It's too hot out...

Second day in a row it's been too hot out for the good of all.

We got a late start yesterday, with Cameron in California we don't have a sitter so I can't leave the house until Mike gets on the bus. Not that I mind, but it makes getting to the job before 9:00 pm impossible. Jen's picked Jeff up on her way home yesterday and today, add to that the side trip to Rhino Seed here in Brighton both days so I can pick up some grass seed for Tim and we end up on site at 9:30ish.

Yesterday was the big day, it was so hot up we decided that we would take a long lunch, which turned into an hour or so. By 3:00 we had completely finished the part of the job that we had to do. In order of the the prime contractor to get his $200,000 incentive bonus we had to have Telegraph Rd between Michigan Ave and Cherry Hill completely done and open by June first. At 3:00 we had it finished and ready to roll, so we quit for the day. It's nice to be a head of schedule for once. Today, and probably for the rest of the week will be work a head of what we need to, which translates into a slower pace and quitting when it just gets too hot out to work.

Today we quit at 3:30 again, because it was 90 out and we had to cross Telegraph Rd with the tractor to spread dirt. Did I mention we where working by a school that lets out at 3:00. So yea, it was taking 15 mins a pop to try to cross, even with stop signs and arrow boards.

Jeff did good, he finished out both yesterday and today. Though by the end of today he was ready to die. But then so was I and I'm used to both the work and the heat. The work it's self isn't bad, but in extreme heat it get tiring quick.

Tomorrow we plan on knocking out the rest of the work. By 3:30 tomorrow we should be done with everything we can do on the job site until they move on. So we will be moving to our next job.

Late Day...

It's 10:45, Mike just got out of bed about 15 minuets ago. It appears the last few days of late nights and early mornings have caught up with him.

USS Silversides...

Mike and I have been home from the sub for about an hour now. We left the Hilton parking lot at exactly 4:00pm last night and got to the sub at 6:45.

With in 5 minuites of arriving on the site Mike found one of his class mates, and that was that. They where glued together the rest of the night. Even so much so that when we found a room with only 4 bunks Hayden and his Dad ended up in the room with us. On the bright side Hayden was one of the more well behaved kids at the place. He didn't scream and yell, or climb on anything that they where not supposed to. And when it was bed time he went right to sleep.

Mike appeared to have a really good time there, with a lot of boys around his age and a huge sub that they where allowed to climb all over, and play with how could they not. There where parts that where roped off with do not climb signs on. But we where told by the people that worked there it was okay to climbs up. The signs where there for 'normal' visitors, not the over nighters.

Once we got there we had about an hour to wander around the sub, get our bunks and generally just play around. After that the pizza showed up and we all got to hang out and eat food. After the pizza they handed out some awards and badges. Mike got both a patch and a certificate for staying at the sub.

This is Mike, proudly displaying the certificate proclaiming him an honorary crew member of the USS Silversides.



And this is Mike standing in front of the sub, when we first arrived.



Our little gunner, getting ready to blast the tour ship passing by.



Mike and Hayden looking for their bunks.



This is a plaque dedicated to Mike Harbin, the only person to ever be killed on the Silversides during a tour. The camera turned the photo and I'm too lazy to fix it.

For the most part I think the trip was really good, although I'm not sure it was worth the 3 hour drive up there. And sleeping in the sub, on the hard ass bunks was not very comfortable.

Whats up doc?

My day started out bad and went down hill from there. When my alarm went off at 5:30 it was really hard to get out of bed. I think if I didn't have to get out of bed to do it I would have called in dead. But after dragging my self from the bed and walking around a bit I started waking up.

At around 10 to 6 Jeff called me and told me that he couldn't work today, claiming a respiratory infection as the cause. Though he says that he wants to work on Tuesday when I go back. Not working tomorrow or Monday. Tim and I are hoping the infection is why he has been unable to finish a single full day.

So I call Tim and tell him that Jeff won't be there, at which time he tells me that my cousin Jarrad quit last night. Evidently Jarred got 'another job', which is doubtful as he claims it's a factory job that is going to hire him at $16.00 an hour. Keep in mind that Jarred is only 19 and has no work experience worth mentioning, also keep in mind that it's his birthday today.

