Ye gads! Spent part of the day at the Skunk Works North Campus with a crew of riggers and despite a fair breeze on Mt. Crosley,* it was ghastly; they ran through the water they'd brought ("Lady, we have plenty!") in about an hour and made pretty good inroads into the official-for-site-work supply, kept chilled in the fridge.
I was able to go indoors part of the time and attempt to be useful instead of gettin' in the way (still, you've got to watch the work some of the time; nice guys, skilled guys, but they'll be on the road by sundown, y'know?). It turned out that had its own issues: a couple of iced-up air-conditioning units meant it was raining indoors in two spots, one of them bein' the workshop where my desk-away-from-Main-Campus is. The tiny, elfin waterfall of suck and fail missed that but got part of the toolbox (6' tall, 4' wide and a 30" deep -- and on wheels), so I had to use WD-40 for what it was designed for. For a change.
...Did that little task in the vast garage, which was (and still is, I bet) a plain sauna, 115°F at floor level.
Got home at almost the normal time and pondered the outside things I had half planned, but the walk through the yard convinced me I would rather dance in flaming goat entrails soaked with rancid yak butter than spend any more time outside.
Maybe tomorrow. Then again, maybe tomorrow they'll have flaming goat entrails on special at the Fresh Market.
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* This is a joke; the place is swimming in water any time it rains and if it is a couple hundred feet higher than Downtown, that's only 'cos they built Indy in a swamp! Yes, laid out by the same guy who did D.C.. He must have been heartbroken to learn Indiana didn't have much in the way of malaria.
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ReplyDeleteYou have my utmost sympathy.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I can live anywhere other than Washington. The green(west side of the state) had some humidity, but you could count the 85 degree days on two hands.
Now I live on the brown(east side) of the state...it is hotter, but a humid day is 30% relative humidity...
I'm firmly convinced that George Washington wanted the Capitol in a malarial swamp so it'd be so damned miserable that even the most power-hungry types wouldn't want to hang around any longer than necessary; then a/c was invented and that went all to hell.
ReplyDeleteBefore son enlisted, he worked at the warehouse for a company called Hobby Lobby for a while; said the rifle range at Fort Sill was hot, but at least it was outside and had a breeze.
Don't conflate the designer with the idiots on the state legislative commission who picked the site. They thought it was ideal because they thought the White River was navigable. Bzzert! Sorry, the city you want the steamboat to land at is unreachable by water. Please try your trip by rail later in the century.
ReplyDelete@Firehand: Yes, historians of the future will agree that the advent of air conditioning was the death knell of the Republic.
Nathan: ...But he did it at least *twice.* I think the man was kinky for swamps.
ReplyDeleteHere in San Antonio, there has been more than one time that after working in the plant all day, I really don't want to face even more heat and humidity doing yard work at home.
ReplyDelete"Riggers"
ReplyDeleteReally, I'm surprised at you.
it's "Regroes"
Bobbi, but again -- he didn't pick the site :)
ReplyDeleteIn fact, he wasn't even the lead designer on DC. That was Pierre Charles L'Enfant his own bad self. Ralston was his assistant and only took over after L'Enfant was fired (and the plan was pretty much finalized).
Was yesterday National Tower Day or something? 'FYI went dark shortly after 9am for "antenna repairs," with radio power dialed back...
ReplyDelete@OG: ISWYDT
"... so I had to use WD-40 for what it was designed for. For a change."
ReplyDeleteWell, at least you know it is not a lubricant. Even if it seems to be when it un-sticks kitchen drawers.
Saw a headline the other day, joking aout ducks (well, ducklings) being rescued by using "duct" tape. Just about the only thing DUCK tape is absolutely no good for is wrapping ducts... Yeah, it is often labelled "duct tape" by manufacturers - which just makes things worse.
Thus ends all I know about common tools. Yes, I am one of the idiots who has used a heavy screwdriver to drive a staple or two.
IN the shipyard the Rigger's used to ask to be called 'Lifting American's.'
ReplyDeleteGreg, ours are okay with "tower people." ;)
ReplyDeleteJohn A: ain't it the truth? About duct tape, I mean; last info I saw claimed heavy clear tape was best but my own choice is to not use tape on ducts, since the stickum will fail eventually.
Any non-hammer tool used for hammering may be referred to as an "electrician's hammer," though that's unfair to the best of 'em. But most residential-repair type electricians do little enough hammering on things that it's not sensible for them to add a hammer to their tool pouch when a pair of linesman's pliers will do the same job just about as well. Or so some of 'em have claimed. (The sound you hear is the ghost of Mathias Klein, sobbing.)
Old Grouch: Um, same tower crew, in fact. ERI runs some darned good guys.
ReplyDeleteNathan: Your loyalty does you proud. I'm really just kidding about blaming the designer...still, what was it about capitol cites and swamps?
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ReplyDelete