.
This party lasted about 90 minutes. Not too bad!

--------------------------------------------------------

Party #2
This was the party for just the CS department.
For this one we all went down to The Wing House.
For those of you who haven't heard of The Wing House.....it is a Hooters clone. In fact Hooters just tried to sue The Wing House for using their idea of 3/4 naked women for waitresses. Thankfully the judge tossed the suit out. Gotta love a judge with common sense!
Not everyone came to this party because some of the techs and some of the office people are basically "old sticks in the mud."
Most people started drinking as soon as they walked in the door. Their butts hadn't even hit their chairs!
My boss was paying for everything so almost everyone went alcohol mad. Even some who are underage! My little sister will be 21 in 13 days so I ignored it when I saw her sneaking a drink here and there. My daughter is only 18 so if she was sneaking drinks she's good at it because I never caught her.
I don't drink at all unless Ap0k is with me. I am the girl who when she's drunk thinks all of the guys are her best friends and to make matters worse can't keep her clothes on. Since I have to work with these people every day I decided it was best to stay sober. I know I know.....I am such a party pooper!
One guy was hitting the shots HARD. So hard that my daughter ended up pick-pocketing his keys from him. She was SMOOTH about it too. I was impressed.

A few of the guys brought their wives or girlfriends.
I was talking to one of the guys....about a JOB....and since it was really really loud in the bar I was standing about 6" from him. His girlfriend SHOVED herself in between us with her back to me and pushed him away. Now tell me, how rude was that????
Another girl wasn't letting her boyfriend talk to any girls at all. It was just sad. How can you be so insecure in a relationship? I might understand if you had only been together for a short time, but these people are long time couples.

I stuck this party out for close to 4 hours and then hauled ass. When I left there was some serious drunkenness going on.
I can't even begin to imagine how much the bill was!!!!
It was all good fun though. No nastiness and no fights.

-------------------------------------------------

Ap0k and I finished our Christmas shopping today!!!
I only have one last thing being bid on on EBay. It's no doubt we will win the auction though.
I In the morning we are off to WalMart for wrapping paper, tags, bows, etc.
Oh....and groceries.......can't forget groceries!

-------------------------------------------------

Ap0k has to go to the Cincinnati DC on the 3rd. He should be gone a week.
The last time he went up there for a week he was gone over a month! He HAS to come home this time because he has his pre-surgery doctors appointment on the 12th and then his surgery is the 19th.
I have no idea what I will do all alone for a week. Knowing me I will probably spend 90% of my time at work.

God I have no life!

2004-12-16T21:36:00.000-05:00

Changes In The Air

I had a few talks with my boss today.
It appears that there are some major changes coming at work at the beginning of the year.
Sadly it involves people getting fired.
Even though I know the people getting fired deserve to be, I still hate to see it happen.
I guess it's the MOM in me.
We are also picking up some new jobs that will require fulltime technicians. I sure hope he replaces the ones he fires pretty quick!

One of the other threshold inspectors is going on vacation for 2 weeks. I went to his job ( a big hotel) today and met the superintendent. He seems like a really nice guy.

The Tampa and Sarasota offices are fighting over me!
They both want to use me December 22-24th for both threshold and Floor Flatness testing.
Well as much as I would love to, I really can't be in 2 places at once.
In the end the Tampa office will win because that is my home base.

I have to do scheduling and dispatch tomorrow because it's my dad's doctor day.
Will the fun never end????

2004-12-14T21:58:00.000-05:00

F*ck Me Boots

Well you asked for them........and here they are!

My F*ck me boots!

Knocks your socks right off don't they!?!?!?!
How could any guy resist a girl in steel-toed work boots?

Come on........you know they're sexy!!!

-----------------------------------------------

redder asked how I came to have a name like "a girl from home."

This is an odd story.
My "net ID" used to be (and sometimes still is) wench100. I got that one about 10-12 years ago because Ap0k always calls me wench.
About 9-10 years ago I became heavily involved in a porn movie posting forum of all things.
I used the name wench100 for awhile, but then I came up with "a girl from home" for 2 reasons:
1. Come to find out, the owner of the forum (which was and still is known world-wide) lives less than 2 miles from me. He called me his home girl poster.
2. I wanted the guys on the forum to trust me, to feel like I was someone they knew. I was watching an old army movie and the soldiers were all waiting for mail from their "girls from home."
I put those 2 reasons together and "a girl from home" was born.
After so long the name just stuck.

And yes.......I am still very active in porn movie posting forums.

2004-12-13T22:32:00.000-05:00

Ford Truck Roasting On An Open Fire

A bit of excitement today!
One of the Ford F350's from our drilling department caught fire this morning and burned to the ground in the parking lot.
No one has the slightest clue why either.
One of the drillers tried to start it but it was a no go. So he put the keys on the seat and went back inside. A few minutes later someone came in yelling that the truck was on fire.
It ended up exploding 3 times before the fire department got it put out. Luckily it didn't catch the bushes on fire. That would have been really bad because we are next to the airports flight path. It is a giant bush field. If that had gone up then air traffic would have been majorly screwed.
It had to have been an electrical problem I guess??
Good thing no one was in it......they would have been toasted.
You can see the keys under the seat frame so we know it wasn't running.

Someone broke into the mechanics section of the office Saturday night. It has to have been an inside job because they knew exactly where all of the cameras were pointing. Also all that they took was company owned things (tools, oil, etc). They didn't touch anything that was personally owned by the mechanic himself.
Why would you leave a $180 jack but take quarts of oil?

Seems strange things are afoot at the office.

We got 19 more piles done at Bob Evans today.
Almost done! We have one, maybe two days left to go.

Hmmmm......35 views today and no comments.
Well at least no one is complaining about how bad I write!
LOL!!!!!

2004-12-12T21:24:00.000-05:00

Piles 101

redder asked for pictures of pile driving. Unfortunately my daughter stole my digital camera so I don't have any photos of the particular job I am working on.
I did find a few pictures of other jobs though:

Here is the basic set-up of a pile driving rig...

The pile is lifted up inside of the cage hanging from the crane. You can use either steel, concrete or timber piles. At the top of the cage is a large drop hammer. The hammer we are using weighs 3,000lbs.
Here is another picture with a better view of the drop hammer...

Here is a picture of a very large drop hammer...

As you can see in the last picture there i a cap over the top of the pile. The drop hammer falls from a specified height (ours is a 6' drop) over and over and over until you reach either the required depth or you reach refusal. Refusal is a specified number of blows per inch (ours is 10-20 bpi).

Driven piles are the most basic of piles. Very time fast production. Boring as all hell for the inspector :-)

------------------------------------------------

redder also asked about augercast piles and if we do them in Florida.
Yes we do, and quite often actually.

Here is a picture of a basic augercast pile set-up...

As you can see in the picture it is basically a giant drill bit. As they bring the drill bit out of the ground grout is pumped into the shaft. When the shaft is full you normally add the rebar at the end.

------------------------------------------------

Since I did pile driving and augercast piles I figured I would show you some pictures of drilled shaft operations too.

Here is a basic drilled shaft rig:

As you can see it is also a drill bit type rig only this time it is a much shorter but wider bit.

After they drill down approx. 1-2' they bring the bit back up and spin off whatever comes up with it.
Here is a good picture showing the type of stuff they bring up....now you can see why I come home so dirty some days. Imagine how much mess this makes when they spin it off!

As the shaft is being drilled they keep it full of a slurry made from drill mud and water.
Here is a picture of the the shaft full of the slurry. This shows you how dangerous it is around the shafts because it is really sloppy and slippery and if you aren't careful you will fall in!

Once the shaft is drilled to it's required depth you then set the rebar cage. This picture will give you an idea of just how big these things are. This entire cage will go down in the shaft...

Now that the shaft is drilled and the cage is set it's time to place the concrete!

Here is a picture of a tremie tube....it has a pipe that reaches the bottom of the shaft. As the concrete goes to the bottom of the shaft it pushes the slurry out.....even more of a mess!

This picture shows you a field of completed drilled shafts...

---------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see there are alot more steps involved in drilled shafts than in other types of pilings.

I hope some of you found this interesting.

2004-12-10T21:35:00.000-05:00

Nice Pants And Pretty Hair

One of the pile driving crew guys told me today that I have "nice pants and pretty hair."
How odd is that?
A friend says that what he REALLY wanted to say was "you have HUGE tits, can I touch them?", but he knew better.
What can I say......if you got 'em....flaunt 'em.
Another friend says he wanted to say "nice shoes, wanna fuck?", but knew I would kill him if he did.
Men....gotta love 'em, cause it's illegal to shoot them.

We got 14 piles driven today. 15 total so far. Only 48 to go.
We would have gotten more done but the crew took and hour lunch (!!!!!) and then a cable broke on the rig and had to be replaced, and then it rained on us for 30 minutes.
They are planning on working tomorrow too to make up for missing yesterday.

Pre-augering the holes worked wonders. It went from taking 1 hour to drive one down to 20 minutes. Much better!!!!

-----------------------------------------

Saw a wreck happen today. A Ford Ranger slid right into a box truck. The Ranger was the loser in this battle. It had just finished raining and both vehicles were coming around a corner towards each other. When the Ranger hit his breaks he never even slowed down. POW! Right into the box truck.
I will say I never knew I could run that fast!
Poor old man in the Ranger was hit hard by the air bag. It fucked his arm up pretty good. Scared him pretty bad too. The guy in the box truck was MAD, understandably.

------------------------------------------

I have been thinking about something that bugs me to no end:
If a cow has a baby bull and you pick that baby bull up twice a day every day, why can't you eventually pick up a full grown bull???
What is the breaking point between "today I can pick him up" to "today I can't"?
It just seems like if you picked him up twice a day every day you would always be able to.

Ouch.......my brain is hurting!

