The Bucket List

I watched it again and I forgot how good it is. It makes me tear up..... I hate it. If you haven't watched it, get on it.

Just to update

I am just letting everyone know that I am still alive. Nothing has really been going on except work.

I did get some time off to spend some time with my friends at the river. That was some much needed time away from here.

The job just seems to keep dragging on, like it will never finish. They are saying Tulsa may have been pushed back so I may actually get some time off between and I am ready.

For my parents. I started a Roth IRA. Just so you know it's only non-taxable after I turn 59 1/2....doesn't help my plan for retiring at 40.

That's really about all

just to know

I am not working lots of hours any more. Just like a lot of the rest of this job.....plans change. I am still covering Darwin and coming to the realization that people think whatever they want.

Work

We have been getting a lot of rain which means lots of mud. Lots of mud means lots of mess and damage caused by rubber wheeled equipment. Lots of damage means not lots of work. Not lots of work means lots of time to make up.


This all means we are now on 5 12s and 1 8. Still 6 days and more time.......I like it.

Darwin....so far

It really doesn't sound that bad. It really sounds to me like everyone has taken this to mean what ever they want it to.

So Far it would seem that what Darwin is saying is not evolution but adaption of a species. I have never doubted that beings will adapt as needed. We as humans do it all the time. If your job requires you to do something you learn it. If strength is needed you work out. I don't have a problem thinking that animals are capable of making little adaptations.

He keeps talking about how one breed is becoming extinct and being replaced with another, I think he may have mistook some of his findings.

Of course we all know about him going to the Galapagos Islands, finding the different types of finches and the ones specific to each island...he seemed to think this was a strange thing. I seem to think it the same as finding Cajuns in Louisiana or Mexicans in Texas. Different places will have different species....not a big surprise.

Extinction of a specific species and being replaced by another that is slightly different is just death and adaption. Time alone can change things, and with time the things that are changed are no longer.

There was once a creek that ran across level ground, the creek got larger and soon turned into a river. The river ran on that same ground for an extended amount of time until it started to cut the ground. Soon there was small walls around the river and the more the river ran the larger the walls got. Soon enough the small creek is the Grand Canyon.


Would you say the small creek is extinct and replaced by a new species or had simply changed over time?????

Expelled

I just wanted to let you all know that I went and watched Expelled today. It's a movie put out by Ben Stine, who is really smart, that brings to questions why Darwinism is so acceptable but the Intelligent Design is not.

I have decided to do research on all this, I only know what I have been taught and I want to know more. More about what Darwin thought and why, what support he had for his hypothesis. Don't worry I'm not going to become a supporter, I just want to know what I am really up against.


Feel free to tell me what you think.

There is a first time for everything

I went to the eye doctor today, and for the first time ever they said it looks good. I usually get there and they say, "you need to stay out of contacts for at least a week then come back and see me."

Today was so different, I went in they looked and looked, nothing was wrong. I got new contacts and everything was fine....


This is weird!!!

Did you know.....

That all the characters from Lady and the Tramp make a cameo appearance in 101 Dalmatians???

Not again

I really enjoy what I do. I really do. It's not often that you get to do the work that you want to do. Some people just do the work that they should do or capable of doing. I am lucky I get to do the work that I want to and enjoy it.

Lately though it seems that I have been getting aggravated pretty easily. I know that is just because of stupidity, not on my part, but stupidity none the less. I don't like doing work twice, I don't doing unnecessary work, and I(or the crew I work on) don't like being blamed for the mistakes of others.

Here is the deal... we have to dig the ditches that we put the conduit in. We then have to put in the conduit, and then cover the conduit with sand, then dirt half way up, tamp it solid, lay down some marker, then fill it to the top and tamp it again. ( I made it sound like it doesn't take a long time, but this is a three day process)

We have cost codes for the work that we do. All time is written off onto a certain code depending on the work, but we have no codes for digging ditches and covering ditches. These are 70% of the project. So by code time we are behind and they are getting on us....I don't like it.

