It was a typical work day today. I got home around 7:00 p.m. We got ready to pour about 60 feet of footing today, tying steel, putting in 2 bulkheads where the footing stepped down. Shot grade in the ditch etc. I think it was supposed to be 18 yards of concrete on the job at 2:00. Not that big a pour. At 2:10 still no mud. Boss called the plant, "oh, we thought it was on 'will call' for 2:00." Which means they thought we would call to confirm before they sent the trucks. Crap. So, it's 3:00 before the mud shows up. It poured out fine but then our clean up truck was about 30-40 minutes late. Often times on a footing pour or similar you can't figure the concrete exactly because you are pouring against dirt banks which vary in dimensions. So, you pour out all your trucks until you get about to where you know one truck will finish you up. You measure the remaining amount of footing or whatever and calculate your mud from that last measurement. A hard formed area can be figured exactly but dirt banks can have holes etc. Usually your next to last truck will radio in the amount for you and that last truck is your 'clean-up' or 'call-back' as some say. So, the clean-up was late and we got a trainee driver on top of that. He did fine but they are usually just a little slower. We were very glad to finally get through. Traffic was not too bad and I just bought supper on the way home.
Oh, I almost forgot! The US Marshalls showed up and hauled a guy off! Not one of our guys though, LOL!. We go through too many background checks, drug checks etc. There is a bunch here from Texas that are pouring the interior floors and it was one of their guys. They cuffed him and took him off without any incident. I hate to admit it, but I've seen that happen on every really large job I've ever been on. US Marshalls, state police, sheriffs. We even had the FBI SWAT team show up to get this man and woman who were working together on a crime spree. They were working as laborers on one of our jobs in Florida. They had already robbed and killed 2 men and were, from best we could tell, about to roll one of our own foremen. He was lucky. I was not on that job but a bunch of my buddies were. They said it was wild; the SWAT team came flying out of everywhere, screaming, everybody was throwing themselves on the ground! I'm glad I missed that one.
Oh, and I saw that the electrician foreman is a guy I worked with about 9 years ago. He wanted me to go out with him then but I turned him down. He is fairly handsome so I'm not sure why I said no. Hhhmmm. I think maybe I was seeing someone else. Or I thought this guy was kinda weird. I don't know.
So, typical day; you know it's been a rough day when you have to wash the concrete out of your ears. I hope I got it all. Bedtime now.
*Norah Jones
8 comments:
Saw the pottery in the last post and wondered if you ever did trades with other artists?
If so, and you like any of my work or want something specific in my style, let me know cause I'd love to trade.
Have a good one, and stay out of the swat teams way!
Randy W.
http://www.randywebb.net
So I wonder if the SWAT team waits until a considerate moment during the work to come in. If you're in the middle of a pour or something do they hang back until that's all under control or what?
You pottery traders should go to Swap-bot and get some trading going nationwide.
But it's a good day if you don't have to wash concrete out of your boots...:-)
As an electrician I occasionally had to order concrete, ususally to cover an underground duct bank. I remember being a yard or so short once and had the inspector coming.
Off I go to the concrete plantand have them half fill my pick up truck. It was enough but I am not sure my front wheels were always on the ground on the trip back and the concrete was starting to set.
All finally worked out.
How could you pass up a date with a "sparky".
LOL@washing concrete out of your ears! Your job, although it can be trying at times I'm sure, sounds fun, at least the people and the happenings within!
We would all fall over dead from shock if we saw anything like a SWAT team in our region LMAO!
Blessings:)
Hey Randy! Yes, I trade often with other artists and would be interested in perhaps a trade with you. I'll email you this weekend. Got your address of your site. Thanks!
Well, Pablo, I don't think they really care what we are in the middle of! And I don't think most people would understand that it would make much difference to interrupt a pour or whatever.
Hey Richard! That's true; or out of your bra, and believe it or not, I've done that. It's not a good feeling.
Hey Philip! I can't believe the plant would do that! Ha! That's funny! Well, I guess it wasn't then...
Well, I don't think that "sparky" sparked right or something but I've met a couple since then that certainly 'sparked' my interest! Ha! Sorry, bad joke.
Hey molly! Oh, we have an absolute ball at times and there is always something going on. I'll have to tell ya'll some of the really interesting stories!
Hey! We saw you on our way home from work yesterday--and realized you're one of THOSE drivers. You know, you honk, you wave, you hang out the window, you throw things, but you can't get their attention! Anyway, we saw you--you looked tired :) Good thing you were at least focused on the road!
Hey Linda! Yeah, you just don't know how many times I've been told that same thing! I don't pay attention to anything but what's right in front of me! don't know if that's good or bad. Plus, you know I can't hear worth a crap.
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