2004-12-09T22:02:00.000-05:00

Goodbye Dimebag Darrell Abbott

Dimebag Darrell Abbot was the former guitar player for Pantera. More recently he had started the band Damageplan.
On Wednesday night while performing in a nightclub in Ohio Darrell was shot and killed along with 4 other people. 2 more people were injured. In the end a police officer shot and killed the assailant.
As of now no one seems to know WHY the man went on the shooting spree, but witnesses said that he seemed to be targeting Darrell in particular. He yelled "You broke up Pantera" right before he shot him.
You can read the news article about it here:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NIGHTCLUB_SHOOTING?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

I can't understand all of the violence in the world today.
Just the other day there was a girl killed here in a Subway restraunt holdup because she couldn't get the drawer open fast enough.
A few weeks ago a man walked into a Radio Shack in St. Pete and shot and killed several people. No one knows WHY he did it.

Is it something in the water? In the air?
People seem to be getting more and more violent on a daily basis.

I wish I could understand.

My heartfelt sympathy goes out to all of the family, friends, and fans of Dimebag Darrell Abbott.
He will be missed by many.

2004-12-09T07:41:00.000-05:00

Curses....Foiled Again!

What is with my jobs lately?
My driven pile job cancelled on me this morning before I could even leave the house!!!
Now they want to try to start tomorrow, but of course it is supposed to RAIN tomorrow.

Now I am going to have to fight rush hour traffic all the way to the office. It's 17.5 miles away and should take me about an hour and a half :-/

*Grumble-Grumble*

2004-12-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

What Are Driven Piles?

Melissa has asked what driven piles are.

Driven piles are pieces of concrete, steel, or timber usually 40'-50' in length.
They are driven into the ground with a giant drop hammer suspended from a crane. The hammer we are using weighs 3,000 pounds!

There are different sets of criteria for each job of course.

On this job (Bob Evans) we are using 40' long timber piles that are 12" in diameter at the top and 8" in diameter at the bottom. Basically a giant spear.
The pile has to be driven into the ground to a minimum of 35'. You can't stop driving (or hammering) it until it takes 10-20 blows to get it to go down an inch.

Piles are used under buildings when the ground is determined to be too unstable to withstand the load of the building.
For example, the piece of land we are building the Bob Evans on was at one point a pit of some kind (know one seems to know why).
Several years ago the pit was filled with fill dirt but never properly compacted. That means if we build anything on the land it will sink pretty quick.
Once the piles are in, the building is built on top of them.

Hope that explains it a bit better.
Thanks for showing interest Melissa!!!

2004-12-08T22:23:00.000-05:00

The 2004 Billboard Awards Fiasco

I have just suffered through the 2004 Billboard Awards. It was without a doubt the WORST awards show EVER.

-Ryan Seacrest was lifeless as a host.
-The performances were lackluster at best. The best performance was by Alicia Keys acrobatic dancers. Gwen Steffani's performance was just plain odd.
-Most of the presenters zipped through the nominees so quick you didn't even know WHO was nominated.
-They gave 90% of the awards off-camera. Though with the quality of the show it was probably a blessing.
-The MadTV "comedy" sketches were not funny in the slightest, (In fact I found the Clay Aiken sketch offensive at best and I am damn near unoffendable!)
-Quincy Jones seemed to mumble through his presentation of the life time achievement award to Stevie Wonder (award is actually called something else?)

All in all........a total waste of my time.
-Stevie Wonders performance was good, but I could have done without the lecture.
-

2004-12-08T18:00:00.000-05:00

Driven Piles, Linkin Park, and Jay Z

I started the driven piles today.
We should have gotten approx. 22 of them done.
How many did we actually get? ONE!
They are using 40' timber piles. Each one has to be driven a minimum of 35'
The first one took an hour to get it that deep and since we have 64 of them it was going to take WAY too long.
The driving crew decided they would preauger each hole 15' and we will then start driving from there.
Sooooo......we will try again tomorrow.
How do I always end up wth these jobs???

Sitting here listening to Linkin Park and Jay Z's new mash-up cd titled "Collision Course."
You can read about it here....
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6659706/u2?pageid=rs.News&pageregion=double1&rnd=1102546783328&has-player=false
If you are a fan of either Linkin Park or Jay Z then I HIGHLY recommend it!

2004-12-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

I See Driven Piles In My Future

I start my new job tomorrow morning. It is a driven pile job.

They are building a Bob Evans in Lakeland and evidentially it is going to sit on mush.

They are using 40' timber piles. Driven to 35' with a 3,000lb weight.
I am glad they are using wood piles......so much quieter than either concrete or steel piles!

It is supposed to take 3 days....let's hope it doesn't take 3 WEEKS!

------------------------------

Worked in the lab today.
11 FDOT LBR samples.....took me ALL day to do. Each one had a high clay content.
I have no fingernails or fingerprints left!

----------------------------

My boss hired my daughter today (now there are 4 of us there!)
She is going to be his and the marketing girls assistant. Mainly years worth of backlogged data entry to begin with. Daughter is thrilled to death to have a REAL job.

----------------------------

Boring day today.....See Ya

2004-12-06T16:29:00.000-05:00

Added Some Buttons

I added some new buttons over there on the left
<<<<<
Check them out, you might find something you like.

2004-12-06T02:36:00.000-05:00

Thoughts On Rap Music By A 39y/o White Woman

I guarantee that the majority of you are thinking that I am going to slam rap music.
Well you couldn't be more wrong.
My deep dark secret (the one that everyone knows) is that I am addicted to rap, hip-hop, r&b, and funk.
For lack of better phrasing we will call it my "love of urban music"

It started in the 80's when I was a teenager. Like most southern white teenage girls I liked the Hair Bands and metal. Cinderella, Iron Maiden.....that kind of stuff. I thought rap music was crappy.
Then I met Ap0k and all of that changed.

He first introduced me to Whodini.

In 1984 they released the album "Escape" on Jive Records. It had such songs on it as "Escape", "Freaks Come Out at Night" and "5 Minutes Of Funk".
From the first time I heard that album I was hooked.
"5 Minutes Of Funk featuring DJ Icey" is still one of Ap0k's favorite songs.

Next came Prince.

This is the man who's music has completely influenced my life. The movie "Purple Rain" came out in 1984 and is still one of my favorites. With every album he makes he just seems to get better and better. I've seen him in concert twice and both times were beyond amazing. I truly believe that this man is a musical genius.

As the years went by I got more and more into urban music. Solo artists and groups came and went.

NWA was a fantastic group who's music almost scared me.
I much preferred Ice Cube as a solo artist.

His song "It Was A Good Day" still makes it into my playlists on almost a daily basis.
How can you not love a song that says it was a good day because you didn't have to use your AK?

My weakest musical spot is Florida Bass Booty Shake.

The start of the Booty Shake began with 2 Live Crew.

Their album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" was released in 1989. In 1990 the Florida courts declared it legally obscene. Later that year the Supreme Court overturned the ruling. This was just the beginning of their problems with the law. The "lead singer" Luther Campbell aka/Luke Skywalker aka/ Captain Dick, aka/Uncle Luke has been repeatedly harassed by various Florida law enforcement agencies.
I understand why some people would think 2 Live Crew's music is/was offensive, what I don't understand is why these same people feel the need to protect ME from it. But that is a whole nother story now isn't it.

There were several very popular Booty Shake groups.
69 Boys, Splack Pack, DJ Laz, 95 South etc etc.
Each group/artist had a sexual energy that even gets me moving today.

Someone else who has always been a particular favorite is LL Cool J.
I prefer to call him "He with the god-like arms".

LL 's real name is James Todd Smith. He left home when he was only 17 to pursue his career.
His first album was released in 1985. Over the years he has had numerous hits such as "Rock The Bells", "I Need Love"n and "Around The Way Girl" (my favorite of his songs).
Most recently he released "The DEFinition" which contains both "Hush" and "Headsprung" which did very well on the charts.
I have to say that he is most definitely the best looking rapper/singer ever.......EVER!

Some other 80's artists that I still listen too are:
Slick Rick and Dug E. Fresh (thank god Slick Rick is finally free!), Cameo, Guccii Crew, Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock, Newcleus, Afrika Baambaata & The Soul Sonic Force, DJ Kool, etc. etc.

There are several groups and solo artists from the 70's that I enjoy listening to also.

Donny Hathaway is one of the best in my opinion.

Donny Hathaway was a very talented but tortured man.
Please listen to his song "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" to get a taste of his talent.
Sadly Danny committed suicide in 1979 by jumping out of a 15th story window of the Essex Hotel in New York.

Someone you should definitely give a listen to is Bobby Womack.

This artist has tons of songs for you to check out. Each one better than the last.
For a sampling you should try the soundtrack to "Across 110th St."

Of course no list would be complete without P-Funk!

P-Funk is a catch-all name for Parliament/Funkadelic/George Clinton/Bootsy Collins/P-Funk All-Stars/Maceo Parker and the list goes on...
With countless albums and singles, way too numerous to list here, there are very few of todays urban artists who haven't been influenced by P-Funk in some way.
They are also one of the most sampled bands in history.
Take a look at this list to see just how sampled they are......and by who....
http://www.duke.edu/~tmc/motherpage/list-samples.html
One thing I would love to know is....with that many people in the group.....how did they make any money???

Todays urban music is great too.

Ludacris is a top-notch rapper with a great sense of humor.

His song "Move Bitch" runs through my head almost daily in traffic. I particularly like his videos. Each one has something just quirky enough in it to really get your attention.

I am a HUGE fan of Crunk/Dirty South Rap
Artists like Petey Pablo, Trick Daddy, Big Tymers, Bubba Sparxxx, OutKast, Akon, and of course the KING of Crunk - Lil John!
Crunk/Dirty South has a much deeper bass backing. Plus the guys voices tend to be deeper too. I guess you could say their voices are more "guy-like"??

-----------------------------------------------

So.....what does this 39y/o white woman think about rap???
She loves it!
Has it ever offended me?
Of course it has!
But so has various songs of other types of music.
While people try to make rap out as sexist, I find country music to be much more sexist (and most of it SUCKS!)
Music is a personal thing. You should never judge a persons musical tastes on there looks. Most people assume that I like country music.....ICK!

I think everyone is entitled to listen to whatever they want. If you don't like the radio station I listen to then you are free to change the channel.
I am sick of all of these women complaining about rap music.

Actually I am sick of women in general.......but again that's another story.

