Kissimmee, FL

Yesterday when I got to the plant I was informed that I would have to close today for the two days we will be down for Memorial Day. I get to close and the other guys get a 5-day-weekend !

Troy was there because he traded days with Walt. Troy also called in Scott. We had myself, Scott, Dwight, and Troy who knew what was going on and how to get the machine back up after a mishap. So we had plenty of help. Good thing too because we had lots of paperwork to get done. We had to do the nightly collective backflush reports for each plant, add 3 days worth of delivery tickets, add up the time cards for the Adecco temporary workers, make a weekly and monthly report. Incredibly we got all of it done.

This morning we shutdown both plants at 4 AM and did a clean up on them. We cleaned up inside pretty well too. Then I had to bring all 4 forklifts inside and park them, take the keys out of the Lull and lock up the front end loader. Roll down the roll-up doors. Secure all of the machinery, including the air compressors, turn off the lights, put all of the keys in the office, turn off office lights and lock the doors. On my way out I locked the gate behind me.

As I was heading down the road I began to think and worry that all of the machines might not be shut down properly, so I turned around and headed back to the plant. Walked in... it was dark and eerily quiet in there. Sure enough, some of the equipment was secured when someone pulled the disconnect switch, so I put all of the Hand-Off-Auto switches into "Off". I did this so that Doug would not criticize me when he starts the plants on Tuesday.

Came home and slept soundly until after 2 PM.

Showered, dressed, and had dinner at Outback with Geoff and his friend Bill. It was really nice to see Geoff again. He looks just like I remember him from the last time I saw him. I know that I was all smiles for most of our time together. I never thought that I would actually see him again. I am flattered that I meant enough to him that he wanted take the trouble to see me again !

Tonight I am going to go to Full Moon Saloon when the sun goes down and it cools off some. Do not know if I will find any trouble, but I will dress for it just incase ! LOL !!

The best thing is to look natural, but it takes makeup to look natural. -- Calvin Klein

Kissimmee, FL

When I got to the Plant yesterday a site-wide urinalysis and breath alcohol test were in progress. I lost 4 guys yesterday because of it. The urinalysis results come back in a week. I wonder how many more will be gone then ?

Today is the open house party at the plant. We cleaned a lot last night for it. They are having barbecue down there. I am not going because it would cut into my sleep time. Besides, it is supposed to be 96 F today ! Way too hot !

We had about 6 new guys from Adecco there yesterday... that easily replaces the 3 temps I lost yesterday. Lots of extra help last night. Tonite will be different, one of the guys I lost was Patrick. He was being considered for leadman...until he blew 0.142. Just myself, Dwight, and Walt tonite who know anything about what is going on. It could become a long night.

Kissimee, FL

I went out late lastnight... real late -- 1:30 AM. Got to FMS just as it was closing. Watched Joe and Harry close up the bar, then went home with Joe. We had fun and slept in late. This afternoon we went to the Cheesecake Factory in the Mall at Millenia. I had avocado eggrolls and a Santa Fe salad.

When I got home I changed the oil in the truck and replaced the oil filter and air filter. With that done I went to the pool. It was around 4 when I went to the pool so I did not use SPF lotion. I did not burn. I continued reading Kurlanski's Basque History of the World and took a quick swim.

For dinner I had grilled cheese sandwiches and roasted squash and zucchini.

Have to start back to work tomorrow night... yuck ! I bet we end up cleaning and sweeping and doing whatever it takes to get the plant ready for Open House on Thursday. If I am kept late on Thursday morning for cleaning, then I am certain that I will not bother with the Open House because I will have precious little time for sleep. LOL... Joe was encouraging me to look for another job today too... I guess I should take that advice.

Kissimmee, FL

Well, that last night of work ended up okay. Machines remained working pretty well. Did a two-hour-long clean-up on Doug's machine. Painted the steps outside the office yellow. Turned over to Martin on Sunday morning.

I slept on Sunday until 3:30 PM. Geoff never called me. I guess he forgot all about me. That is a shame. He came all this distance and missed me by 36 miles or 24 hours.