That's two out of 5 gone, Jaun who is by far the hardest worker of the group had to leave at noon to go to court. So, for the longer half of the day there was just two of us and Tim to finish up the work.

They expect the job done by Tuesday, and unless Tim can find workers for tomorrow or Saturday I don't see it happening. Monday being a holiday we are not allowed to work. Gotta love MDOT. If the job is some how completed by June first Dan's Excavating, the prime contractor for the job, gets a $200,000 incentive bonus. We are the last people to work, it's up to us.

And to top everything off, I pulled a moment bugs bunny would be proud of. While walking around the tractor I stepped on a rake that was laying the wrong way. In true Warner Brothers fashion the handle came speeding to meet my face. Lucky for me my sloth like reflexes kicked in and I just managed to get my thumb in place to take the hit. For a while I would have sworn it was broken, but the swelling has gone down and it's just bruised.

Gonna be a shitty day.

We have three of our 6 man operation out today, and we have to have the job done by Friday.

Gonna be a long, hard, hot day.

And then...

It's another fine day in restoration land, the 85 degree weather is threating to give the best of us a stroke. Couple it with lots of heave lifting and you'll be out for the count...

On other note, Jeff had to quit early again today. It's the third day in a row he hasn't been able to finish the day out. He keeps wearing him self out, or over heating or something.

I think he just needs time to get back in shape, being out of work for 4 months will do that to anybody.

And to top it all off.

I LEFT MY DAMN iPod AT HOME!!

Sounds like somebody has a case of the Mondays.

It's just one of those day where you wished you didn't get out of bed.

It started bright and early at 6:00am, or rather it started at 5:30 when I woke up and couldn't for the life of me go back to sleep. So I laid in bed and refused to get up until 6:00.

At 6:00 I got up and made my self ready for work. I got dressed, drug a brush through my hair, ripping out a bunch in the process. Then headed into the kitchen to make some sandwiches for lunch. The trash that has been over full for two days no caught my attention so I pulled the bag out. Which some how managed to spring a leak in one corner and drip egg juice all over my bare feet, and the floor. So after cleaning that up and making my sandwiches I sat on the couch and waited for Cam.

Super Cam showed up early, which was cool. So I hopped into the car and headed to Howell to Pick up Jeff. Jeff is a friend of Jess who was looking for a job, and having problems getting one due to a suspended licenses. Of course with out a licenses you can't get a job to pay for a new license. Catch 22.

Got Jeff and headed into Lansing for the job. I was supposed to be there at 8:00 to meet the guy dropping the trencher, we got there at 7:30. It all went down hill from there.

When the trencher didn't show up at 8:00 I called the rental place, they said that it was getting loaded and heading out the door. We should have it in less then half an hour. At 8:30 I called back to ask where it was, they said they would check and call me back. At 9:30 I called them back, again to inquire about the location of said trencher. Evidently it broke down and the spent the last hour trying to get it running, and calling around looking for another one.

They found one, it was less then 10 mins from us at another rental place, we got it from there and headed back to the job site. It's now 10:30.

For anybody that doesn't know, we where installing silt fencing. There is nothing hard about it, a monkey could do it. You dig a trench, pound the fencing into it then back fill. Simple, yet time consuming and tiring. It's a trial of endurance. Jeff did really well, in fact he not only kept up, but in most cases worked hard and faster then the rest of the guy. Not to mention he only had to be told one what to do, or how to do it. It's nice to just say something needs to get done and have people step up to do it with out direct orders.

Back to the trencher, we got it down and read by 10:45. By 10:50 I had it stuck in the mud up above the tires. We had to wait half an hour for them to track a bull dozer from the other side of the job to pull me out.

Once I was out we got things going pretty quick. Keep in mind that on average you can trench about 1000 feet an hour and pound in about 800 feet of fence. We had 6000 feet to do. So at least 7 hours worth of work, which we where supposed to start at 8:00. By the time we where started it looked like we would be there until 7:00pm. Luck held out a little, the ground was flat and straight so I was about to trench about 1500 feet an hour and the guy where pounding about 1100, Tim was working them double time.