2004-12-04T22:52:00.000-05:00

Thank You redder

I just wanted to say a special thank you to redder for the comment he left me.
It made me feel much better.

2004-12-04T01:35:00.000-05:00

Hello.......is this thing on???

2004-12-03T17:56:00.000-05:00

Sex and Cars

Do sex and cars go hand in hand?
Can someone actually have a sexual type relationship with a car?

I think it's possible!

Ap0k is in love with his car. He is completely and utterly smitten by her.
When he orders parts he gets the same look on his face as when I tell him he can have a blowjob.
When he gets home from driving it he has the same look on his face as when we are done having sex.

When he washes it is definitely like watching a sensual display.

Sometimes it is really bizarre.
But hey....I would rather it was the car and not another woman!

2004-12-03T17:44:00.000-05:00

Is What I Do Important???

I always believed that my job was important.
I am beginning to doubt it though.

Engineers don't read my reports.
My family has no interest.
It's very disheartening.

I understand that my daughter doesn't care. She's 18 and totally self-centered.
Ap0k used to seem to care, but now, while he does ask me how my day was, never asks how particular jobs are going. He never asks where I am going to next. When I try to talk to him about work he tries to pay attention, but his eyes glaze over in just a short time.
When I try to give him updates on jobs he almost never remembers what I told him before.

All the engineers are worried about is how much they can bill for my time. I don't think anyone has read one of my reports in months. I purposely put things in the reports so they HAVE to ask me questions and yet they never do.

Even other inspectors and techs don't seem to care.
There was a nice picture of the women's hospital that i did in the paper today. I cut it out and hung it on the board in our office. Everyone made fun of me for doing it.
I tried to tell them that I was proud of it and that it was the prettiest building I had ever done.
They just laughed at me and said I take work too seriously.

Does anyone think what I do is important?
I would hate to think that I am wasting all of this time and effort for nothing!

2004-12-02T05:41:00.000-05:00

I Hate Porta-Pottys

Yes, I do. I hate porta-potty with all of my heart.
Which means in this line of work I am screwed. I can tell you where every McDonald in the state of Florida is because they all have reasonably clean bathrooms.
unfortunately on some jobs running to McDonald is not always an option.
Then you are stuck with the dreaded porta-potty.
Imagine being the only girl on a jobsite full of men.........and one porta-potty.
ICK ICK ICK!
I think I am giving myself a bladder infection and muscle strains from holding it for so long.

I actually had a job once where the superintendent got me my own porta-potty. I loved that man!

My drilled shafts for the bridge are finally done!
Even though I complained about them I will miss the job. It was terribly no-stress.

Off to work.......more later I hope.

2004-11-30T22:24:00.000-05:00

Best URL Ever

Here is my nomination for the best URL of all time....

http://www.longhardwood.com/

Check it out.......it may surprise you.

What's yours?

2004-11-30T18:26:00.000-05:00

How Many $$$'s??

While I was at the bridge today we were all wondering just how many dollars are spent just between the 25 houses on the island in one day.
Between the FedEx, UPS, and DHL delivery trucks, the lawn services, the pool services, the contractors, the house cleaning services, the decorators, and the window washers, there must be an ungodly amount of money spent on things people really could do themselves.
The "lawn service" I have ever had has been my 10y/o nephew.
I have no pool so no pool service.
I try to clean my own house once a week.....and I stress TRY.
Never had a contractor or a decorator.
The only time my windows get washed is when someone accidentally hits them with the hose.
Now we DO get alot of deliveries from FedEx and UPS. Almost all are car parts for Ap0k though.

Do I hold all of the luxuries against these people?
Hell no! If I had that kind of money I would have the same things done.
I am actually a little jealous of the pool service......I want a pool!

I have a floor flatness scheduled for Saturday morning.
It's on a new Target store that is on the second floor of a 2-story building. Since it is an elevated deck no one but me can be on it while I test it. The machine I use picks up the flexing of the floor from people/things moving as bad spots on the floor.
So they are kicking all of the contractors out on Saturday and I will have the place to myself.
Pretty cool deal.

Only 1 day left on my bridge.
Even though I have complained about slow they are, I will still miss the job when it's over. The crew hasn't given me any real trouble at all. If there have been problems they have fixed them without arguing. I love that.

No idea yet what my next project will be........hope it is something neat!

2004-11-29T21:28:00.000-05:00

And 1 To Go

Finished drilled shaft #4 today. That leaves just one more to go!
Even the concrete showed up on time, which is almost unheard of.
I thought I might actually get home at a decent hour but there was a major wreck on the bridge so it took me over an hour to get back to the office.

I have to repeat myself when I say I just can't bring myself to trust civil engineers who refuse to get dirty.
I even had to take the city inspectors camera to take pictures of the shaft for him because "it's too wet and I don't want to get dirt on my shoes"
UGH!!!

Very tired today. No idea why.
Blah

2004-11-28T17:10:00.000-05:00

Some Of This and Some Of That

Since I have been off of work since last Wednesday I have nothing work related to talk about.
Instead of I have decided to write a bunch of nonsense.

Here is a list of things that drive me nuts:

1. People who think concrete and cement are the same thing.
I can't tell you how bad it annoys me when people call concrete cement.
2. Other peoples children.
No they aren't cute, no I don't want to hold them. Please, just take them away.
3. Dogs.
Too clingy and take too much work. Give me a good old cat any day.
4. People who put on their turn signals and breaks 10 feet before they plan on turning.
Give me some warning!
5. The Tampa Bay Bucs.
I spent 2 years working on your new stadium. The least you could do is win a game!
6. Pointy toed shoes.
Why would I want my feet to look like weapons??
7. Reality TV.
Programming for people with no lives of their own.
8. People who take forever in the drive-though at the bank.
It takes me less than 1 minute from start to finish. What ARE you doing up there?
9. The lady next door.
I have never done anything to you nor done anything to annoy you, so why are you so rude to me?
10. Writer's Block.
The thing that hits me every time I try to make a blog entry.

Now here is a list of things I love:

1. Macaroni and Cheese.
The worlds most perfect food.
2. Nextel's Direct Connect.
How could contacting someone get any easier?
3. Cadillac Escalades.
One day I will win the lottery and will buy one!!!!
4. The fact that my daughter left her crappy boyfriend.
Man that boy was a loser!
5. Ap0k's butt.
The greatest rear view on earth!
6. My Cats.
All 12 of them!
7. TLC and Discovery.
Pretty much the only channels I ever watch.
8. Easynews.
The best $10 a month you could ever spend.
9. Roadrunner combined with NetTransport.
Blazing downloads!!!
10. Johnny Depp.
Nothing more to say than....WOW!

Now you know a little more about me.
Pretty exciting huh?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

*EDIT*
You know you are getting old when songs from your teens are being used for baby toy commercials!!!
Now I am depressed.

2004-11-26T20:03:00.000-05:00

Freewebspace.com Is A Trojan Heaven!!!!!

Please people.....never never never go to freewebspace.com!!
It has popups gallore and tries to install nasties on your computer.

Now while I am no computer genius, I am no dummy either. I know how to protect myself against viruses, trojans, etc. I update and run my virus scan every night. I routinely run all of my spyware/trojan killers. Of course I have a firewall.

Well there is a new variant of the Look2Me trojan that regenerates faster than you can clean it.
It installs without asking and overrides everything. You see it installing and there is nothing you can do about it.

I worked for 2 days trying to get rid of this trojan with no luck. In the end I had to have Ap0k reformat it....grrrrrr

This is not the first time I have had trouble with freewebspace.com. They are full of things trying to install.

STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!

On a happier note...
I had today off! I had so much time to myself that I didn't know what to do.
Being such an exciting person I went to the gas station and the bank, came back home and did laundry.
WOO-HOO....just call me The Party Girl!!

2004-11-25T07:24:00.000-05:00

The Rogue Inspector

I should write a kids book and title it "The Inspector Who Didn't Fit In"
I don't get along with almost any other inspectors be they with the city, county, state, or even my own company.
Most inspectors have the attitude of "I have the power, you will do what I say!" Or their outlook on their job is "I must find something you did wrong!"
I'm not like that at all.
My outlook is more like "Let's make sure everything is correct", which is totally different.
A lot of inspectors will drive up to a job, walk around until they find something wrong, write them up , and then leave.
That means if they had a concrete pour scheduled they have cancel it because now they have to fix the problem and then reschedule the inspector to come out.
If I find something wrong and it is fixable I prefer to have them fix it while I am there and then the pour can go on as scheduled.
Most of the time all you find wrong is missing rebar and that can be placed as soon as you say something. Maybe the rebar in a wall is one cell off......well just move it over and it's fixed!
I prefer to work WITH the contractors and not AGAINST them.
What is the point in throwing your weight around? All that accomplishes is making the contractors hate you. Why would I want people to hate me? I don't want to go to a jobsite just to have people hide from me!
Most fixes are easy so why not just let them do it on the spot?
Density tests are the same way. If they fail a test and the equipment is there to recompact the soil, why not give them a couple of minutes to fix it?
Of course if there is a major problem that will take hours to fix then I can't always do it this way. There are times I have to leave them to fix something. But even then I try to do it with tact. I usually get more upset about it then the contractors do.

My bridge is going well. We are on the 4th shaft of 5 now. Yesterday we set the casing for it, and Monday we will drill it to it's final depth and then pour it.
The 3rd one went well until it came time for the concrete. We were ready for concrete at 1:00pm. Concrete was scheduled for 2:00pm. It showed up at 5:05pm! Of course that meant I didn't get out of there until after 8:00pm.......another 15 hour day.
No city inspectors ever showed up yesterday. I guess that means on Monday they will copy my reports. I guess they trust I know what I am doing??
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I wonder if we won the lottery?
It was up to 60 Million last night. Bought 10 tickets and haven't checked them yet.

Today is Thanksgiving.....oh joy of joys. Yes that IS sarcasm!
We have to be at my sisters house at 2:00pm.
This never goes well. Ap0k only gets along with my father. My mother always assumes he's mad when he's not. My sister and her girlfriend are possibly the most annoying people on the planet.
My nephew (whom I love dearly) will end up whining about everything.
The GOOD thing is that my daughter is cooking almost all of the food this year. That girl can cook anything. All I have to do is go over to pick up the food and deliver it because their car is too small.
Hope all of you who celebrate Thanksgiving have a happy day!