24 hours because I went out to the Full Moon last night. Joe was there wearing his fu manchu moustache.. just like Geoff described it. It was not as crowded as I would have expected a Sunday night to be. Todd was not there, he is in Chicago this week for IML.

Today I stayed in and did not do much of anything. Was going to change the oil in the truck, but alas, I did not have an oil filter. I went to AutoZone and got one, but now it is getting late and dark. Tomorrow I will do it.

Right now I have yellow squash, green zucchini, onions and celery in the oven roasting. I think I going to shake Lowery's seasoned salt on it for a change.

Another gorgeous sunny day. Maybe I will go to the pool tomorrow and read for awhile. I will take sunblock this time.

Davenport, FL

Last night was difficult. Everything was fine until about midnight, then 1193 stopped. The front pallet return conveyor stopped working. Lots of troubleshooting revealed a failed motor-to-gearbox coupling. That only cost us 8.5 hours of downtime.

I came home around 8:30 AM and I was filthy. Got my shower and went to bed. Slept right up to 3:30, then I got up, checked e-mail, got something to eat, dressed, and came back here. Glad this is my last night this week. Three days off !

Right now we are cleaning One Plant, I have the backflush reports done for both plants, need to run materials in a few minutes, and shutdown Two Plant for cleaning in about an hour.

Geoff and his friend, Bill, are at the Full Moon Saloon tonite. I am sure they will have a good time. I told Geoff to find the bartender named Todd, and ask him about me. I wonder what Todd will tell him ?

Need to get the truck to the DMV and register in Florida. I do not want to pay for another six months on my NY policy !

I hope it is another sunny Florida day tomorrow... after I wash the truck, maybe I will get some sun waxing it !

Kissimmee, FL

Yesterday I got all of the trash out of the house, I got rid of all of the old newspapers I had read over the last six months, rid of the old vacuum cleaner, I ran the vacuum, did laundry, and then I went to Home Depot to get a sheet of celotex for my bedroom window.

Cut the celotex to size and pushed it up into the window. Now it is as dark as night in my bedroom. I can sleep better during the days.

Went to Joseph and The Hair Razors to get my haircut shorter and my goatee trimmed. They only charged me $10 because it was Wednesday.

Home for a short nap.

Then it was time to dress for work and go to work.

Nice thing about Wednesday is that Troy and Billy's team is there, and Walt's team and my team is there... plenty of people to get work done. Still getting waste block carted away. We got alot of stuff done lastnight - the yard got swept good, 007 mold box got it's vibrator replaced, a few small problems with both machines, but generally they ran well, but not well enough for Doug.

I was in the office at 3:30 AM adding the delivery tickets when Plant 2's batcher control panel alarmed - "Aggregate 1 Overweight", I reset the alarm and went back to my chair. As soon as I sat down the batcher alarmed again - "Aggregate 2 Overweight". Seeing that the scale was not too high, I reset the alarm and then just stood there and watched it. To my amazement the scale value kept climbing higher and higher... when "Aggregate 3 Overweight" came in and the scale was reading almost 8000 pounds I decided to run out and see what was going on.

I climbed up above the mixer to the scale and looked inside... there was a huge pile of material in there and the pea rock was still pouring in. The clamshell gate was hanging open and the pneumatic cylinder rod had come unscrewed and was just hanging there ! I beat on the clamshell with my hands and it went shut stopping the pearock. Then I went to find Walt and Troy so we could decide how to fix this.

We ended up throwing that aggregate away... alittle at a time so we did not break the mixer. Then we reattached the pnuematic cylinder to the clevis that operates the clamshell gate. Next we had to take the batcher to hand and hand weigh another batch of aggregate. We put the batcher into automatic again and it worked fine.

This situation could have ended up alot worse than it did. But of course Doug was just pissed about it... "Seems like everything happens on nights."

SAP let me goods receipt Bob's cement tickets, but would not let me take tickets for Doug's plant. Then later it accepted Bob's backflush, but it would not let me backflush Plant 1192. Pheobe Davis in West Palm Beach needs to get on the stick and get my approval for both plants !

