Today, it's raining. It's been raining all week and they said that we have a new storm blowing in today. Hopefully it will blow by quickly and we will be back to sunshine.
7 years ago
Today, it's raining. It's been raining all week and they said that we have a new storm blowing in today. Hopefully it will blow by quickly and we will be back to sunshine.
I slid off the road on Monday morning on my way to the job site. I was moving into the next lane to pass a truck on my way up the pass when I hit a patch of ice. It had been slushing (fat rain, rain/snow mix). I have been driving a Ford Explorer while I am out of town because it has 4-wheel drive. Unfortunately the only thing that rolls more easily than a Ford Explorer is a 12 passenger van. I remembered that as I was carreening out of control down the interstate and the only thing that I could think most of the time was "too fast, i'm sliding too fast." I thought for sure that it would roll once I hit the gravel, but thankfully it didn't and I am alive to tell the tale.
That's where I left the road.
The damage. Pretty much the only casualty was the tail light, and some gouges in the paint from the barbed wire. I thought when I initially stopped that something was wrong with the front end, but the snow plow driver helped me drive it out and it seems to be running just fine.
As I was spinning I actually remembered to turn my wheels into the spin. I would like to credit Austin for talking about turning into the slide and the physics involved over and over again. It could have been the thing that stopped me from rolling.
After all was said and done and I was sitting at the job site I decided to give my mom a call and let her know what happened. I said that it had to have been the hand of God that saved me from a roll over. Then she told me what had happened the day before. She and my Dad had accidentally fasted on Sunday thinking that it was fast Sunday. When they had realised their mistake they shrugged it off and my uncle who was visiting my parents and had fasted with them commented that they must have needed to fast. I'm glad that they did. I am thankful for the extra protection from my parents faith.
Last night there was an El Camino in my dream. I'm pretty sure that it was this one. I don't know what that means. Is it significant if you dream about an El Camino?
We had some problems again today. The water unexpectedly rose and flooded our prep area. The flooding made it more difficult for me to get from my truck to the barge. The situation was exacerbated because I had so many layers of clothing on that I was almost wider than I am tall.
I had to come down a little hill on the right, then walk across the boards in the upper right, climb up onto the trailer, walk across the trailer, pull the boat over, walk through the boat, climb over the anchor line across the boat, pull the boat over to the barge and then climb up onto the barge.
It made me feel like I was doing an obstacle course in a sumo suit.
This is why I was wearing so many layers. The wind was so cold it froze the water the second it stopped moving. Burrr.
Oh wait, we are working the weekend.
This is how my week has gone.
Monday-5 feet of drilling in 10 hours of work. For reference I expect that we should get around 50 feet done in a good day.
Tuesday- 5 feet in 10 hours again
Wednesday-
This happened. That rod on the right used to look like the one on the left, but the bit sheared off during drilling and wore the threads off of the rod. We couldn't retrieve the bit and we can't drill through the bit, so that meant that we had to scratch that location and move 5 feet away and start over.
Today- I woke up to several inches of snow on the ground. The drive into work was harrowing over the pass, but the brutal part was the wind. The drillers spent 5 hours getting the rig up and running.
Luckily my waitress didn't sit me at this table for dinner tonight.
This is how my week has gone.
Monday-5 feet of drilling in 10 hours of work. For reference I expect that we should get around 50 feet done in a good day.
Tuesday- 5 feet in 10 hours again
Wednesday-
Today- I woke up to several inches of snow on the ground. The drive into work was harrowing over the pass, but the brutal part was the wind. The drillers spent 5 hours getting the rig up and running.
Luckily my waitress didn't sit me at this table for dinner tonight.
Now that would have been pathetic.
My mother studied health sciences in college and she is paranoid when it comes to germs in public places. She indoctrinated me well at a young age. To this day I am still terrified of public bathrooms.
The State of Washington Public Health has an ad campaign right now that is to promote basic health practices. It is a song called Washyourhandsington. Every time I hear it on the radio I giggle. So I thought that I would share it with you. The link is below. Enjoy and don't forget to wash your hands.
Washyourhandsington
The State of Washington Public Health has an ad campaign right now that is to promote basic health practices. It is a song called Washyourhandsington. Every time I hear it on the radio I giggle. So I thought that I would share it with you. The link is below. Enjoy and don't forget to wash your hands.