2004-11-21T21:09:00.000-05:00

Adventures In Snobville

The bridge I am doing is tiny. It only measures 50' from approach to approach.
It spans a small canal that separates one loop road from the mainland so that it is a small island stuck in Tampa Bay. Needless to say these houses are VERY expensive.
This property used to be worth very little, but after they built the Devil Ray's stadium not too far away the prices went through the roof.
Originally there were small "normal" houses on the island.
People have bought these up (approx. 30 houses) and are tearing them down to build big big mini-mansions.
You can't touch a house there for under $500,000 now.
The mainland neighborhood is pretty much the same. Very large very new houses with the odd small old one still sticking around.

There are 2 types of people who live in this area.....
Old Money....and New Money

The old money people are always very nice. They stop every day to say hello to everyone on the crew. The smile and wave when they drive by. They never treat anyone badly. They even stop and chat with the day laborers who direct traffic.They ask questions about what we are doing. They never complain about any noise or mess that we make. They never complain when we work past 7:00pm (the county's time limit for night work in neighborhoods.) All in all very very nice pleasant people.

The new money people are a completely different breed. They are rude and nasty to everyone. They complain about every noise they think they might hear. If you smile when they go by all you get in return is a snarl. Their kids are exactly the same. Nasty nasty.
I have had some of these people.....especially the women......give me some ugly looks. Makes me feel bad.

The old money people understand that the existing bridge is literally falling down and needs replaced.

The new money people are HIGHLY inconvenienced, and don't care that the bridge is just about ready to fall into the canal. All they know is that they have to wait 30 seconds to get across the bridge because someone else is coming.

Needless to say I like the old money people much better!

This is also a neighborhood of exercise freaks. I have never seen so many people who run/walk/jog/ride bikes/skate in my life. People of all ages are out at all hours of the day.
There are a few who are very very old, and yet they are out running and jogging faster and farther than I could imagine doing myself.
There is one guy who has no legs that rides one of those bikes you pedal with your arms. He simply amazes me. He is soooooooo fast!!!!
There is one man in his late 60's or early 70's that has to me an iron man type athlete. He is in astounding shape. Most 19 year old guys only wish they were in this kind of shape.

This is also dog heaven. Every morning and every afternoon a bunch of people walk their dogs. Big dogs, little dogs, mutt dogs, pure bred dogs. I am not a dog person so they don't hold that much interest with me.

One thing I have noticed. This is a deed restricted community of course (YUCK!) so there are no cats anywhere. Not even one.
But we do see RATS!
I think I like my crappy neighborhood that is full of cats better than a ritzy one with rats!

Yep.....while the houses are nice and some of the people are nice.....I really think I like my little neighborhood much much better.
If we don't have time to cut the lawn no one cares.
If we have too many cars in the yard no one cares.
If we wait longer than we should to paint the house no one cares.
If we play our music too loud no one cares.
If we have cats outside no one cares.
If we want to work on a car in the driveway for months on end no one cares (in fact they like to help)
W live in what I like to call "ghetto-lite" and it suits us just fine thank you!
I think that having to have your yard in tip top shape all of the time is just too much work. I don't have time for crap like that!

Guess I wasn't made to be a snob.

2004-11-20T17:38:00.000-05:00

2 Down....3 To Go

This itty bitty bridge is turning into a real joke.
What should have taken 5 days at the MOST is now going to take another 2 WEEKS!
The drill crew foreman is quite possibly the most inept person I have ever met. His crew absolutely hates him because he treats them like dirt.

When you do drilled shafts the steps to take are:
Drill the shaft to the depth of the length of the casing...
Insert the casing...
Drill to the final depth of the shaft...
Clean the sand out of the shaft...
Insert the steel in the shaft...
Pour the concrete in the shaft...
Done

For some reason when this guy cleans the sand out of the shafts he takes HOURS to do it. That means there isn't time to finish it in one day.

His steps are:
Drill the shaft to the depth of the length of the casing..
Insert the casing...
Cover the shaft...
Go home

Day Two
Drill the shaft to the final depth...
Spend the next 4 hours cleaning the shaft...
Insert the steel...
Pour the concrete...
Make a HUGE mess...
Overfill the shaft...
Shovel the shaft out to it's correct shaft...
Spend the next 3 hours cleaning up the mess made...
Cover the shaft...
Go Home

Ridiculous!

Oh well.......thank goodness I get paid by the hour!!!

Got into it with a city engineer yesterday. Talk about an idiot!
He wasn't going to let them use the rebar cage that was delivered to the site because it was 10' too long. I told him they would cut the excess off on site. He said no it couldn't be cut on site because it would make the cage crooked. I explained to him that even if we sent it back the cage would never get off the truck. All the would do is cut it and turn the truck around. He finally excepted that.
Then he didn't like that I was basing ny ground elevation off of an existing curb next to the shaft.
He wanted me to use the PROPOSED curb line elevation! How stupid is that???
It literally took me 30 minutes to get him to understand that you can't base elevations on something that MIGHT be there in the future. I have to base them on something that IS there now! How can I measure off of thin air???
Then he was sure that the rebar cage was going to set crooked. I told him that after they lifted it and set it in the hole they would chain it straight.
Well when they picked it up with the crane it was hanging just barely crooked and he started jumping up and down saying they couldn't use it because it was crooked. I explained to him that because it is 52' long we had to use a larger crane...larger cranes have larger hooks...so we could get it precisely straight RIGHT THEN.
I told them to go ahead and stick it in the shaft and he was so made that he called the design engineer out.
Once the cage was set to elevation he was horrified to see that half of the pieces of rebar were a little higher than the other half. I told him that was because there was no way on earth that you would get 11 #9 hook bars in a 36" circle, all turned inward, to fit perfectly even. It's one of those cases where it looks real pretty on paper but doesn't work at all in reality.
The city engineer was sooooooooo mad. He just KNEW I was wrong.
The designer engineer (the guy who actually designed the bridge) finally showed up.
He listened to the city engineers side
He listened to my side
He read both of our notes

AND I WIN!!!!

He actually asked the city engineer if he had ever inspected a drilled shaft or a bridge before.
He told him the same exact thing as I did about the rebar cage never lining up as drawn.
I have never seen someone so embarrassed before.
It made me laugh.......on the inside.
I'm too nice to actually laugh out loud like that at someone.
But now the design engineer thinks I have my shit together......and that is a GOOD thing!

Because next week is a holiday week we are only going to be able to drill and pour one shaft. Then the following week we will drill and pour the final two.
They wanted to work today, but no one wanted to pay for me. I am too expensive!
The drill crew wanted to work but said they wouldn't pay for me. The superintendent said they couldn't work if I wasn't there, and he wasn't going to pay for me because it wasn't his fault that they are behind. After fighting about it for several hours they decided they wouldn't work, Which for me is great because I have been working for almost 2 weeks straight without a day off.

Tomorrow I will tell you about the neighborhood where the bridge is at. I will call it "Adventures In Snobville"

See Ya

2004-11-17T04:36:00.000-05:00

The Bridge To Nowhere

Major problems with the bridge.

We started on the test method shaft last Friday. As of now (Wednesday morning) we have STILL not been able to pour it.
Monday afternoon when everything was ok were informed we couldn't get concrete that day so we put the steel back over the hole.
Yesterday when we opened it back up it was evident that it had been open so long the sides were beginning to collapse.
The contractor had to bring out a longer steel casing to help support the sides. By the time we got that all installed it was too late to pour concrete so we closed it up again.

Hopefully we will get to pour it today!

One thing they do have to do though is dig it another 5' deeper.
FDOT standards require a drilled shaft that has been open for over 36 hours to be overream 1" in diameter and 5' in length.
That means this morning they have to set the drill rig all back up and dig another 5' and hole the sides hold up.

It would be nice if we could at least get the test shaft done!

All this for a 50' bridge over a canal in a ritzy neighborhood.
Bah!

2004-11-15T04:17:00.000-05:00

SinkHole Complete

What started out to be a 5 hour job ended up taking over 24.
We started 7am Saturday morning by drilling over half of the holes.......well I guess I should explain....

A sinkhole opened up across Hwy 98's northbound lanes in Bartow this past week. The immediately filled with soil and base material and compacted the daylights out of it, then reasphalted it. This was because it is a heavily trafficked area and there is no way to switch the traffic to the southbound lanes.
After that is complete you then drill 3" diameter holes all the way down into the rock bed which in this case was 35'-56' deep. Now you attach the hydraulic pump to one of the holes and start pumping grout into it. The grout used is only 250psi @ 7 days.
Once a hole is full you can move on to the next one.

We tried to get it all done on Saturday, but at 9pm the concrete truck drivers had reached their maximum 15 drive hours allowed by law. That meant we had to leave 4 holes for Sunday.

In the end we only had to add one extra hole. You add an extra when one of the outside holes is still too deep. We ended up with a total of 14 holes, and used 250 cy of grout. That road isn't going ANYWHERE now!

Even though I ended up working all week (all overtime!) it really ended up being a great job.
The FDOT inspector was pretty cool and the crew doing the actual work was nice as hell and really knew what they were doing.

Now it's 4:30am Monday and I am off to work again.
I have to wrap up all of the reports for the sinkhole and then move on back to the bridge job.

Ahhhhhh life........you gotta love it!

2004-11-12T20:43:00.000-05:00

Finally.....

My bridge FINALLY started today!!!
I was scheduled there for 8am
The super showed up at 8:45am
The equipment showed up at 9:30am
The finally started work at 1pm.
My god they were slooooooooooooow!!!
All next week they want to work 7am-7pm. I couldn't figure out why it would take them 12 hours to drill and pour ONE shaft. Well now I know.....because they are so damn SLOW!