I think Bob and Doug are reluctantly coming to the conclusion that the rest of us came to weeks ago... that we do not have enough experienced people to run two plants at once. They are hinting that after Memorial Day we are going to drop down to three shifts running six days a week. I don't really care, I was only doing 4 and 3's to support seven day operation, and whatever they do, my hours will not change.

Hee, hee.... they were especially pissed when I told them that Bob Holgerson at West Fort Pierce only runs six days a week and he justified it by saying, "Our sales are not enough to justify running seven days!" Boy, they had a lot to say about THAT !

My truck still needs its oil changed, and it needs to visit the car wash. I wonder if I could take it someplace and get both done at once ?

I know these next couple of nights will be harder. We will not have as many people on hand to run and fix things. Tonight I will be more tired. Plus, now I have another good cold with runny nose, sneezing and sinus pain. Sunday morning will not come soon enough.

Kissimmee, FL

Had alot of fun these past couple of days... after I got off work on Sunday morning I came home and slept for a few hours... around 3PM I got up and got into my truck, drove to Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale to visit friends down there.

That visit brought back alot of memories from other times I visited the area... like in 1994, as a Nuclear Power School student in Orlando, I drove down to Coconut Creek/Margate to visit Rose and Howard. Remember them ? They sold off everything they had in Ohio and moved to Florida to DIE. But unfortuanately, poor retirement planning you know, they ran out of money before they died and had to move back to Ohio and move into assisted care living. Howard just died this past year. Then there were visits to Port Everglades onboard USS George Washington (CVN-73)... I passed the Sear's store where I bought underwear and socks... visited some of the bars that George and I stopped in... and I passed the mall where I spoke to Grandma on the pay phone the last time before she died.

This visit I visited the Leather Werks leather store. The salesman was very interested in me. I bought a few interesting things. Went to a dirty hole-in-the-wall bar for drinks and had a good time drinking Long Island Iced Tea.

This morning I got up and headed north up I-95. I called Jan-Marie in West Palm Beach and offered to take her to lunch, but she was the only one there, everyone else was in the annual conference there at corporate. So I got directions to the Riviera Beach block plant... I would drop in and visit Donny Welty and David Stallings at their plant, and later see Bob Holgerson at West Fort Pierce.

At Riviera, I got out of my truck and immediately spotted Dave Smith talking with some engineer about Skako mixers. We spoke for a few minutes, then I headed around the building where I ran into the gang from the Shop, but this time, we were actually at The Shop. Boyd, Billy, Celso, Chris, and Ken. Richard was at the annual conference. Went in and visited the block plant. Walked around noting the differences and similarities between at Suprapac plant and a Vibrapac plant. That 6-At-A-Time Suprapac machine is a monster ! Now I can speak about it first-hand since I have seen it. While I was there Donny and David returned. Everything in the office tensed up... I made sure I introduced myself to Donny. Real skinny guy... and his manner reminds me of Billy from the Shop.

On my way out I stopped to chat with the Shop boys again. Boyd offered me some encouragement in a quote he got in a recent e-mail: "Remember, the Ark was build by amateurs; the Titanic was built by professionals." I guess it means that whenever I am laboring and wonder just what I am doing there and how crazy it seems, remember Noah and how his work seemed insane too, but in the end he was proven right.

Out of Riviera, back onto I-95... went up to West Fort Pierce next. Bobby Macy was in the office when I got there. We talked about the problems they had been having and some of the solutions they were using. He showed me around the plant. He only had two other guys there with him. While I was there Bob Holgerson showed up and we all talked for alittle while. They really have a nice-looking and clean plant there. I know they are going to make good competition for us.

Back onto I-95, up to the next exit, US 70, and onto the Florida Turnpike. 98 miles to Kissimmee, and I was home in about an hour and ten minutes.

Checking my e-mail this evening I got a message that made me smile... my old buddy Geoff Guth, from Pheonix, is going to be in Florida this weekend. He is helping a friend move from Satellite Beach out to Arizona and they are going to stop in Orlando for a couple days and visit Universal Studios. I called him, and offered my apartment for them to crash in. I never thought I would see Geoff again, and it's been three and a half years since I last saw him. I am glad he remembered me and tried to stay intouch !

