Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

[glenn kangiser]

Bon Appetite Workers of the World!

....as long as you don't ask us to unite, John..... Homey don't play dat.....

[speedfunk]

Glenn, interesting see ing how the compound is funded.  We are all part of the machine ( or organism ) for sure.  Still backing my way out of it though!

[ben2go]

....as long as you don't ask us to unite, John..... Homey don't play dat.....

I remember that show.I haven't seen it in years.

[glenn kangiser]

I dunno, Jeff... I am beginning to wonder if it is a machine ...or organism... or a disease.....

Yup ... that's how I get my kicks, Jeff and make a few bucks to work on the complex once in a while.... yup... you guessed it... I'm a prostitute.... I sell myself for money to those who will pay my price.

Actually the people I work for call me in when things get bad and they need someone to come in and sort it all out.  I used to put up the whole job and still do the smaller ones but lots of the time I am either fixing problems like this or if they are slow, then they send me their guys too and I put the job up using their labor, selling myself and crane time on days I use the crane.  They save move in fees and lots of rental company fees and I get rent for my truck to keep it going.  Works well for both of us.

I don't watch TV, Ben but can usually find more than I need on the net... Here's a little Homey... Click the pix...

[ben2go]

Ahhh the good ole days.I was a teen when that show was popular.

[glenn kangiser]

I was trying to figure out what the fly girls were about as I recall......

[ben2go]

Craziness,pure craziness I tell ya.   

[glenn kangiser]

Well.... nothing brilliant to post today, in fact I was in such a hurry to get out of the big city I forgot to take a final picture with a bunch more work completed.  The beam hanging in space has been fixed and I did a whole row more past that one.  The major problem here was the line of hip beams I moved to the right and put in their proper place. 

Somehow the detailer totally lost any idea of where he was or what he was doing and kind of randomly placed the line of hip beams based on a lot of bad numbers and elevations changes.  [ouch]

I ordered a new 40 foot long x 18"  beam for the last one - it moved over about 2 1/2 feet from where he put it to be in the proper location.  I could have asked the engineer for permission to splice it but I recommended the company replace it and I put it back to the engineers specs.  No special permissions or extra inspections needed.  More costly for materials but less costly overall.  I have to look out for my customer's best interest..... I guess that is why they like me...

[PEG688]

  They've had  a lot of issues with this steel, is this some new design Safeway? They build pretty much the same building over and over don't they?

   Are you back at the underground compound / command center now?

[glenn kangiser]

I've seen quite a few fairly different designs on the Safeways, PEG, but this one is way different.  It has a full basement under it with full parking area, several elevators and stairways and all steel rather than steel/wood.  

It is apparently built over the footprint of an old Safeway that was demolished earlier.  There is little parking outside and it is in an older high dollar area of town.  I'm, sure they want to make the most of the space they have.

The main problem here is that the detailer was a new unproven company.  He lost his way on the hip calculations and the changes in 5 inch truss seats and 2 1/2 inch truss seats.  He had beams starting at the top of the truss steel level, at the bottom of the 5 inch and 2 1/2 inch truss seat levels and at about 8 inches below the truss top level. To make things worse the side roof was a 4:12 pitch and the top semi-flat roof was sloping 1/4:12 from back to front.  

I would have had a hard time keeping track on paper I think but being there I just had to project the 4:12 pitch to the intersection of the 1/4:12 pitch intersection at each beam line to find the location for the edge of the hip beam getting it level at the top of the truss elevation.    

Changing all of the beam mounts and plates was a lot of work as well as rebuilding - shortening or making new beams to replace changed lengths.  For speed, I burned then reamed all of the holes with a bridge reamer in an impact wrench - just welded a nut to it.  The holes need to be fairly perfect.

Kind of like this one...

Needless to say, that detailer will probably not get any more work from the company.  Detailers are a separate contractor who specialize in drawing the details of how to make steel beams, mountings, columns etc.  taking them off of the engineers drawings.  These mistakes cost thousands of dollars to fix.

I might add that the shop guys do not have a clue how the building is built.  They simply make the pieces to the detailers drawings.  Pictures such as these I have posted many times are the first look the guys get at the project as it is put together.  They could look at renderings, erection drawings or the design drawings to see what it should look like but most of the workers only know they are making such and such a beam, column, etc.


I am back at the command center for one day and 2 nights.  I have to get Sassy to relinquish the helm for that period of time.....

[ben2go]

WOW!Sounds like the blue prints were a rush job or someone wasn't paying attention to what they were designing.

[glenn kangiser]

Might have been a bit of both, Ben, but even a rush needs to be accurate.  Everyone knows when something doesn't fit.

I got back to the Underground Command Center last night and got out to do a few things and take a few pix today.  I was going to have to go down the hill to see where the cows were because they haven't been to the house in weeks - thought they may have split, but I was driving the BushHog around to bury a Garage Cat who was killed by a raccoon and apparently they heard it running.  They associate the BushHog with hay treats...

Soooo ..they came up to see me....



Lots of hay and EM spray for their flies as a reward.

Checked out the garden - set a gopher trap and Sassy picked a few strawberries.  



The roof roses and poppies are blooming pretty good.  In the middle of this pix you can see the fig tree the birds planted on the roof a couple years ago.



Got out and mowed the grass around the cul-de-sac to help keep the Fire Nazis from harassing me later.  I don't mind their concern about my safety but I resent their threatening letters of fines etc if I don't comply.  When the servants can threaten the master, something is wrong.