All of the drilled shafts will be approx 50 feet deep. Today was just the test method shaft (to make sure all will work according to plan).
We only got 11 feet, set the temporary can (for stability) and then they called it quits for the day!
Remember this is in the middle of an existing roadway/bridge!
All they did was plop a steel plate over the hole that will hopefully keep it covered until Monday.
If not someone is going to drive into a 36 inch wide, 11 foot deep hole!

I was called to do an emergency sink hole repair starting tomorrow morning at 7am.
It should be all grouted my tomorrow night, but if not I will be working Sunday too, which is ok since I played slacker and took Wednesday off.
Ap0k doesn't seem to thrilled about it though. I think he is upset that I am not going to the doctor with him tomorrow.

Will let you know how the sink hole went when it's done.

See Ya!

2004-11-10T22:17:00.000-05:00

The Broken Husband

Finally got Ap0k to go to the doctor about his shoulders. They have both been hurting him for at least 10 years, but now they have gotten REALLY bad.
The doctor checked him out and took xrays and all yesterday. Seems he has torn rotator cuffs and bone spurs in BOTH shoulders. Well no wonder it hurts so bad!!!
He has always been very physical both in work and leisure. He worked in the warehouse for alot of years plus he is a weightlifting freak. Put those two together and you basically rip your arms off of your body.
He is so sad now though.
He was thinking that when they do the surgery he wouldn't be able to go to the gym for quite awhile. I pointed out that he will still be able to do all of his leg work and cardio, so now he is at least a little less miserable.
I think it bothers him to find out that he is not indestructible.

Stayed home from work today. I had no jobs scheduled and I did not feel like working in the lab. So I played hookey and hung around the house, went to WalMart, cooked a big pan of lasagna.....wife type stuff.
I loved it!
I'll go in tomorrow though.
No hours = No $$$$
Can't have that now can we?

2004-11-08T22:14:00.000-05:00

Fair Weather Friends

It always amazes me how people are able to toss their friends aside like dirty laundry.

Seems that one of my irc buddies felt we were good enough for him when he was single, but the minute he got a girlfriend we ceased to exist.
Doesn't even have time to pop in to say "Hi, I'm still alive"
Everyone else makes sure to check in a few times a week even if they are busy with "real life".
Oh well.........I guess you never really know people.

Work is ho-hum at best right now. I think I set a new land speed record today. I managed to do 16 FDOT sieves in just under 3 hours.
YAY ME!

My bridge has STILL not started. It was supposed to start (for the 4th time) today, but now they are saying Wednesday. We shall see, we shall see.

I am really beginning to wonder if my boss is going to quit. He has been acting so strange lately.
I know his health isn't real good right now. He has Gulf War Syndrome and has just found out he has bad ulcers. He can only eat one small meal a day so he is living on protein powder. Not good.

The election has come and gone and I must say that I am quite pleased with the results. Everyone and everything I voted for passed except for one county commissioner and 2 amendments. Not too shabby.
And thank goodness Florida didn't screw up this time!
The touch screen voting made things sooooooo simple. The only easier way would be if someone actually asked you the questions.

Man........sometimes these posts are so dull.
One of these days I will have to find something exciting to do.

2004-11-03T16:18:00.000-05:00

Why Aren't I In Charge?

Anonymous has asked why, if the people I work with are so sad, aren't they replaced?
Well if I were in charge of that, trust me, several of them would be gone tomorrow.

One of the only other two female technicians was in a slight fender bender of a wreck yesterday. Of course she is now screaming of the whole "My Back, My Back" crap. Her back might not hurt if she didn't weigh almost 500 pounds! (literally)
She got the doctor to put her on light duty. She EXPECTED to get her normal 50 hours a week doing nothing. Boy was she pissed when she found out she was going to get 26 hours a week of sweeping!! Suddenly she feels much better and is going to have the doctor release her on Friday.

Another technician is a total coke head. He was doing ok, until our boss found out today that he has been going to all of his jobs in the morning (regardless of when they were scheduled for) and then disappearing for the rest of the day.
There is no way to get solid proof that he HAS been doing it, but since he got busted today he got his "first warning". He now has to check in once every 2 hours at the most.

The new stink is that we are going to have to start logging all of the proctor samples we bring in on a large memo board. Seems someone wrote the wrong testing information down on a sample card and it got through the lab before anyone noticed. That means we have to go pick up a new sample and that the client doesn't have to pay for it.
Most of the techs are mad as hell about having to do this, but personally I think it is a good idea. I know for a fact that the same thing has happened several times before.
With it being written down the engineers can do a quick scan of the info to make sure it is correct.
It's not SO bad when it happens on a private job, but when it is an FDOT job there is hell to pay.
I don't understand why some of them see doing this as such a big deal. It will only take about 30 seconds to write it down.

There are a few of the techs that I would definitely NOT fire. I am very close with 2 of them so of course they can stay! And there are a couple others that always do their jobs and never cause trouble.
Why can't they all be like that???

Maybe it is a good thing I am NOT in charge. If I were I would end up firing too many people and then who would cover all of the jobs?

It would be a no win situation.

2004-11-02T18:06:00.000-05:00

Today Is The Day

Well today is the day. I hope you got out and voted for someone or something.
If not, you still have time!
As long as you are in line when the polls close you will still get to vote and your vote will be counted!

Ap0k and I went to the polls together this morning. We only had to wait in line an hour so that was not too bad. I like the touch-screen voting. Made things very easy to understand.
No excuses this year Florida!

Was down in Sarasota at the school today. It was one of my last threshold inspections on that job. Soon the welding inspector and the roofing inspector will take over.

I am slacking horribly this week. Yesterday I was clocked in for 6 hours. Today only 5.
Shame on me for wanting to have a life!
I am sure it will be back to the same old thing tomorrow though. I am terrified to see how many FDOT samples are still laid out to be sieved.
I hope that SOMEONE in the lab got off of their ass to do them!!!

I know I know.......hope in one hand and spit in the other....see which one gets full faster.

God I am tacky.

2004-10-27T21:11:00.000-05:00

The Second Floor Trampoline

I am not at all thrilled with the school in Sarasota.
I was down there on Monday to inspect the start of the second floor block walls. Another inspector had done the second floor deck, both the initial inspection and the concrete monitoring, so this was the first I had seen it.
This deck is without a doubt the worst design I have ever seen!
It has small little ceiling/floor joists, no nelson studs, and the concrete depth is only 2 1/2".
It is a pan deck which is quite normal.
The problem?
It bounces!
Pan decks should not bounce!!!
Whenever someone walks by you, you can feel the whole floor "tremble" under your feet.
they have a very very small block lift (basically a pallet jack), and when they move it you feel like you are going to be bounced right off the deck.
Needless to say I ran to the trailor to check the plans and yes that is the way it was designed.
I am mortified!

Tuesday I went to the college and made prisms on a cell fill pour. Nothing exciting there at all.

Today I did a floor flatness/levelness test at a rec center on their gym floor.
Sadly they failed miserably.
They were required to achieve an Ff of 35 and an Fl of 20
What they actually got was an Ff of 15.1 and an Fl of 20.4
Not good at all!
If you are interested you can read about Floor Flatness/Levelness testing here:
http://www.northstarcsi.com/q-a/qa9610.htm
or for the best information go here:
http://faceco.com/40q.html
The last link is the website of the company that actually certified me to do this type of testing.
It is actually one of the more interesting tests that I do.

Now for some gossipy type stuff......

One of our techs was "injured" on the job a month ago. Since he said he hurt his back there was no way to tell if he was really hurt or not. He was checked out at the clinic and then put on workmans comp and light duty. When you are involved in any form of accident or occur any injury our company makes you take a drug test.
Well this tech FAILED his drug test. To be fair they told him they would test him again in a month.That was a couple days ago.......and guess what......he failed it AGAIN.
So he no longer works for us.
I am not sad or upset for him at all. It is his kids I feel bad for.

Had another tech tell me tonight that he is quitting in just over a week. Before he would tell me what was going on he made me swear I would not tell our boss. Me being the nosy person that I am......I just HAD to know what his "secret" was.
Now I am faced with a slight moral dilemma.
Should I mind my own business? Or should I tell our boss as he specifically requested I do if anyone made noises of leaving?
I am thinking I will just mind my own business for a change.
If it were a tech that we would miss terribly I might say something, but since this kid is no great loss I will play dumb for now.
Moral dilemmas.........bah!

I will be doing scheduling tomorrow because it is Dad's doctor day.
whoopee!
Well at least I won't have to work in the lab. My elbows are killing me from all of the shoveling.
I know........bitch and moan, bitch and moan.

See Ya

2004-10-24T00:13:00.000-05:00

LBR Samples From The Bowels Of Hell

The lab was absolutely swamped with FDOT LBR samples this week.
LBR means Load Bearing Ratio by the way.
The lab manager and his nephew, who also works there, decided that they did not need to come to work for the major portion of the week. That left only 3 people in the lab to try and get everything done. If it had been private jobs it would have been bad enough, but the FDOT contract has a strict time limit on testing.
So I spent almost all week laying out, drying, picking up, and sieving the absolute worst samples I have ever seen.
I have decided that clay should be outlawed!!!!
It's very difficult to fight dried clay clumps when there is also limerock. You have to make sure you pick all of the limerock out so that you don't crush it when you try to beat the clay through a #4 sieve. Very very time consuming.
I think I have rubbed my fingerprints completely off.
I do have forearms of steel though! At least Ap0k should be happy about that.

We had our department meeting Friday after work. It was just a rehash of the last 10 meetings.
Fill out your paperwork....DUH
Pick up cylinders.....DUH
Don't spit on the floor in the lab.....DUH
Take care of your trucks and equipment.....DUH
He tried AGAIN to explain to everyone how much it costs per month to run our department. They just don't seem to get it though. He went so far as to show them how if you spend $1 you have to make a minimum of $3 to recover. They just looked at him totally blank. Basically it is like talking to 20 brick walls.
At least they fed us this time, even if it was just cold chicken wings and sandwiches.

I had to monitor a pour on Friday morning at the Baptist church.
It was 150 yards and quite possibly the fastest pour I have ever been on. I swear when you put a 52 meter concrete pump and a laser screed together you can seriously kick ass.