I need to get some groceries in the house now, get my haircut, get the truck registered in Florida, get the truck oil changed, lots and lots to do... and I have to return to work tomorrow night.

It was nice having a few days off of work.

Davenport, FL

Yup. It seems that this job is a 12-hour-long nightmare. It is just incredible how many things can go wrong in one 12-hour shift. So far we have had problems with 1192's scale weighing aggregate overweight, rackveyor prematurely indexing, pallet return conveyor ninety-degree turn pile ups, a temp worker missed cracked block and these block got to the cuber causing a massive pile up and spill. Plant 1193 had problems with the T-150 box - it had a loose plate inside; installed the T-18 box. The car refused to go into automatic. Investigation revealed a leaking fitting on the rail locks. Tightened it and filled the reservoir. 8 150's fell off of the cuber and severed the cable to PE-101. I had to replace the photoeye. Then later the T-18's were ending up crushed and cracked. Told Walt we would stop and do a clean up. That helped, but it turned out that the stripping head was not leveled.

But we had a few successes too. During the clean up I taught one of the new guys how to clean the mixer, so I did not get very dirty. I had another new guy clean the restroom and breakroom. While the mixer was being cleaned I got the new pendant out and replaced the crushed pendant controller on the front of 1 Plant's crawler. I did fix the leak on the car rail locks.

Just seems that alot of the trouble starts all at the same time with two plants running. I was outside on the front end loader running up materials when most of the troubles started. Right now I have two machines running and making blocks... got my fingers crossed for the next hour and a half too.

Yesterday I slept for 4.5 hours. That is the most I have slept since I started nights, but that is a good sign, I am sleeping more and more.

Davenport, FL

It seems like my job at work is managing chaos. I have material problems, machinery problems, personnel problems, training issues, housekeeping. . . One problem after another, and sometimes two and three at a time.

Last night I was up on the front end loader running sand up. I dropped a load into the hopper and went to get another bucket full. As I was climbing the ramp to the hopper I noticed that the last load was still up in the hopper. So I parked the loader and got down to investigate. Went around to the back of the hopper and underneath it. In the clam shell gates that throttle the material as it comes out onto the belt, was a big hard piece of something. It would not budge. I had to go the the plant, get a hammer, go back out and break it up. It was a piece of block ! Evidently our new loader operator, Mike, does not clean his bucket off after pushing up the scrap. I thought I got it all, but when I came back in, Teddy was displaying a fist-size piece of waste block he pulled out of the block machine. Of course they want to blame me because I was the guy running materials up.

Did not get out of here until 8 AM.... 14 hours here. I stayed to help Doug and David get started on their maintenance day since they were shorthanded. Man, I was tired.

On the way home I stopped at 7-Eleven for milk and then went to Shell for gasoline. I bought the most expensive gas I have ever purchased -- $2.09 a gallon for mid-grade fuel. It cost $22 to fill the tank on the truck !!

Got home, ate breakfast cereal, read, took vitamins, then crashed in my bed. I slept for about 3 hours. Not enough sleep. I am going to go to Home Depot and get a sheet of celotex insulation board to cut to size for my bedroom window. That should keep most of the light and alot of heat out. For sound, I just put earplugs in to make it silent.

This afternoon I emptied the dishwasher, filled the dishwasher, took out the trash, made dinner and salad, and wrote checks for all of my bills. Packed leftovers to take to work and eat.

Before I knew it, it was time to go to work again. On the way down there I heard on the radio there was a bad accident on I-4 at US 27. Traffic was backed up for 10 miles !

Kissimmee, FL

Went in last night at 6. First thing we did was have a Safety Meeting because we had Day Shift and Night Shift both there. That lasted for an hour. Then David, Doug, and the Day Shift took off. Doug had to drive down to Yeehaw Junction lastnight with a crawler Char-Lynn motor for Fort Pierce. I guess one of theirs gave out.

First thing I had to do was have five new guys watch 8 safety videos. Turns out that only two of them had steel-toed shoes, so only those two could stay and work. Meanwhile I had Night Shift guys coming into the office to take a respirator questionaire on the Internet. I got all the Night Shift guys done, and two forklift operators.