We where busting ass, along with Jeff there was another new guy there. So doing 1100 feet an hour with two new guys was damn impressive. About 3:00 Jeff started feeling ill, by 3:30 he was full blown sick and sitting in the truck. We figure it was just the heat. Takes some getting used to.

All in all, not a horrible day. But it could have been a lot better. Tomorrow we have to be at Tim's by 7:30 for a job. Jeff's gonna give it another go, just to see how it turns out. With any luck it will work out for him.

Happy Birthday Liz

They have too much spare time...

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And then...

The job we are supposed to do in Lansing keeps getting moved back and shortened. We where supposed to do 7k feet on Tuesday, which would be yesterday. The shortened it to 5k feet and moved it to Thursday, which would be tomorrow. Now it's been dropped down again, to between 3 and 4k feet and once again pushed, this time to Monday.

The good new, Tim's tacking on a mobilization fee. So at least it won't cost us anything to get there or rent the trencher, all he'll have is labor for overhead.

He is finding us stuff to keep us busy in the mean time, depending on the weather.

And then...

The job we are supposed to do in Lansing keeps getting moved back and shortened. We where supposed to do 7k feet on Tuesday, which would be yesterday. The shortened it to 5k feet and moved it to Thursday, which would be tomorrow. Now it's been dropped down again, to between 3 and 4k feet and once again pushed, this time to Monday.

The good new, Tim's tacking on a mobilization fee. So at least it won't cost us anything to get there or rent the trencher, all he'll have is labor for overhead.

He is finding us stuff to keep us busy in the mean time, depending on the weather.

Relay for Life

Jen, that would be my wife, is doing a relay for life walk and donation drive for cancer. So, for all of you out there that read this click on the little image below and follow the 'donate to a participant' button,, when it ask for the name of the person doing the walk just put in Jen Davey and look for her on the list. She's the one that works for St. Joe.

Oh, and it's tax deductible, so do it now!

Do the shuffle...

Jen and I picked up an Ipod shuffle for me to take to work with me. I spend a lot of time out by my self running equipment, so music would help me greatly. I had been taking the nomad to work with me but it had it's draw backs. To begin with it huge, heavy and bulky. It doesn't' really fit in a pocket, and the belt clip it has is ripping off. Add to it that it was old, slow and the battery didn't really hold a charge any more and you get the need for a new mp3 player. Lets not even take into account that I had to hack things to make it sync up with the MAC, and even that didn't work all the time.

So, I have an iPod shuffle. It's orange and about the size of a postage stamp. I've had it for a few days, but didn't really take it anywhere. So today, after returning for Lansing with Tim I headed up to Howell to hang out with Jen for lunch. I took the iPod with me to listen to it on the way. As I stepped out the front door, while trying to clip it to my shirt, it slipped out of my hands and hit the cement where I proceeded to kick it. It still works great, but my nice shiny iPod has a chip in it.

Now, for insult to that injury. After getting back from hanging out with Jen I decided I'd start cleaning the garage out. It's been a shambles for a while now and just needed straightening. So headphones in ear I head into said garage and start cleaning. About 20 mins into it I have to use the bathroom, so I quickly head inside to the bathroom...

As I bend down to lift the toilet seat the ear buds pop out of my ear and drop down right into the water. After pulling the wet ear phones out of the water I placed them some where safe and got another set of head phones out. The iPod seemed to work great after that. No problems...

---

We have a job in Lansing, Tim and I drove out there today to look at the job. It's 7,000 feet of silt fencing. The job is on 127 southbound right by the Lake Lansing exit.

We are doing the job next Tuesday, I need to be on site at 8:00am to meet the guys delivering the trencher. It's only a days worth of work out there, but at least it will be work. I feel sorry for Tim, he plans on being there at 8:30. So he's going to have to leave his house at like 6:00am.

I would walk 500 miles...

Well, no I probably wouldn't walk 500 miles but it sure felt like it yesterday. I spent the majority of the day walking the job site next to the inspector trying to convince him that the spots he wanted to fix just needed time to grow. We we're sent out to fix a sub-division in Clarkston where some sod was put down last year. The sod has sunk, or shrunk in spots and they wanted us to fill it in and put down some seed.