I may have a floor flatness test on Wednesday. I am one of the only people in Florida currently certified to do that test. The purpose of the test is to measure both the flatness and the levelness of a concrete floor.
Usually it is warehouses, hospitals, TV stations, etc that require it.
The one I will be doing is at a rec center somewhere. I have no real details on it yet.
like doing it because it is pretty easy but we charge an absolute fortune for it.
To be certified you have to go to Virginia and attend a seminar/class given by the company that makes the machine (Face). It seems kind of suspicious to me that the guy who owns the company that makes the machines is the same guy who wrote the ASTM on floor flatness!
Oh well....who am I to question the almighty ASTM commitee?

Going to spend tomorrow cleaning the house. Maybe I will think of something semi-interesting to write about.
See YA

2004-10-22T02:57:00.000-05:00

Quickie

Been a working fool again lately.
Working an average of 12 hours a day.

I will try and explain either later tonight or early tomorrow.
Just didn't want you to think I forgot about you!

2004-10-18T20:07:00.000-05:00

The Queen Of Sheba

My bridge job has been put off for at least another week. Seems that the drill crew is having a hard time getting their asses in gear.
The engineer went back out to the site to meet them again today.....and again they didn't show up. The city inspector was NOT a happy camper. That is twice they have to pay us now for no reason at all. And trust me, when an engineer shows up on site you pay major $$$.

I spent about an hour and a half in the battery stores getting batteries soldered together for the Troxlers (nuclear gauges). I don't think many women go there. They treated me like the Queen Of Sheba. While I was there they got me a chair and a soda, set me up in a nice place, and all of the guys had to come in to say hi. I had to check myself to make sure all of my clothes were on! It was really really odd.

The GEO department brought in 15 LBR samples into the lab this morning. I thought my poor sister was going to die! In the end me and another tech figured out how to get them all spread out to dry. Each LBR sample has to weigh a minimum of 75 pounds so you can see how it is difficult to spread 15 of them out on the floor.

We have another department meeting Friday evening after work. Whoopie. Not sure that I can contain my excitement.
I am going to tell everyone a couple things this time.
1. When you are on a job site put your garbage in a trashcan or in the back of your truck, do NOT throw it on the ground.
2. Stop spitting on the floor in the back......and definitely stop spitting in the proctor samples!!!! People have to put their hands in them (my sister included) and that is just disgusting.
Pigs......they are almost all pigs!

Maybe something interesting will happen tomorrow?????
See Ya

2004-10-16T12:49:00.000-05:00

Soaking Wet 18 Feet In The Air

Friday I was the only threshold inspector at work. One of them worked all night on a pour in Sarasota so he went home as I was going to work. The other just took the day off to go hunting.
Since they were gone I had to do their jobs of course.

The first job was a middle school in Clearwater. I had to look at a few tie beams and columns.
When I got there it started to absolutely POUR! I had to climb up a 20 foot ladder and walk scaffolding in a rain storm. Oh joy.....do I love my job!
There were no problems with anything as they were very basic beams and columns.

The second job was in Citrus Park. They are building a Baptist Youth Center and we are doing the gym first. It is in the middle of a cow field so you have to open the gate....drive in real quick.....jump out and close the gates immediately. You have to hurry because the baby cows like to try to get out. Can't have baby cows on the highway!
All we did there yesterday was cell fill on some block walls. It was the first lift of the concession area walls, and the first 4 foot lift of the interior walls of the boys and girls locker rooms.
Nothing difficult there either.
when they were placing the cell fill the guy holding the hose ripped his arm open on a piece of vertical rebar. That was pretty interesting I guess.

Things have been going oddly at the office. We have one guy who is on light duty and totally useless. He "hurt his back" at work so he is on workmans comp right now. When he initially went to the clinic he failed his drug test. Since he is on workmans comp the company can't fire him either. That sucks!
Most of the techs have really crappy attitudes right now. There are a few techs (one especially) that have been coming in EARLY and clocking in hours before their first job. That is really pissing the techs off who aren't trying to screw the company for hours.

Ap0k bought my little sister a new car. It is a Honda CRX. Cute as can be. She has to pay him back as she is able to. I think it was pretty nice of him to do. She is absolutely in love with the car.

I think we are going to Old Town tonight. The weather is spectacular and Ap0k wants to take his car out for a long drive. It should be fun.

More Tomorrow!
See Ya

2004-10-12T20:13:00.000-05:00

Glass and Cow Poop

Redder asked what size company I work for.
I work for a very large nationwide engineering firm that has over 150 offices.
We cover many different aspects of construction.
Construction Services (that's me!)
Roofing
Geo
Enviromental
Drilling
Laboratory
etc.
Our motto is "One Company, One Call"
Basically that means that if you need construction testing/engineering/assistance of any kind then one phone call to us will cover all of your bases.

Now.......speaking of cow poop....

I didn't have to go out on any jobs today so I helped in the lab instead.
We had 8 FDOT samples that needed seived and my sister was the only one in the lab to show up this morning.
She had a bunch of washes and grain sizes to do so I went ahead and did the sieves.
5 of them had clay which is a royal pain in the butt to get through the sieves.
The final 2 were labeled contaminated, so my boss called around trying to find out what was in them. Turns out that the "contamination" was glass and cow poop.
Well......I spent 1 1/2 hours trying to get cow poop through a #4 sieve.
God I must either love my job or I am an idiot.

My new job is supposed to start "sometime next week".
It is a small bridge going over a canal in a very upscale neighborhood. There is nothing at all wrong with the bridge that is there now except that the residents don't feel that it is pretty enough.
The whole bridge span is only 50 feet!
I will be doing the drilled shafts to begin with. The bridge is so small that there is only 5 of them.
I suspect that even though the city is paying for the bridge it still boils down to someone owed someone else a favor.

Sitting here tonight watching the VH1 HipHop Honors.
I am in musical HEAVEN!

To all of the engineers who may read this:
Please remember.....just because it looks pretty on paper does not mean it will fit in reality.

2004-10-10T21:07:00.000-05:00

I added a counter to the site today.
Since hardly anyone leaves comments or emails me I guess this will be the only way that I will be able to see if anyone is reading this or if I am just writing it for myself.

*grumble*

2004-10-08T22:33:00.000-05:00

Men Are Dogs

For the most part I am treated pretty well by all of the guys I work with and around both at the office and out on jobsites.
Of course there are the few who have their off moments.
Like the guy today who felt the need to discuss who good my boobs looked when I got wet the day it rained.
Like the guy who insisted on putting his ass crack in my direction about 100 times today. Jeeze guy.....buy a belt! It would have been ok maybe if he had a good looking butt. But nooooooooooooo he had to have a big flabby butt! YUCK!
Like the guy the other day who just HAD to point out that my boobs are so big that when I got wet it took longer for the bottom of my shirt to get wet than any other part of my body. And he is one of my best friends!

Yep......men are dogs
And I can't help but love them all !

We have an EIT (engineer in training) at our office who disappointed me terribly today.
He has been going to college taking classes to be a civil/structural engineer for over 2 years now.
His structural concrete professor has him set to make a presentation on how to make and break concrete cylinders. Now you would think that in over 2 years he would have learned something.
He came to my site today to take pictures of a tech actually making cylinders. When the concrete pump showed up he didn't even know what it was!!
I had to explain it to him. How sad!
I also had to explain to him all of the what's and whyfors of drilled shafts. People.....this is BASIC construction!
I am scared to think that this man is going to be an engineer soon. And what is even scarier is that he gets great grades in school.
If he is this clueless on real construction practices, how many other EIT's are too?

I think that ALL civil/structural engineering students should have to be a field technician for a minimum of 2 years before they get their degrees. Maybe some real-world field experience would make for better engineers.

Tropical Storm Matthew is on his way to Florida.
See Ya

2004-10-05T18:36:00.000-05:00

Wetter Than Wet

I'm still doing drilled shafts for the pedestrian bridge. There are only two left!
We are doing one tomorrow and then the last will be either Friday or Monday.

Today I was wetter than wet. Around 3:00 it rained so hard that I thought we were in the midst of a monsoon. Rained like that for over an hour.
I think my clothes weighed more than 100 pounds.
The crew I was with said I was the first inspector they have ever had that stayed with them in the rain. They said that normally all it takes is a sprinkle for inspectors to run to their trucks. Well I think that is just plain crappy! If they are willing to work in the rain then I am willing to stay with them. I'm not to good to get wet! I will dry eventually!
I hate lame-ass better-than-thou inspectors. Gives the rest of us a bad name.

Ap0k went out and bought a new stereo system for his car. It took him 2 whole days to admit to me how much he spent on it.
Shocking how much that crap costs!!!!
What else I find shocking is how fast he can spend money. My job was supposed to cover the "stuff" and for savings. Well as fast as I make it.......POOF it's gone.
*sigh*
I don't get upset with him though. He has worked so hard for so long and I have never really wanted for anything. I think it's my turn to spoil him now.

Nothing exciting going on......imagine that!
See Ya

2004-10-01T20:42:00.000-05:00

Drilled Shafts For Fun and Profit

This drilled shaft job is going to kill me from boredom.
All I do is time the drilling (each in-and-out) and record the elevations each time.
I also do 4 field tests each day.
I take a sample from the bottom of the shaft and run a pH test, a viscosity test, a density test, and check for the sand content.
Most of the shafts for this particular bridge are drilled to approx. 45 feet. The one we did today was only 15 feet because it is for one of the stairways.
The jobsite is nice because it is in a park. The bridge is actually a pedestrian bridge connecting 2 large parks and runs over the top of a 6 lane major roadway.
The design is very pretty and should not end up being too much of an eyesore.
The crew I am working with is pretty decent. I haven't had to get on them about anything yet.
If all goes as planned we will get the last shaft done next Thursday.

I was sitting there today and suddenly realized that a lot of the time I make ridiculous amounts of money for doing absolutely nothing work related.
Since we had a short shaft today they did not start drilling until 11am.
I was there at 8am as usual so I spent 3 hours messing around in the park.
How can I argue about that??