Patrick is being taken away from nights so that he can go on days. I guess they are going to get him ready to work as a leadman. That makes him happy. It makes the rest of the leadmen happy too. But, we will be increasingly shorthanded on nights.

I got down the ABC's of Backflushing book and began to figure out how to backflush lastnight. Went to the training sandbox in SAP to practice. When we went out to do it for real it gave me an error message saying T-306's did not have a run schedule header and would not let me continue. We are backflushing Plant 1192, but for some strange reason only Olivia Faulkner is able to do it. So I will have the backflush worksheet and the batch report all printed out for them.

The guys got pizzas and wings lastnight. I ate some of the wings.

Billy and Scott worked on catwalks and handrails most of last night. I guess we are shutting down Friday morning for some maintenance and we will start putting catwalks into place then too.

Spent some time pushing up screenings and pea rock with the loader lastnight. The screenings are slammed full. I guess Ready-Mix almost let us run out last week and scrambled to get some in. So, Leb ordered 28 loads yesterday !

Kept busy, and kept talking to people, and did not get sleepy until around 5 or 5:30 AM. I guess I did pretty good. I know tonite with be harder. Did a load of whites this morning, then put ear plugs in and went to sleep. Did not hear the dryer alarm. But I only slept for 3.5 hours. I am making lunch now, but will have to go back for a nap soon.

Kissimmee, FL

I usually end my entry with a quote, but I am going to begin this one with a quote.

We are now on the eve of the second transit of a pair, after which there will be no other till the twenty-first century of our era has dawned upon the earth, and the June flowers are blooming in 2004... What will be the state of science when the next transit season arrives God only knows. -- US Naval Observatory astronomer William Harkness, 1882.

On June 8, Venus will make a rare transit across the face of the sun. The transit will take 6 hours, but it will be 3/4 through by the time the sun rises on the east coast of the US. It will do it again in 2012, and then the cycle does not repeat until 2117. I think I will either get a filter for my binoculars or look through at No. 12 welding shield to look for it.

Today I spent most of the day indoors. Slept off and on. Trying to stay up late too. I know that tomorrow night will still be hell for me. Will have to make coffee after midnight.

Went to the whole foods/organic foods store and the grocery to get stocked up. I spent plenty. Got my vitamins filled up too. Checked my mail on the way home. Junk, junk, and a letter from the Army National Guard addressed to Staff Sargeant Vincent John Thigpen, Jr. I called the SSG up and told her I was not interested and not even eligible. Boy, Bob and Doug would be surprised if I had to leave for Guard duty !!

I guess it was a pretty day out. I went out after 4 for groceries and it was still warm and sunny. I caught the salamander that got into my house. He was in the sliding glass door sunning himself. Trying to stay warm I guess. I used an old dryer sheet to get him and put him outside.

Kissimmee, FL

Today I went to Winter Park and deposited my New York State Tax Refund into checking at Navy Federal Credit Union. Then I walked right next door to GNC and bought a jar of Solotron multivitamins and sam-E. Got back on 417 and drove back to Kissimmee. On the way down the odo passed 93000 miles. Guess it is time for another oil change.

Stopped at the Gatorland Car Wash. Used Turtlewax Bug and Tar Remover on the windshield and front of the truck. Dissolving all of those dead love bugs away. Then I drove the truck into the car wash. Removed 99% of them.

Stopped at Chamberlin's Whole Foods Grocery on the way home... just to look and see what they carried. Picked up two loaves of Atkins bread. I think I will shop there for some groceries before I go to the grocery store for my produce and meats. They have a lot of low carb foods.

Stopped at Save Rite to get bottled water, steak, Fresh Express salad, bell pepper. I dread another trip to that place.

I should go to DMV tomorrow and get my truck registered in Florida. Now I have the $185 registration fee.

Downloaded the last 78 pictures of the plant being built out of the camera and into the laptop. Now I have to use the sneaker net to get the pics over to the desktop so that all 125 pictures can be burned onto CD's.

