Today is a day set aside by our great nation to celebrate what VETRANS have done for us. While you contemplate this today remember that we are the greatest nation on the earth and that we have the highest standard of living that ever existed and we are FREE.
THAT DIDN'T COME FREE. I AM THANKFUL FOR ALL THE VETERANS---YUP ALL OF THEM SINCE 1753 WHEN GEORGE WASHINGTON AND SIX OF HIS FRIENDS WARNED THE FRENCH TO GET OUT OF OHIO.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
CLOSIN' OUT
This road has been under construction in phases since the day I got to the District. Last week we accepted the second paving contract. Here are a couple of photos of the really sharp turn and the road below it. I am very tickled at how good it turned out and think this is probably the last pavement the road will ever see. There are still two grading phases left but I doubt they will compete well now that the competition has to go state wide starting in 2012.
I am happy that we got as far as we did during my watch-it is an amazingly nice road.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
FALL CLEANING
Fall cleaning is different than Spring cleaning. It entails preparing the house for winter which includes cleaning out the rain gutter and making sure there are no plugs in the down spouts. It is a relatively simple job but it seems to be getting tougher each year. I am not as nimble as I once was and getting close to the edge of the roof makes me nervous now where it didn't before. Stepping off the ladder onto the roof is now a little tougher but now it is really, really tough to step from the roof back onto the ladder. NO GUTS NO GLORY!
I got this all taken care of today and the gutter was completely filled up with decomposing leaves and twigs - problem is there are still a lot of leaves on the trees that will need to be cleaned out after they fall - oh good - I have another job that I can do for Thanksgiving.
I got this all taken care of today and the gutter was completely filled up with decomposing leaves and twigs - problem is there are still a lot of leaves on the trees that will need to be cleaned out after they fall - oh good - I have another job that I can do for Thanksgiving.
8 MONDAYS - NO FRIDAYS
As of today I have 8 Mondays left of my career. EIGHT. I have also made the decision that I am not going to work an Fridays during that time. It is nice to be able to work on a flexible tour. What it usually does is insure that you work more hours in a pay period that you get paid for. It is easy to do that and for me it has been easy to give the extra hours just to know that I don't have to be there. I could stay away if I wanted to.
For the past couple of weeks I have been reminiscing what has gone on in my career. I look back at all of the things I have done and am very very thankful that I have had this job. I have taken on some projects that no one else would and most have turned out very good. There are a couple that people have said they are going to improve on what I did and they have been saying that for 14 years. Guess one of these days they are going to get enough guts to take the chance. I will say when we did the cut through at Flaming Gorge that made the land mass surrounded by Horseshoe Canyon and island instead of a peninsula we were very lucky. We couldn't do the job until December when the water was down and the reservoir freezes solid in January....YUP WE WERE VERY LUCKY TO GET IN AND OUT IN THAT TIME FRAME---EXTREMELY LUCKY
For the past couple of weeks I have been reminiscing what has gone on in my career. I look back at all of the things I have done and am very very thankful that I have had this job. I have taken on some projects that no one else would and most have turned out very good. There are a couple that people have said they are going to improve on what I did and they have been saying that for 14 years. Guess one of these days they are going to get enough guts to take the chance. I will say when we did the cut through at Flaming Gorge that made the land mass surrounded by Horseshoe Canyon and island instead of a peninsula we were very lucky. We couldn't do the job until December when the water was down and the reservoir freezes solid in January....YUP WE WERE VERY LUCKY TO GET IN AND OUT IN THAT TIME FRAME---EXTREMELY LUCKY
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
CASHIN' IN
Yesterday I turned in all my wildland fire gear - all of it. I turned in my flight helmet, flight suit, and gloves as well as the fire shelters and pants and shirts and red pack. Everyone was shocked to see all of the stuff turned in. I may do fire in the future but if I do I will have to pick up new gear.
It has been 39 years since I picked up my first set of clothes to fight a fire to the south of Enterprise, Utah. My job that day was defending a guard station from a fire coming from the south - I was left there alone with no vehicle - that relates to no escape zone. It turned out OK and I was able to keep the fire out of the guard station yard with a lot of work and some fear - but I swore at that time that I would never allow another person on a fire I was on to be put in that position. I have made sure everyone could get away if they needed to.
Well that went a different place than I thought it was going but it feels good to me that I was never associated with a fireline fatality in a leadership position. When I was just starting out I witnessed several fatalities that should never have happened that would not have if people would have paid attention. One of these was a man being run over and killed by an engine while he was sleeping in his tent....my rule from that experience was....There are only two rules... 1. No parking in the sleeping area and 2. No sleeping in the parking area We had another fatality just like the one I mentioned earlier this fire season.
Guess my College History Professor was right - he said the only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history!!!
It has been 39 years since I picked up my first set of clothes to fight a fire to the south of Enterprise, Utah. My job that day was defending a guard station from a fire coming from the south - I was left there alone with no vehicle - that relates to no escape zone. It turned out OK and I was able to keep the fire out of the guard station yard with a lot of work and some fear - but I swore at that time that I would never allow another person on a fire I was on to be put in that position. I have made sure everyone could get away if they needed to.
Well that went a different place than I thought it was going but it feels good to me that I was never associated with a fireline fatality in a leadership position. When I was just starting out I witnessed several fatalities that should never have happened that would not have if people would have paid attention. One of these was a man being run over and killed by an engine while he was sleeping in his tent....my rule from that experience was....There are only two rules... 1. No parking in the sleeping area and 2. No sleeping in the parking area We had another fatality just like the one I mentioned earlier this fire season.
Guess my College History Professor was right - he said the only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history!!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
PACKIN' IT IN
This last week I have spent some time cleaning out my desk and packing my stuff for removal from the office. It seems a little weird to do that but I have way more stuff at work than I had imagined. I know we took ten boxes out of an office I worked at before and I have not once looked back into those boxes. I guess I just need to clear out another place next to those to sit these boxes until I can bear to throw them away.
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