Washyourhandsington
The drillers decided to take the weekend off and it was a welcome relief for me. I was so excited to sleep in my own bed last night.
Today while I was running errands I made a stop by Chambers Bay park on my way home. The park is located on the Puget Sound between a world class golf course and a wastewater treatment plant. Originally the land was one of the largest gravel pits in the United States. It is an awesome park with a big walking trail, a dog run, a large grassy area and a bridge over the railroad tracks down to the water.
I did the construction observation for the shafts that the bridge is built on. It was a tricky job with lots of challenges, including night work due to tides, multiple crossings of the railroad tracks every hour and strange soil conditions due to the quarry leftovers.
The day was sunny and clear so I had a fantastic view of the Olympic Mountains. My most favorite mountain range in the world.
The day was windy so there were lots of sailboats out on the water. It made me long to have a sailboat of my own.
Here is a view of the pedestrian bridge from above.
We had a ward activity this afternoon. We had fun eating brisket, shooting guns and sitting around the campfire. With those yahoos on the right it's lucky that no one got shot.
I recently traveled to Atlanta to visit my cousin Laura. We had so much fun while I was there.
Amazingly enough to start off my trip I ran into my cousin Warren at the Denver Airport.
Here he is with his darling family. I hadn't seen him for years and had never met his kids.
On my first night in Atlanta we ate at the Varsity and then grabbed a dessert on the top floor of the Westin Hotel which had a rotating floor so that you could see the full panorama of the city while you are eating. For my poor carsick prone body it was a little bit of a challenge, but it was a blast!
Our next stop was Coke World and then the CNN center.
This is Stone Mountain. It is a monument to the Confederate army. I just don't get the devotion to the Confederates. The history was interesting about how the Union army took Atlanta. I was also fascinated by the geology of the batholith.
I was in Atlanta for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. On Monday we went into the city to see the parade. Before the parade started we stopped off at Underground Atlanta.
Underground Atlanta is a little touristy shopping place.
The parade was really late in starting and it was cold and rainy. Finally we gave up and went to a little market and had a piece of sweet potato cheesecake pie.
Bill Clinton said that this was the best piece of sweet potato cheesecake pie. It was the best one I had ever had as well. Although, I'm not really sure where you would ever find a piece of sweet potato cheesecake pie other than here.
After our pie we found a spot underneath an overpass where we could watch the parade. We shared some turkey drumsticks for lunch. I wish that I had a picture of the parade. Different sororities and fraternities marched in the parade and each had their own stomp group. I loved watching them perform. It was probably one of my favorite parts of my trip to Atlanta.
Last of all we walked down to the house that MLK grew up in.
Here is the church where he and his father preached at. It was on the way.
Here's our whole group in front of the house. Nearby was also a National Monument dedicated to MLK Jr. It was a really good exhibit. We saw the video on the contributions of children in the civil rights movement. It was fascinating. They had some really ingenious ideas, for example they had the children march so that if/when they got arrested the parents could still continue to work and keep their jobs.
I just watched Gone with the Wind for the first time. I finished it today. Going to Atlanta made it clear to me that I had to see this movie. I have to say that I was surprisingly pleased. It was a fantastic movie. I didn't even want to stop watching in order to go to dinner.
Even though I enjoyed the movie. I have to say that I cannot relate to Scarlett. I have never been that flirty or fickle in my life. She is so amazingly manipulative that you actually feel bad for her, but her nastiness is what makes the movie so irresistible.
This movie definitely gets a thumbs up.
This movie definitely gets a thumbs up.
I'm watching the Grammy's tonight. I watch it for two reasons. First and foremost so that I can see Lady Gaga in all of her strangeness. Watching her is like rubbernecking on the freeway. You know that something terrible has just happened and you can't look away.
I also like to see if the singers really can sing or if they have been working with Timbaland.
On a different note. I pass this on the way to my hotel.
If you can't read the side it says Trans-Zilla.
I also like to see if the singers really can sing or if they have been working with Timbaland.
On a different note. I pass this on the way to my hotel.
If you can't read the side it says Trans-Zilla.