Trying to stay up late and sleep in late... afraid it is not going to be enough to save me from being exhausted on Thursday morning. David plans to have the safety meeting on Wednesday morning. Seems to me that Thursday morning would make more sense... but maybe they will come to that conclusion too.

Old Blogger is using a new format (again). This is the third time they have done this since I have been using it. This looks fresh and new though.

Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Continue to learn. Appreciate your friends. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is. -- Mary Anne Hershey

Kissimmee, FL

Yesterday was a nice sunny day. I spent more of it indoors. I stencilled the date that the waste material hoppers entered service on each one. The new ones say "APR. 2004" and the older ones say "OCT. 02". After that we got all of the parts, safety gear and everything else out of the office, onto a pallet, and over to the new parts room.

I was putting the stuff up and Jan-Marie came in and invited me out to lunch with Rich and the Faulkners. We went to the Davenport Cafe. I had catfish.

Went out lastnight for a few hours. Had nice time. First weekend out in 3 or 4 weeks... and likely to be my last weekend for awhile since my work schedule is changing again.

Today I went to the pool for an hour and a half. Got a light burn which will tan. Just another perfect day outside. Swam in the pool a couple of times to cool off... the pool water is bracing cold.

Fixed the "Check Engine" light on the truck. Disconnected the battery cable for 30 seconds, put it back on and the problem is solved.

Intend to go out again tonite for awhile. Running low on cash and checking, but we get paid again at the end of the week. I have Monday off so I may as well take my NY State Tax Refund to the bank and deposit it into checking. Then I can buy more groceries.

Kissimmee, FL

Overslept again THIS morning, but it was okay... I had a doctor's appointment at 0830. Went to 7-Eleven and got my lunch and drinks bought, the cashier gave me a wheat penny in my change ! Then I went to the doctor. They were glad that my symptoms cleared up with the cefzil antibiotic and they were happy that I am feeling better. I can get a refill on my cefzil anytime for the next year. Said my blood work came back normal... cholesterol was even lower than his ! One thing he saw was my blood sugar looked a little high... I was dismayed to hear that since I am trying to limit the carbs in my diet. But I will try harder and try not to gain weight.

Came back to the house, changed into coveralls and headed to the plant. When I got there I found both plants down, both kiln doors open and the Shop welding in each kiln. Rich approached me looking for some goddamned 4-wire cable before I could even get to the office and put my bag down.

When I got to the office, Olivia Faulkner was in there of course and some other woman... "Damn, ANOTHER woman here? Who the fuck is SHE ? Olivia's friend ? Another admin assistant?" Rich asks me, "Uhh, Vince, have you met Jan-Marie yet?" The other woman was Jan-Marie DiBlasi up from West Palm Beach to help Olivia. Jan-Marie comes up to me and hugs me..."I feel like I already know you!" Damn lady, all that for just a few telephone conversations ?

Found the cable for Rich so he can wire the blower on the cement silo bag house. Then I got the drill, pop rivets, rivet gun and warning signs and I posted them on the kiln doors. Got that job done.

As I was using the small forklift to empty trash cans, Boyd stopped me to talk for a few minutes. I guess David was talking to him, "I see you and Vince get along okay. You talk to him. Is he okay ? He seems depressed." Gee, David, why don't YOU ask me yourself ? Am I that unapproachable ?

The machines were up and down all day. Then we had a problem with the multi-spade loader/unloader... seems the electricians left the power wire loose in the disconnect box. It burned the bus away and was arcing when we opened the box ! The electrician said, "Oh it will still work that way." Doug told him, "Look you messed up, now fix it ! I want a new box!" So the electrician got on the phone and ordered a new box.

While everyone was eating lunch, the salesman from Banner Engineering appeared. Our Banner Q45U Ultrasonic transducers on the machine surge hopper have been failing at a high rate... and they cost $400 a pop. I guess we are going to go to a laser range finder, but they cost $1000 each and they can be fouled by dust. Guess what we have lots of in the air at the block plant ? He advised us to rig up some compressed air to constantly blow over the lens of the laser to keep it clear. Will be interesting to see if these work better.

I wonder if an ultrasonic transducer could work in place of bindicators ?