I put up a notice that they need a Federal Warrant to enter my property which is protected by Federal patent.  



I also met a possible future new neighbor ..... you will never guess who is considering buying the house next door......


http://www.mariposacounty.org/Directory.aspx?DID=4

Michael and his wife dropped by the cul-de-sac.  We discussed how we do things in Mariposa a bit.  I think he may be an alright guy...... [ouch]

and testing out the new camera a bit... I am much happier with this one.. less bad pictures coming out of it.

A very cool bug I chased all over the place to get a cool picture to show you.  

[glenn kangiser]

Forgive me... I really like that bug - had to go back to the high res pix and get a better look......



Posted here it is still low res, but look at the detail.  I think it is cool.

Oh ...this is ultra cool.....

[Ernest T. Bass]

Pretty gross... I like the stained-glass-looking wings, though! Photogenic buggers ya' got there..

[Sassy]

Pretty gross... I like the stained-glass-looking wings, though! Photogenic buggers ya' got there..

That's what I told Glenn - those wings are pretty cool.

[glenn kangiser]

I thought it was really pretty, Andrew and looking closer, I think it is a Mosquito Hawk and it has a mosquito in it's mouth.  yum

Hey it is so he's my friend.  

[ben2go]

Like a kid with a bug net.lol

[glenn kangiser]

It's just that I hadn't looked at a bug that way before....

[glenn kangiser]

Finished Safeway repairs and got out of the big city - for 1 day only then off to Sac for another one..

I caught one of the gophers near my potatoes while I was gone.  They ate all of them last year so this year it is war.  The tops are growing great - like never before ....but will they grow potatoes  

Shaded them in with good dirt and will hope for the best.  With all of the work I have right now it is hard to take care of the garden but Sassy does what she can.  In the rest of the area, work is not getting better fast, so have to take what I can get when it is offered.



Also, the Rhubarb is doing better since I gave it a bit of compost and cow fertilizer.  It is growing well enough this year that Sassy made me a Rhubarb pie - our first ever from the garden.  It was yummy     ...and gone.....



I am convinced that the cows know and listen for my truck to come home.  Arrived at 2 AM this morning due to a truck wrecking on 152 making me 2 hours late.  This morning the cows were here demanding treats....

[PEG688]

I am convinced that the cows know and listen for my truck to come home.  Arrived at 2 AM this morning due to a truck wrecking on 152 making me 2 hours late.  This morning the cows were here demanding treats....

  You're their hero Glenn , little do they know one day they'll be your lunch

[glenn kangiser]

It is kind of low, but that is the way it was meant to be....

I guess I'd probably feel better about it if one of them stuck a horn in me, eh? ...


I mean, it's not like I'm gonna run right out there and offer to stand still while they take their best shot.....

[PEG688]

It is kind of low, but that is the way it was meant to be....

I guess I'd probably feel better about it if one of them stuck a horn in me, eh? ...

Nah, it ain't low , it's just the way it is , one day you're the bug one day you're the windshield. 

Natural order of things , you don't need to go play bull fighter 

But I am sure they connect the rigs you drive with food , hell if you had a seven  chambered stomach food , and how it's delivered to you would be important!!     

Like the brush hog your truck = FOOD to them. 

Garden looks real healthy    

[glenn kangiser]

Nah, it ain't low , it's just the way it is , one day you're the bug one day you're the windshield.  

That is a great one, PEG.  

What bit of the garden I got in - mostly the potatoes is doing great - planted onions - gopher ate many of them -- got pinched by Victor for that one, he did.... He won't have the guts to do that again......




Have you ever thought about traits in intelligence that make some people able to do things that others just find impossible.  I mean like, many of the German people are mechanically inclined..... French are good chefs.....Blond Swedish girls are ... well ... you get the idea......


Anyway... I have noticed the same thing between guys who have a lot of hair and some of us who don't have as much.  It seems guys with a full head of hair are just unable to do some of the stuff that those a bit less follically blessed can do easily.......

The Cactus is blooming now ...all of this rain and it looks like we may be getting a few cactus apples to make some jelly from this year.



The heart shaped cactus were eaten by deer when we first put them in..... only once though......  This is the kind the Mexicans call Tuna and you can eat the fresh cactus as a dish they call Nopales.  A torch will remove the stickers from the fruit or cactus but even leather gloves will get the stickers through them.  Pliers, anyone?



Hopefully I get the cactus apples before some kind of bug gets them,,,,, we have a bug for everything up here.



Now that stuff I was talking about....




You know ... the things guys with a full head of hair can't do.....




Don't try this at home, kids.......








I'm a unicorn, eh?   

[PEG688]

  Humm,  well ya you got me there, I couldn't pull that one off!!

  Ah no, wait I could PULL it off yer head  , but I couldn't stick it to my head , thankfully. 

I hate to ask ( not really just being polite) but ah , err did you wash that thing "BEFORE" you stuck it to yer chrome dome??     

[glenn kangiser]

....Maybe ...if you were tough enough you could pull it off.  That thing was stuck pretty tight.  Nearly sucked out my brain cell when I pulled it off of there.

I was wondering if you would ask.....

Sassy just bought it... fresh out of the store.  No dirty thoughts for me.......


Really... I'm not kidding... it was new.  Look - still has a label on it...