69.25
For my day off I did whatever I wanted. I was up early. I started the day off with some waffles. Every time I say waffles I think of the donkey on Shrek.
Then I went swimming. I love the slate tiles on the walls.
A drive down the Yakima River Canyon was one of the days highlights. These rocks had bright green lichen on them which was exciting to see in the all brown landscape.
I also spent some quality time laying around in my room. I love this hotel.
It was a good day.
Ugh.
I just finished filling out my timecard for last week. That's how many hours I worked. Our timecard goes from Saturday to Friday. I start over again today, but thankfully I had the day off.
For my day off I did whatever I wanted. I was up early. I started the day off with some waffles. Every time I say waffles I think of the donkey on Shrek.
Do you remember these from the cafeteria at college? They have the same waffle makers at the hotel.
Then I went swimming. I love the slate tiles on the walls.
Next I went for a run. Watched dirty jobs. Ewww. Thanks Greg. Got dressed and wandered around Ellensburg. I saw a movie after lunch.
I also spent some quality time laying around in my room. I love this hotel.
It was a good day.
My youngest brother Greg was introduced to La Plaza by his best friend's family. Then Greg introduced La Plaza to us. It is the place that we never miss when we go home to visit.
When I returned from my mission I had a few months where I lived at home while I was looking for a job. I spent a majority of my time looking for jobs and making food for my little brother.
Every day after Greg would get home from school he would come find me in the house and the exchange would go like this.
Hey Kenz
Hey Greg
Are you hungry?
I haven't had lunch yet. (I would wait to have lunch because I knew that this was coming.)
Want to go to La Plaza?
Sure.
Then Greg would drive us in the Buick over to La Plaza.
We would order food and Greg would turn to me and ask me if I had any money.
We went almost every day. He asked me for money, every time.
If you've ever wondered what it is like to have a little brother, that is it in a nutshell.
These are a couple of windmills in a large windfarm that is along the hills over the Columbia River basin. When I first started working of and on again in eastern Washington about a year ago there were only a couple of windmills, now there are hundreds. They were turning today, just as I am sure that they turn almost every day. This area is windy.
My friend Sara has worked on a research project studying windmill related bird deaths. Unfortunately, many many birds are killed every year by windmills. Hopefully someday their research will go towards better designs that will decrease the impact of windmills on the bird population.
Saturday night while I was waiting for my dinner at a restaurant. I started
flipping through the pictures in my phone and I found a picture from Kaua'i.
It seems hard to believe that I was hiking along the Kauai Na Pali coast in August.
Glacier National Park in June.
The Grand Canyon a little over a year ago at Christmas time.
Sometimes the day to day seems so eternal that I forget the fun things that happen in between.
Maybe I should flip through my pictures more often.
Windshield wipers up=it's cold here.
This post is for my cousin MaeLynn who passed away earlier this week. I just wanted to express my love for MaeLynn. I tried to find a picture of us as kids at my grandparents house, but I guess I will just have to wait until I am home to find one. I will always remember MaeLynn as lanky and happy. I will remember her laughing.One quick story. MaeLynn was allergic to freshly cut grass and would always sneeze if she was around it. MaeLynn never sneezed just once, she always sneezed multiple times. We had so much fun counting them. Whenever I sneeze more than once in a row, I always think of MaeLynn and smile.
We miss you MaeLynn and can't wait to see you again someday.
I was talking to my waitress last night and I joked that in Juneau wearing a pair of Xtratuf's around was considered normal behavior. She laughed and said that she wears hers everywhere, in fact she would even wear them to a party with a dress if she wanted to.
These are my Xtratuf's. They are durable, waterproof and the coldest shoes I've ever worn. My feet were so cold today that on average I could feel less than 50 percent of my toes.
These are my Xtratuf's. They are durable, waterproof and the coldest shoes I've ever worn. My feet were so cold today that on average I could feel less than 50 percent of my toes.
I arrived today in Juneau for work. There was a full rainbow when I came out of the airport. I was really taking pictures of the flags to show how hard the wind was blowing.
I've slid sideways in a car before, but I've never flown sideways in a plane until today.
Juneau is beautiful, it combines all of the best parts of the northwest. Emerald water, pine tree forrests and craggy snow covered peaks. I can't wait to see it on a sunny day.