Got all of the electricians parts and tools and shit from being strewn all over the plant stacked into a box and onto two pallets. They will be pissed when they see it, but tough -- we are operating now and need access to all of our doors.

At the end of the day, Rich Hosmer was inviting Jan-Marie and Olivia and David Faulkner out to dinner with The Shop. He invited Doug and Bob too. Everyone but me. Good thing too because I would have declined. Bob turned him down citing the fact that he has to get his kids. I guess Doug is going in his dirty smelly work clothes.... Red Lobster, seat them in the far back corner !

I found out that Rich gets to read my Monthly Training Activity Reports. I wonder who else Wayne passes these around to ? Just knowing that kinda pissed me off.... if I have a good idea, who knows how many people will be able to claim prior knowledge and claim it as their own. No wonder some guys never turn in a report.

When I got home, and after I had eaten my salad and read my USA Today the phone rang and a number I did not recognize came up. Boyd called to ask me out to dinner with the crew. I declined saying that i had something in the over (I did - a sweet potato) and that I had things to do here at home. Thanked him for thinking of me. He knows that I am unhappy at work. He is not exactly thrilled these days either.

Kissimmee, FL
Cinco de Mayo

Overslept this morning... woke up at 0547... said to myself, "Well, I guess I'd better give Troy a call and let him know I am going to be late." Got there about 45 minutes late. Still beat everyone else in !

Wore coveralls to work because I intended to do dirty work today. David brought in his rivet gun, but no rivets !

First job that I took on was to go up on top of the aggregate bins and swap the "High" bindicator motor with the "Low" bindicator motor. Took the covers off of these things and was astonished at how corroded they were. Bob says that they have been that way since they were installed... I guess when the plant was being built they were left outside for awhile before installation and they got messed up. When I finished this job, came down and energized the bindicators, BOTH the high and low lights were lit for bin 2 ! Not good.

So I had to go up and do this again. This time I had the front end loader operator, Mike, put some screenings into the bin as I worked on the motors. Noticed that the bins shake and rock as you are feeding materials into them !

As I was working up there, I looked up and saw a bald eagle flying ! I guess a couple of them nest across the road at the sand mine and the mine is not allowed to work within 700 feet of their nest !

While I was working on bindicators the Shop arrived to work on a few things for us... bracing the loader/unloader in Plant 1 against the roof trusses... reinforcing kiln rails, and a list of things that Doug made up for them.

When I came down from the bins I was ready to go to the hardware store for rivets. Bob put me with Martin instead. Martin needed me to help him work on the mixer. It needed new shovels, arms, and a new floor plate over Gate 2. This job was supposed to take two hours, it ended up taking all day.

Doug came in around 1130. At noon they all promptly disappeared for lunch. Man, I was pissed ! I took my bag and told the guys in the office that I was taking an "extended lunch" and would be back in three hours. I went to Haines City to the hardware store, rode around for awhile, then ate my pitiful lunch. I was back at the plant after an hour and a half. Martin says that Bob was worried about me. I doubt that.

Doug disappeared again after 4 PM.

I did not get out of the plant until 7 PM. Really tired of it. I know I am not cut out for this.

On the way home I stopped at the roadside vegetable stand and got some pears and apples.... as I left I saw a pair of peacocks on the roadside.

Nice day today... 79F and dry... cooler day but still sunny !

Kissimmee, FL

As I approached the plant this morning, the cacaphony sounded like something from Jurassic Park.

Doug is claiming his machine made 30000 block yesterday. He cheated. He used some of the block that were made on Sunday night. But, I think we will pass 30000 today.

Put the Adecco guys to work cleaning up around the outside of the building. Kept me busy keeping them busy. Picking up some steel channel I cut my right hand middle finger. It bled for a little while.

Lots of time on the forklift today emptying hoppers, moving pallets around.

Casey Jones showed up again today. He spent 4 hours with us. I am tired of seeing him. We didn't we see him all the time all of the hard work was being done, but now that there is credit to be given, he is always here ?