I operate the backhoe, just because I know how. I am not an operator, I'm an electrician. they can't expect the same things out of us on the equipment as a person who that is all they do. You can't expect 70% of the job to get done without the time going somewhere. You can't get onto me for your mistake of telling me to dig in the wrong spot. If I mess up that fine, but you messed up then I don't want to take the blame.


Am I wrong with this too?????

Stupidity

Is it okay to tell my supervisor that he's moron???

It ought to be!!

It rains here... a lot.

They want to open up 200ft of ditch for our pipe (everything we're running is underground). We can only lay about 20 to 30ft in a straight line a day. Which is actually about 450ft of pipe because of the number of pipes across and double stacked.

Now we will have a ditch full of water and once the water is out...mud, because the bottom fell out of the sky today and a tornado rushed in some weather.

Stupid!

Stupid!

Revisiting childhood memories

This weekend I got off for Good Friday all the way through Easter. It's great for me...I love time off.

With my time off I like to travel, go places I've never been or haven't been in a long time. I also enjoy history believe it or not. So with my time off I went to Vicksburg, MS. We have been there before, my family and Tom Reynolds. I can honestly say I don't remember much of it... but a few things I do.

I took some pictures and this is first time I have really wanted to have my work boots... so I could duplicate some pictures that I remember.

pictures

This is work I have more pictures but they take a long time to load...and they all look just like these. Mud in every direction.

Ice, Safety and Death

Yesterday they shut down the job because someone a little further down the pipeline got killed. Yes a fatality on the job site, it is really not good. They shut us down to talk to us about electrical safety (the guy that died...got shocked). They really talked to us for 2 hours before they let us go back to work.



Then today the weather got bad. It started to rain, then sleet, then snow...really snow. I have never really had to work in the snow but I did today (we never really worked in the snow on the turbines). Of course with the snow the temperatures began to drop, but it's been raining remember, so that translates to freezing water on the bridges...lots of bridges in Louisiana.



They want us to stay and continue to do work. That makes for a really tough day. It's muddy and in the low 30s...that's not a good combination.



The thing that really puzzles me is, they preach to us safety and how important it is. Yet when it comes down to them doing the right thing for us in the name of safety, it all goes out the window. The roads more than likely will be icy tomorrow morning, the roads today were bad enough that the state police were talking about shutting down IH20. They want us to stay and for sure want us to come in tomorrow. That can't be safe.



When do we decide what safety we should be concerned with and what we shouldn't, who decides what is actually important? You and me! Don't let anyone else put your life in danger to make theirs better or easier. Make your own decisions and remember there is always someone else who would be effected by your safety decisions.



I promise to be careful and always come home just about how I left.

Gas, Pipes, Mud and Work

Well I have started back to work and had to pause many times through out the day because I have gotten stuck in the mud. I mean really stuck, mud over my ankle...not water... MUD!!!!!! The work really isn't that bad but that may be because we are not doing much, there is so much mud we can only do so much.

They are saying that we will be here until July and then they would like to take me to Tulsa, OK. Another plant from ground up, they say a 2 year job. I may never get home if I continue to make these people think I am good.

I will try to take some pictures...it is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow...so work will slow down just as it started to dry out and pick up. You really couldn't believe that they are paying us to do the little that we are doing. This is why I like construction...especially time and material jobs.

We do have Sundays off, unless we rain out...that will be our make up day, so I think I will be able to find a church. I drove around this town that is about the size of Midway (a little bit bigger), and there are a million. So as long as we aren't working I believe I can find something I like.

It just seems like every time I find somewhere I like...I have to leave. I hope I can find one sooner than a month before I leave.

The verdict is in.......Del Hi

Got the final word today, I am headed to Del Hi, Louisiana. Not Mississippi, not Alabama, and not Texas. Pretty much all the people that are left here and getting transferred are headed up there.

Del Hi is close to Monroe, north. I am not sure how far that puts me from the house but I am sure that is not any closer than here.