Dad is back to work again. He is raising hell with a lot of the techs. What he is trying to do is weed out the "undesirables" so we can build up a good team again.
Some of the newer techs are pretty much useless. They moan and groan about not making any money and yet they won't work any overtime. Stupid people!

I only worked 56 hours this week so I feel like I cheated somehow.
After all the over 100 hour weeks 56 seems pretty lame.

September was a HORRIBLE month for us. 4 hurricanes in one month pretty much put a halt to a lot of construction.
October is looking to be much much better (I hope!)

I watched the presidential debate last night. I picked my winner. Did you?

See Ya!

2004-09-29T20:16:00.000-05:00

4 Days Without Cable!!!

Hurricane Jeanne has come and gone.
I was without cable for 4 days. Just got it back today. No cable meant no internet. I was lost!

We are still one of only 3 houses on my loop that has power. Most of the whole neighborhood has no power. My aunt lives 2 blocks away and only has power in one wall.
during the storm itself we lost power to the front half of the house but not the back half, or the fridge. After looking at the box we realized one side of the panel worked and one side did not.
Odd.
You have to be careful driving around the neighborhood because there are extension cords running from house to house all over. Including running across streets.
Oh well......you do what you have to do.

I lost cable almost as soon as the storm really started. I expected it to be longer before it was fixed but BrightHouse seems to have their crap in order.

Until today we could only flush the toilet once every 3-4 hours at best. 55 lift stations throughout the county lost power. Without power they have no suction so you have to wait for it to manually drain away. That was not so pleasant. Taking a shower had to be a hurried affair too.
Luckily I am just white-trash enough that my washer drains into the back yard instead of the sewer system.

At the office we had no power or hones on Monday and no power on Tuesday. Monday morning the few of us who showed up were running around with flashlights trying to make a go of it.
We found a few outlets that worked so on Tuesday we strung extension cords all over so we could get some of the phones and some fans working.
Trying to run 4 departments with no power and a handful of cell phones is actually pretty comical.
The power was back on when we came in this morning so all is well.

Ap0k's office is another story entirely.
He and a couple others took turns checking on the building when the winds died down enough that they could drive if they were careful.
Then the security company called and said the alarm was going off.
One guy ran over there and then immediately called here.
The reason the alarm was sounding was because the roof over the office had caved in!
Luckily the roof over the freezers and the coolers was ok.
They lost everything in the office though. Over the past 2 days they had a company come in and totally gut it.They're in the planning stages of rebuilding now.

When people at my office started complaining that we had no phones or a/c I just told them "Hey, at least we have a roof!" That shut them up right away.

Several people at work are still without power and/or water and/or phones.
It is going to take awhile to get everything fixed back up again.

Driving to work Monday morning was quite an adventure since most of the streetlights were out. Most everyone was driving slow and easy though since it was pitch black and there was no telling when you would run up on something odd in the road.

I started a new project today.
Drill shaft monitoring for a pedestrian bridge being built over a major roadway.
Spent all day today 2 feet from heavy heavy traffic. Oh joy......the fumes were such a treat.
It's not a bad job though. The crew seems to know what they are doing. That's always a plus.
Monitoring drill shafts is possibly one of the dirtiest jobs ever. You come home mud from head to toe. It's great for someone who REALLY likes to get into their work.

Hopefully life will get back to normal around here soon. I feel so bad for those that still have no power. You don't realize how much you rely on power and water until they are gone. I know that sounds trite and corny, but it's true.

Here's hoping for NO MORE hurricanes this year!!!!
See Ya!

2004-09-25T13:13:00.000-05:00

Jeanne's A'Comin'

Hurricane Jeanne is just starting to hit the east coast. Her present track is bringing her eye within 50 miles of my house.
This really IS becoming ridiculous now.
Hopefully we won't lose our electricity this time.
If you don't hear from me for a few days then I am either without power or I simply blew away.

I was supposed to start back to doing "real" work on Monday. Now that the weather is turning to crap I don't know what will happen.
I am scheduled for some proctor/LBR pick-ups and some concrete testing.
Ap0k won't be thrilled about the concrete since I am using my own truck still. I will have to make doubly sure that everything is washed up really well.

Still trying to decide whether or not to put the wood up on the windows. At this rate if we decide to we will be putting it up in the middle of the night!

Will let you know asap how the storm went.
See Ya!

2004-09-24T14:53:00.000-05:00

Added Something New

I added a "leave comments" feature.

If you want to leave a comment on any posting just click the little comment link on the bottom of that particular post.

Hoping to hear from you soon!

2004-09-23T22:48:00.000-05:00

I Thought I Was On Vacation?

Well even though I am on vacation this week, I ended up having to work today.
The school in Sarasota needed a threshold inspection and there was absolutely no one left to do it.
It was nice to be back doing what I am supposed to be doing though. Everyone there seemed genuinely happy to see me again. They really are a nice bunch of guys.
They got a lot done while I was gone! In a month they got the slab poured and all of the walls to 13 feet on building 3. From what I looked at today it appears that they did a good job.
All they needed looked at today were some stairwell stem-walls and 2 overhang beams. No brainers really.
They started flying the steel for the 2nd floor deck of building 2 today.
Progress Progress.....gotta love it!

There is ANOTHER hurricane heading this way!
Her name is Jeanne. She is supposed to come in mid-state on the Atlantic side on Sunday. They are predicting she will come in halfway across (to around Orlando) and then hang a right and head north. If that track stays true then I will just get some strong winds.
Another track has her heading right across Tampa.
Oh well.....we shall see.
I am still stocked up from the last ones so supplies will be no problem. I still have the wood for the windows too......sitting in my livingroom of all places.
When we get new windows I am hoping to get the hurricane tinting on them. Not sure how much that will cost but if it works then it will be worth it.

I was going to refrain from saying anything political here, but I do have to say this....

Don't forget to register to vote!

You are almost out of time.
I will not endorse any candidate here. Just remember to get out and vote!
I am from Florida so I can guarantee that even your ONE vote counts!
As the saying goes.....vote for SOMEBODY!!!! If you don't vote then you have no right to bitch.

Check out the new blog I have linked over on the left.
She seems like a really cool girl and I think you will enjoy reading what she has to say.
Her name is Alexa and she is an escort in NYC.

If anyone wants to get hold of me, my address is over there on the left at the little AGFH button. I would love to hear from you!
I promise to reply to anyone who writes.

See Ya!

2004-09-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

Vacations Are Tough

Seems like I have done nothing but work since my vacation started.
We cut down the giant weed tree in the backyard. It had taken over everything. The yard looks huge now. I still need to find someone to come haul away the cutup tree that's piled all nice and neat by the road.
Ap0k went to the dump today and got rid of all of the crap we had laying around. Everything looks so much neater now.

I spent today trying to clean the house. After working so much for a month the house was totally trashed. Ap0k tried his best to keep up with it, but he would never make it as a pro house-cleaner. Well.....I guess if I were honest then I wouldn't either.

My birthday went well. Ap0k took me and my little sister out for sushi at my favorite restraunt. Can't ask for more than that.

Our 19th anniversary is tomorrow. I think I will make him some Chicken Parmesan. The way to his heart is paved with spaghetti sauce.

Not much to say today really. Maybe tomorrow I will think of something brilliant or witty.

2004-09-17T09:41:00.000-05:00

I am done!

After allowing my crew to go 20 feet off the road instead of stopping them at 17 feet the "powers that be" decided that I did not need to be a monitor anymore.

In the end I know that allowing them to go the extra 3 feet was morally correct because we were cleaning a church parking lot!

I am not upset though. Working 15 hours a day 7 days a week for a month was really getting to me. I have never been this worn out in my life.
Now I will get to go back to being a threshold inspector! I spoke to my boss last night and he is actually happy that I was tossed off that job. It was only supposed to last 1-2 weeks to begin with.

I will say that the guy who tossed me had better watch his back. My crew and my drivers REALLY want to kick his ass. Can't say I would be all that upset if they did though.

I am HAPPY as hell to be home. Today is the first day of my vacation. Tomorrow is my birthday, and the 21st is Ap0k and my 19th anniversary. So all in all this week turned out pretty cool.

If I never smell rotting wood again I will NOT be upset!

2004-09-08T16:05:00.000-05:00

First Charley, Then Frances, and now Ivan???

I know they say that things come in three's but this is just getting ridiculous now.

We made it through Frances in one piece. We had some strongs winds around around here but
no real wind damage. The water on the other hand was a different story. The last I heard we
had gotten over 13 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. We had major road flooding. My little
street was totally flooded. It made the four houses on the inside of my loop (mine included) an
island for almost 2 days. We lost electricity for only 6 hours which was much better than alot of people. My parents and my daughter did not get their electric back until last night. It was pretty scarey for awhile, but not near as scary as it was for the poor people on the east coast of Florida. They were hammered hard. We have 2 technicians in Staurt working on a bridge. I spoke to one of them last night and he says it was awful.

Now we have Ivan pointed directly at us. He is already a major hurricane and is entering
warmer water now which gives him the potential to get even bigger. The last several tracks just
keep moving him closer. The lastest has him going though Cuba, up into the Gulf of Mexica
and then turning right into us. Of course it could change but as of right now they have him
hitting us in a week.

I was able to get back into Wauchula yesterday. Luckily they did not suffer too much more
damage. I did see a few more damaged or missing roofs and several more downed trees.
Luckily they did not lose power this time.

We started the test burns on our collected debris. Talk about SMOKE! Whover's idea it was to
burn all of this stuff instead of chipping it should be fired. The guy in charge of actually burning
it tried to tell them how bad it would smoke but they seemed to think he was exageratting or
something. You could see the smoke for miles.We will see in the next few days if they decide to go through with t or fall back on the chipping idea. The debris we have collected so far is starting to overwhelm our field. They need to do something soon or we won't have any more room to put the rest.

I was told yesterday that I should be down there for another 3 weeks. Since I was initially told I
would only be there 1 -2 weeks I will take that info with a grain of salt. Plus if Ivan does what
they seem to think he is going to do then we would have alot more work to do. I will just take it
one week at a time til we are really done.

Talked to my Dad and he says that since the storm we have no work really at all to speak of. I
am just going to count myself lucky that I am working where I am. Still averaging 15 hours a
day so the paychecks are still pretty.

