First cuts - cutting asphalt three different tools

The first cuts aren't the deepest... in fact we often start with a rough score ~ 2" deep cut in most asphalt.... and though both the Stihl cut-off saw and the walk-behind cutter both use 14" diamond blades they're not interchangeable.... different recommended RPMs make a difference.

The big green behemoth we rented for some long cuts proved a disappointment - aside from blowing hard to reach fuses (under the bolted on cover) Mike Fitzgerald pointed out that with any minute wobble on the wheels the extra large cutting blade would bind on the edges leaving a sloppy cut.

Stadium Road starting... today

We've been waiting for this for months. The last two weeks being the most brutal, waiting around for some real work to begin after ebbing times at MR6. This morning we met with the WM Jordan safety meeting. We're doing the site work for UVa's new ITE building beside the stadium. Five crews, sixty days, sunup to sundown six and seven days a week. 20-30' trenches and a few thousand feet of pipe - this is gonna be fun.

olks to get code straight and then began our inspection of the site.

Not for profit... wtf! NB: This is America - we are for profit

Contractors outnumber soldiers in Iraq due to accountability issues. Up until the 1970's New York University managed and operated a real live spaghetti factory under its tax exempt status. Actively competing against other spaghetti factories that did pay taxes. When does it stop? May we algorithmically evaluate organizations to determine which have ceased to benefit the public with sufficient dividends? May we return the losers into the survival of the fittest ocean of free market capitalism?

In theory non-profits exist to supplement the government in cases where high degrees of specialization would be prohibitive for organization at a national level. In practice these organizations take advantage of a tax break and leverage it to compete against independent for-profit businesses. Here in Charlottesville Habitat for Humanity comes to mind. Mediocrity doesn't do it justice. These folks suck. $250,000 affordable houses built cheaply on second-rate labor. Buying up the only inner-city trailer-park - one that actually didn't suck - to convert it into more of their aforementioned abodes. And then there's their store. Overpriced chachkas & used tools you can buy new for less at Lowes. Competing with the junkyards, the antique malls, and every other used stuff store in town... Granted Salvation Army has one too, however I'll go toe to toe with anyone on Salvation Army - they feed thousands of people here in town, and that's very important. In a country like America it's critical that no one starve. Our wealth is abundantly clear to anyone that's been anywhere else, and to our collective credit the thought of someone starving to death in plain view is unthinkable.

These stooges obtain 501(c)3 status and forgetaboutit - they're no longer in the business of business - they're tax exempt and as long as they don't produce much of anything they're safe. Ideas and imagination are top priorities at these places. Accountability as to whether these ideas actually function is non-existent.... arg

A bitta bologna on the sandwich

Follies are often known for their central piece - whimsical centers with fun and perhaps some, albeit little, function. At the center of the sandwich aka courtyard rests a comfortable 6 inch slice of pink insulation. These fine fellas rode in from the coast to install it across a ~80x~200 foot section. Beneath this is a ~1' steel reinforced concrete footer atop approx 6 inches of gravel. Which I've heard rumor lays atop another 10' or so above two stories of vivarium stuff (houses for research critters). This sandwich requires structural steel (think toast) because of the plans to create another medical building atop the structure in a few years. Above the bologna is a layer of something we'll come up with a name for later...

Setting a storm structure

Setting a storm structure with Howard Desper at the helm - Larry and Justin on side and the Mexican Jesus making certain the stairs are lined up. Really this is basic and obvious, however amazingly this gets screwed up occasionally - other than that it's straight forward - line up the stairs, put plenty of tar in the joint and keep it level.

Construction work in the 3rd Millenium

It'll be going on two days from work when this pulled muscle heals and two things are certain.
1) I've been brought to my knees by a relatively minor back injury - a pulled muscle that started swelling several days ago and that I ignored until it whimsically kicked my butt.
2) Being outdoors every day rocks.

Construction is akin to the army in its merger of heavy machinery, reckless personalities, and occasional fubar scenarios. Herein is a sampling of the events that result in the construction here in the lawdy lovin US of A,

Despite the age of supercomputers, robots on mars, and no end of other great geek stuff there's a world building America's infrastructure - and it is rad. From the felons and freaks to the immigrants and artisans there is a realm of industrial American culture working together 24/7/365 to build the great follies of the early third millennium.

setting a valve - working the nightshift

This first bit of folly for ya'll


Howard Desper, Foreman, Jesus Zamorra + Larry Fitzgerald in the ditch with Hawk and James "Teeter" Coles - Justin and myself on the bank. Mueller valve on an 18" line - took about three hours to drain these lines.....