Not to bad a job, the inspector was a nice guy. He really wasn't that picky at all but I had to stand next to him and talk him out of most it. Which wasn't hard, but the job site was 4 miles long and we had to walk up one side of it and down the other side.

8 miles in 10 hours isn't too bad, but at least 1/2 of it was up hill. Then you add us ranging 150 to 200 feet in front of the guys to look at spots, then walking back to the guys to make sure they are doing it right. So all in all we mad about 4 passes of the job site. 16 miles, give or take 1/2 a mile.

By the end of the day my feet where sore.

Thursday was almost as bad, we spent the day in Brighton fixing a job that was done last year. I'm always amazed at how big of assholes most the home owners and county inspectors are. We put down top-soil, seed, fertilizer, and straw. Then they start complaining that it doesn't look like sod after only 2 months of growth.

Fragile?

Mike: Dad can I take my sharks tooth to school with me?
Me: I don't know Mike, why do you want to take it with you?
Mike: You're right I probably shouldn't it's fragile.
Me: It's not really that fragile bud.
Mike: Well, it'll break if you hit it with a sledge hammer.
Me: That doesn't make it fragile Mike, the sidewalk would break if you hit it with a sledge hammer.
Mike: Really? Next time we're walking on the side walk can I take a sledge hammer...
Me: Umm, No, you can't.

The itsy bitsy spider...

When I went in the bathroom just now to brush my teeth I spotted a spider crawling around the back of the sink. This doesn't really come as a surprise to me, this house is crawling with spiders, almost like we're stuck an a bad arachnophobia rerun. I pretty much have a live and let live thing with spiders. As long as they don't trespass onto my body, or into my reach I ignore them, unless Jen makes me kill them.

This one was in my way, so with a casual flick of my wrist I sent him down the drain. Then to make things better for him, I turned on the hot water and let it run until it was steaming. While most spiders can swim, very few of them can dive under water, which means more then likely this one was stuck at the top of the grease trap and unable to avoid the near boiling water falling on his head.

To top things off, after brushing my teeth I spit a giant mouth full of mouth wash down the drain. I'm considering running into the garage for the Raid and dumping that down the drain also.

Sunshine and Blue skies?

After putting Mike on the bus yesterday morning I went to work in good ol' down town Brighton. I'm sure some of you remember the work the did just of main street last year, it was Madison between Third Street and Seventh Street. Including the sides roads. From what I've been told they put in new water and sewer lines.

Well, my uncle Tim is the one that did the restoration after the work was done. Trying to put things back into order after the chaos of construction. They where called in to do 3,000 square yards of work. But when they got there the found out that in reality it was 30,000. 3,00 isn't a big deal, that's two days of spreading dirt with the tractor and another day of raking and laying blankets. 30,000 is a months worth of work, Tim's tractor on has a 1/4 yard bucket. So, in order to spread 30,000 yards of dirt he would have to make 120,000 trips to the dirt pile. A deal was worked out with the prime of the job for the use of a loader, and the job was finished.

After that he got called back out 4 times last year by the city of Brighton because they 'where not happy' with the job. Evidently what they really wanted done was sod, not seed. Because exactly 1 month after completion they where calling him to come back because there was no grass.

At any rate, I was out there Monday to do some touch up. They where bitching about the way it looked, because all the grass wasn't grown in yet. Some spots where growing in nice, others looked like crap. When you stood out there you could tell the spots that looked like crap where the ones that the home owners pulled up the mulch blankets.

Now, for those of you that don't know a mulch blanket is just a cloth mesh with straw woven into it. It's is more sturdy then just putting straw down, but like straw there is no need to clean it up. Once it's down the grass will grow through it, and it will rot away. Pulling it up hinders the growth of the grass.

At any rate the inspector was out there telling us what he wanted done, and the guy from the company we where working for was also out there telling him no. What they wanted was sod, but where to cheap to pay for it. So we spent the day putting top soil by the curbs to make it look like we did work. We'll be back out there as soon as the rain stops to finish up what we started, and put down more grass seed.