I had to give Teddy Rogers formal warning today about his not showing up for work. He is pissed with me now. I do not care. You can't be buddies and pals with the hourly workers and hold them accountable for standards. Besides, his union steward understands my point-of-view.

Gotta come up with a schedule that allows us to run 24/7 in two plants with two leadmen covering each shift. Everyone would like to go to 4-on 4-off.... but we do not have enough leadmen to do that. We can only support 4-on 3-off so far. No matter what schedule I write, someone will be pissed off.

Thirty-four years ago the Ohio National Guard opened fire on those kids at Kent State... a lot sure has changed since then.

Kissimmee, FL

Well today was a very long and very humid day.

11 years ago today I went off to bootcamp right down here in Florida... man, seems like it was just a couple months ago.

When I got to the plant this morning there was an aweful racket coming from the building.... BOTH machines were running and producing block. Poor Troy... he had to keep both plants running all night. Kept him so busy he did not get much else done.

Plant 2 kept me busy all day. Dave Smith showed up today, so did Wayne. Still working some bugs out of the system. When I got there, there were 30 racks in the kiln and everything was running in auto.

Problems with pallets falling off of the spade unloader... problem with the metering bin filling up and overflowing... problems with block heights not uniform. Put additional safety decals up today... found the old block height gage, wire wheeled it, and painted it yellow... Doug said it looked "Lovely" and I put it out by the machine. Got Ops Logs on Plant 1 and 2 machines. Lots to still work out.

David's wife, Olivia, was in the office for awhile today. Wayne is transferring her to become the block plant administrative assistant. She seems very nice, and very knowledgeable.

Did not get out of there until 6:45 PM.... it was a long, rainy, humid day.

Kissimmee, FL

Since today was my day off, I slept in and did not leave for work until around 8:30. As I was driving down 17-92 and crossing Reedy Creek I saw what I first thought was a cat sitting next to the highway. As I past it I saw that it was an owl ! Continuing down Highway 17-92 I was thinking that my oil change would be due in 500 more miles... and then I saw the CHECK ENGINE light come on. I think I can fix that.

Got to the plant around 9:15. No one said anything about how late I came in. I was ready with my response if they had. Busied myself with posting the caution signs and "Restricted Area - Authorized Personnel Only" and "Danger ! Automatic Equipment May Start At Any Time" signs. I also got some 3/8" bolts and made posts to hang tools, brooms and shovels from. That seemed to please Doug.

It was terribly humid. Sweat was pouring down off my head and all of my clothing felt sticky and wet. I could see that Bob and the others were uncomfortable too.

Finished caulking the metering hopper liners. Had to use silicone caulking.

Suddenly everyone disappeared and ran off to lunch. So Billy and I ate our lunches.

Casey had me help Gary, the Mertz representative, adjust the cement scale dump valve. Basically it is a large butterfly valve and we had to get it centered in the pipe so that it would cycle and close properly.

His manner and personality cause me to believe that he is queer. Boy, I hope Wayne never asks me what I think of him !

In the afternoon a batch was weighed up manually. It was dumped into the mixer and then put on the mud belt. The belt ran automatically. As it got to the metering hopper, the metering belt ran in high speed until the surge hopper on the block machine was filled and then the metering belt stopped - automatically.

Then Doug started up the block machine.

The first cycle produced something that looked like block but they were not filled completely. The second cycle produced almost perfect T007's. Casey was screaming and carrying on... he took pics and immediately went to e-mail them to Mike Carlson. We made 9 blocks this first time... now we just need to repeat that one million times.

I wish I had taken my camera today. Missed pics of the first blocks... missed pics of the first cube. It does not matter, I am going to see plenty of block come out of this machine.

After that I grabbed my bag and disappeared... it was already after 5.

Got to Joseph and the Hair Razors at 6. I had to wait two hours for my hair cut. Got my hair cut, sideburns down to bottom of ear, and a nice goatee. It looks very good. But I did not get out of there until 9. Kinda late.

Now it is lightning again and threatening to rain again.

Tomorrow I need to get some groceries, wash the truck, fix the CHECK ENGINE light, vacuum the carpet, fill the dishwasher, balance the check book, write checks for bills, and get ready to work again.