Work and real work for a new time

Well it is pretty much set that I will continue to travel with Turner Industries. They asked yesterday who was willing and I volunteered. I will either be headed to north Louisiana or somewhere in Mississippi. They are not sure yet...which is actually really annoying.

I will have a week off between leaving and being there for work, but a week really is not a long time when you look at all that has to be done.

Now I have to go through the whole process again...houseing, working, finding stuff to do and once again finding a church I enjoy.

The the low down right now. Pack up, go home, sign my lease, do my taxes, sleep late, drop off the books that I have read, pack up, get back on the road and, once again, work as far away from home as humanly possible............ oh well

Alabama, Mississippi, or home sweet home

I have been offered by this company to continue making pretty outrageous money, and go to some other state further away from my house.

I would like to go home, I know they will be starting up soon but what if they don't...construction is not always on schedule (it's actually never).

I am not sure what to do, I have told Turner I am not sure, I don't want to say yes and not go and I don't want to say no and actually want to go.


Just letting you know what's up

What has my mother done to me????

I caught my self watching ice skating. What has my mother done to me?

I am still in Baton Rouge, looks like for a while, at least until the middle of February. The weather has been nasty for the past couple of weeks...it's a wonder I am not sick and have not been sick.

I have talked with the guys at W-Industries so I am really hoping I get to get back home.

The good news is I have found a church I enjoy and enjoy going to. So even if I do have to stay around here I can still the filling that I need.

I have moved into a trailer house that has a washer, drier and a full kitchen...it's awesome! No more hotel refrigerator and microwave meals. I love it. It is also about 20 minutes closer to the job so I get a little more sleep.

That's everything in a nutshell...I'm sure some of you wanted to know.

Light and Dark

How often do we really think about the difference...I was just wondering. We get caught up in being so busy that light or darkness doesn't really affect us... just time.

Light and dark affects me in different ways than it does some, because it is tough to do my job in the dark. I need light to be able to see what exactly is going on, and I need to be able to see what is going on!!!

Today a couple of things were brought to my attention, light matters and the Light would really make a difference if we shared it like no one else was going to.

Marianne Williamson wrote in the famous Nelson Mandela speech, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Bob Marley a few days after being shot did a show, when asked why he said, "The people who are trying to make the world bad aren't taking a day off why should I? Light the darkness." Marley believed he could change the world with his music.

We have something that really can change the world. That really can light the darkness.

Isaiah 60:1-3 says, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn."

This all came together tonight as I watched I Am Legend, the new Will Smith movie. He has it set in his mind that he is the world's last hope and he will save it...whatever the cost. The bad guys are called Darkness Seekers. A part in the movie Will Smith says there is no God and there is no plan, later on he stops to listen and see if there is a god and what His plan is.

We are surrounded by darkness seekers, people that feel there is no God and if he is there he has to be bad or just have some crap plan for our lives. We as Christians should be proof otherwise and we really should get the Light out.

When we let our light shine people will be drawn to us, I have wondered why people enjoy hanging out with me. Isaiah answers that, when we shine out God's light...even kings will want this wonderful thing we have. We also have to realize that the ones trying to stop the light will not take a day off...neither can we. We are in a fight, we have to continue fighting!

Currently

Well there has a been a few changes...while we were in Kansas they offered a few of us a chance to go to another job. They said we were good hands and wanted us to keep working for them. They sent us to Hereford, TX. We went and were rearing to go...

Turns out the cost of living was more than we would have been making to live there.

NOT GOOD!!!!!

We called them to talk to them and they said just go to work...we asked them to fix the money situation. They responded with..."We can't just go to work".

We quickly responed with... a call to Turner Industries in Baton Rouge.

They quickly responded with...come down here now and we'll put you to work for good money.

So that is what we did. I am now in Baton Rouge, LA. Working and liking what I'm doing still.

The good thing is John Vrana lives here with his wife so I do have someone I know to hang out with.