More on Wauchula and Ivan later.
See Ya!

2004-09-02T21:44:00.000-05:00

First Charley and now Frances

It's only been 3 weeks since hurricane Charley and now Frances is barreling towards us. It will be here by Saturday.

Hardee County is under evacuation and the police made us quit working at 3pm today. We will be allowed back in on either Sunday or Monday and I guess we will be starting all over again.

Today was like being in the Twilight Zone. Everyone is Wauchula is totally freaked out. Everyone I spoke to today was packing their cars and heading out. All said that they just went through it 3 weeks ago and if their house blows down this time that's fine with them, but they won't be in it. I only met a few people who were not leaving town and that was because they had no car.
I feel SO bad for these poor people. They just went through so much trauma and now it is happening again. We didn't even have time to get the last one cleaned up!
I am so afraid to see what is going to happen there this time.

Since I have been working down there I have trashed my truck. One of TECO's big trucks backed into my bumper, I have a dent in my door from goodness knows what, and I have scratched the heck out of the paint. I will have to get it totally done over when this is finally over.

I will have a lot of pictures to show you all when I am done. I have been a picture taking fool.

Ap0k has to go to work at 1:30 am in the morning. He is going to try to send out 2 trucks. But ONLY if they have not reversed the roads yet. As of sometime in the morning they are going to make I-4 westbound only and I-75 northbound only. If they have caged the lanes then he won't send them out on side roads because it would take too long and they might not be able to make it back before the storm.

We contemplated evacuating this time, but I have to be back in Wauchula as soon as they let me in and Ap0k has to be back to work as fast as possible too. Once the storm is over they will have to get all of the product to the east coast because no matter what happens, people have to eat!

My little sister is coming to stay with us again.

As of now the track is showing that here in Tampa we will be getting strong tropical force winds and gusts over 100 mph. We could also get over 2 feet of rain.
At this point it is definitely the rain I am worried about.

I have never been scared of hurricanes in my life until now. Since I have been in Wauchula and I have seen what damage can occur with my own eyes, I am now totally freaked out.
Can you tell I am a bit scared? I sure am rambling on about it!

Wish me ....and all Floridians....luck!

2004-09-01T11:18:00.000-05:00

I am so tired I could cry!

Well we were making really good progress on the cleanup.....and now we have a MASSIVE hurricane headed right at us.
*sigh*

Today is the first day I have had off in 17 days. They have decided that we have to have 1 day off for every 14 worked.
I have been averaging 15 hours a day.
I have seen some really sad things since I have been in Wauchula. Squashed houses and squashed cars. Some people lost everything.

Over the next 2 days we are going to clean up as much as we can as fast as we can because this new storm is as large as the entire state of Florida.
The plan is to start all over when the storm passes.
Oh well...it's job security I guess.

Of course if it is as bad as anticipated then it will be a couple days until I can get back there. If I can even get out of here!

I will write more later tonight.

2004-08-19T17:32:00.000-05:00

Went to the training session with FEMA today.
I will be working in Wauchula for the next 2-3 weeks. My job will be to follow a crew around and make sure they are loading debris into the trucks as required.
i.e. clean wood in one truck, white goods in another.
In the end there will be 6 of us from my company down there.
We will be working from sunup to sundown 6-7 days a week. We will have to drive back and forth from home every day because there are no hotels left undamaged.
It will mean a lot of hours and hardly any real sleep, but in the end I feel t is the right thing to do.

Words cannot express the damage that I saw today. I can honestly say that I would not wish this destruction on my worst enemy.
To see someone's house totally flattened is a very upsetting thing. There was mass destruction even in downtown Wauchula. Building that have been there for so long just tore to shreds.
They still have no electric, water, or phones. From what I heard today they HOPE to have the electric back on by next Tuesday.

To see someone picking through what used to be there home is heartbreaking. Some people are just sitting beside the wreckage. They really have nowhere else to go.

One nice thing to see was all of the people that are there trying to help. There are crews from power companies from all over the country.
I saw several places where you could get free food.
I saw 2 places that were set up just for kids.

What I find amazing is when you go down a street and all of the houses are destroyed.....except for one. One house sitting there all alone with little or no damage at all. How does that happen? How can it wipe out 10 and miss the middle one?

I will try to post updates on how the work is going over the next couple weeks.

2004-08-18T20:22:00.000-05:00

Just got word today that I will probably be working with FEMA ( http://www.fema.gov/ ) assessing disaster damage from Hurricane Charley. I will be starting either Friday or Monday.
They say I will get an area of my own and that I will have to map it out and look at everything. I should be doing it for at least a week.
Not sure exactly what it will entail yet, but I will be finding all that out tomorrow.
Depending on what area I get this could be very depressing.
My husband says I should not be sad, he says I should be happy that I am able to help. The faster the damage is recorded the faster it can be fixed.
Once I find out more details I will let you all know.

One of our guys got fired today. He got caught clocking another guy in. Shame Shame on him.
He says he did it on his own and was not asked to do it.
Do I believe that?
NO!

I found our first material shortage due to the hurricane. Door frames!
My school was supposed to get a delivery of door frames this week. When it had not shown up by today the super called to ask what was up. He was told that it will probably be at least 5 weeks before he gets them now.
I see the next shortage as being plywood.
On my way down to Sarasota I passed truck after truck after truck (semi's) carrying mass amounts of plywood south.
One shortage we are feeling now is diesel fuel for the equipment. Normal contruction sites are the lowest on the totem pole right now. An amazing amount of diesel fuel is being shipped south and east to run all of the clean up equipment.

I have been doing this job for 8 years now. Why are people so amazed at that?
I know there has to be more women like me out there somewhere!
Where are you?

2004-08-15T06:14:00.000-05:00

Well the storm is over and it caused a lot of damage throughout the state.
Here are a few picture galleries and stories for you to see. Maybe they will help you understand better what has happened:

http://media.tbo.com/tbo/flash/hurricanecharley/leecharlotte/
http://media.tbo.com/tbo/flash/hurricanecharley/charley1/
http://media.mgnetwork.com/hurricane/photogallery1/index.htm
http://www.tampabaylive.com/stories/2004/08/040814polkdamage.shtml
http://www.tampabaylive.com/stories/2004/08/040814puntagorda.shtml
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2004/8/14/51947.html
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=9508

If there is anything you can do to help any of these people, please do not hesitate to offer.

I still have no word on my school in Sarasota. I will call the super on Monday morning with my fingers crossed. Even if he says it appears ok I will still go and do a MAJOR inspection on it.
Will give a look for any cracks etc and I am going to take a 6 foot level and check it all over.

I have several friends who live in Polk County. I was able to get ahold of all of them but one. I was worried sick about him.
I was finally able to get him last night. Seems he was stuck in a shelter til then.
It was a relief to hear his voice!

Now for the "great" news.....
There is another hurricane coming named Earl. He is following pretty much the same path Charley did so far. Of course it will be a few days before they REALLY know where it is going.

People have asked me why I live in Florida since we have hurricanes.
To me it is the same as living anywhere else.
The west coast has earthquakes.
The midwest has tornadoes.
The north has blizzards.
As a friend said, "You take the good with the bad"
At least with hurricanes you usually have a bit of warning they are coming!

Have had 3 days off.....back to work tomorrow.

2004-08-13T20:55:00.000-05:00

And It's Another Miss!!

The hurricane missed us again!
WOO-HOO!!!!

It made a right at Charlotte County and missed us by 100 miles. All we ended up getting was a slight bit of rain and wind from the outer bands.
Charlotte County was trashed though. I really do feel bad for them.
Here we all were prepared for it and the stupid storm had to hit people who weren't expecting it.
That just doesn't seem right somehow.

Here is something that has bothered me for the last few hours...
I have quite a few "internet friends". The casual ones have all checked on me to make sure I am ok. The ones I considered close friends haven't said a peep.
I could be floating somewhere and they wouldn't know.
Amazing how people act sometimes. If it were them that went through today what we did I would have been driven crazy worrying about them.
Guess that makes me crazy.
Or maybe I care about people too much?

Bah!
Who cares?

Some people just care about themselves.

2004-08-12T15:01:00.000-05:00

There's A Hurricane A'Comin!!

Getting ready for a hurricane here. I think I have all of the supplies I need?
*Flashlights AND batteries
*Canned food AND a manual can opener
*Water
*Dr Pepper
*Money
*Gas in the truck
*Full tank of propane for the grill
*5 packs of cigarettes
*Candybars
*Plenty of books
Can't think of anything else I would need.
According to the latest tracking will will get pretty much a direct hit tomorrow. Luckily my house is not in an evacuation zone anymore.
My little sister is in Zone A so she is on her way here now. She will be staying with us during the storm.
Ap0k's warehouse is also in Zone A so he should be coming home soon.
Been through this before in 1985 (Elaina) so I know the house will be ok. We did joke about the fact that since we have already removed all of the tile and carpet and since we need to replace drywall anyway.....if the house floods we will just wait it out and then open the doors and let the water out.
I do have to go outside when I am done writing this so that I can pick up all of the light and/or loose stuff around the yard, including the cats!

I had to go to the school in Sarasota today. I was still there when they atarted the evacuations. What is normally a 40 minute ride home took me 2 1/2 hours today.
While I was at the school we poured as much stuff as we could get concrete for so that as little damage will occur as possible.

I spent all afternoon trying to get people home. Alot of our jobs today insisted they are working late. Well some of the techs have to get home or they will get closed off when they close the roads. Plus alot of them have to tape windows etc.
I managed to get all but ONE job to cancel tomorrow. For some stupid reason Ashburn Square ( a townhouse site) insists they need someone to do density tests all day. How stupid can people be??? I found one tech who was brave/stupid enough to say he would do it.
St Joe Womens Hospital wanted fireproofing testing but no one was willing to go up to the 4th floor to do it. We flat out told them no.
Everyone else is shutting down completely.
Most sites spent all day picking up anything that could possibly fly away, took down all scaffolding, threw dirt into any open holes, etc.

I will post again when this passes to let you know that I didn't blow away.
Wish me luck!