Tuesday, April 10, 2007
it works! :)
ok - so i had to try left clicking on the other photos just to see if they'd enlarge, too. all of them do except the little photo of lili and larry. lili, as always, is very photogenic compared to the rest of us. but, hey, check out the detail in the old blog i posted about the wood carvings. they really look cool closeup! i'll bet spence's photos will look beautiful closeup, too. by that i'm meaning the landscape photos he did from jackson, washington and canada. skip the old time photos. they're too old to look all that good no matter what you do. :/
how to enlarge blogspot photos
If you left click on Lili's photo - probably on any of the other photos in this blogspot as well...haven't tried them yet - the photo will open up the size of your screen. Good way to see how Lili's grown and changed since you saw her last. Our kids do grow up on us.
Lili's latest
Elizabeth (Lili) Mittan, a Hope of America student, has been nominated, interviewed and subsequently selected by People to People International to join their Student Ambassador program during the summer of 2007. On June 13 she will travel to Australia where she will meet with Parliament officials, watch a session of Parliament, stay with a host family and attend a local school. A visit to the Australian National Botanical Gardens, the Aboriginal Cultural Studies Center, the Brisbane Opera House and a day of exploration on the Great Barrier Reef as well as a service project (still to be determined) are also part of the itinerary for the student delegates.
People to People International (which also sponsors Sister Cities and Project Hope) was initiated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 in an effort to develop world peace through the understanding brought by cultural exchange. Students who travel with People to People can earn both high school and college credit in International Studies since each delegation is attended and chaperoned by State certified educators.
Each student ambassador is required to raise the funds for his/her trip. Lili had raised funds through private sponsorship and a car wash. She is now doing a raffle. Prizes are as follows: Grand Prize - a dinner for two at Ruby Tuesday plus an overnight stay for two at the Crystal Inn by the E Center. Second prize - a $65.00 message at The Enchanted Garden. Third prize - a $25.00 gift certificate for Romano’s Macaroni Grill. She is charging $2.00 per ticket and, to date, has earned nearly $500.00 through ticket sales.
Drawing for the prizes will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, 2007 at the WalMart Market at 4570 S 4000 W, Taylorsville, Utah.
People to People International (which also sponsors Sister Cities and Project Hope) was initiated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 in an effort to develop world peace through the understanding brought by cultural exchange. Students who travel with People to People can earn both high school and college credit in International Studies since each delegation is attended and chaperoned by State certified educators.
Each student ambassador is required to raise the funds for his/her trip. Lili had raised funds through private sponsorship and a car wash. She is now doing a raffle. Prizes are as follows: Grand Prize - a dinner for two at Ruby Tuesday plus an overnight stay for two at the Crystal Inn by the E Center. Second prize - a $65.00 message at The Enchanted Garden. Third prize - a $25.00 gift certificate for Romano’s Macaroni Grill. She is charging $2.00 per ticket and, to date, has earned nearly $500.00 through ticket sales.
Drawing for the prizes will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, 2007 at the WalMart Market at 4570 S 4000 W, Taylorsville, Utah.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
photos of work on the sandy wally's world parking lot
well, i was gonna load this one at the bottom but that didn't work. here's larry and lili - image from a recent photo shoot. this is what they look like when they're not out working in freezing temperatures.
now we'll show you photos of them, steve and me working in freezing temps.
here's steve manning the fire hose with me eating my lunch while i hold it up so he can move about easily. we were cleaning off this parking space to make it ready for striping on another day.
Steve and Larry mixing concrete.
lili loading gas for the cement mixer.
lili pouring gas in the cement mixer.
now we'll show you photos of them, steve and me working in freezing temps.bollards, baby! here's lili dipping water, snow and ice out so she can fill the hole with concrete. note the water and slush drops in the air and the bottom of her orange cup behind the bollard.
here's steve manning the fire hose with me eating my lunch while i hold it up so he can move about easily. we were cleaning off this parking space to make it ready for striping on another day.
Steve and Larry mixing concrete.
lili loading gas for the cement mixer.
lili pouring gas in the cement mixer.
I will never look at another WalMart parking lot with the same blase attitude. It's interesting how one's perspective can change. Before beginning to work with Steve on this project, I hardly gave the signs and parking strips a second glance. Now I look everything over for quality of workmanship. Let me explain.
Assuming all of you visit Wally's World once in a while, have you ever taken a good look at the handicap signs? In our area of the world, at lease, the metal signposts are set in parking-stripe yellow bollards. (A bollard is a HEAVY metal pipe about six inches in diameter. It's set several feet deep in concrete. Once that's dried, it is filled with fresh concrete into which the metal sign post is anchored.) Bollards and signposts have to be carefully checked with a level - as they're being set in the concrete - to make sure they're set completely verticle.
After the two different concrete jobs are set and secure, a third concrete job has to be done. The concrete the bollard is set in has to be built up an inch or two above the level of the pavement and sloped to the edge of the hole. Then the top of the bollard has to be mounded with concrete as well. You use a rather dry concrete mix for these last two jobs...if it's too wet it doesn't mound - it runs off. (been there, done that) After this last concrete is dry, the bollard has to be cleaned and painted to match the parking lot stripes and the actual sign has to be riveted to the metal post.
Of course, that's what happens when everything goes well. Since you're working on a construction site, all sorts of things can and DO go wrong. Workers running around with forklifts are the greatest problem. (When I was using the forklift I managed to not run into anything but that was only because Steve was outside guiding me. You can't see every little thing when you're up in a high cab - and i'm not talking about the little yellow forklifts you see in warehouses. I'm talking about great big green jobs probably half as big as our old Deutz-Allis tractor.) We had several signposts to straighten - still have one more - and the landscaping company has a bollard they have to fix for us - it's all caved in on one side.
Anyhow, Larry, Lili and I have all had our day of doing concrete finish work (it's really rather fun in my opinion). We've all done a stint on the fire hose (a two inch hose has enough pressure to knock you on your can, I found, if you aren't braced and ready when the water is turned on). We've helped lay out lines for striping the parking areas and putting the 'hash marks' on the fire lane at the front of the store. And we've learned a tremendous amount about the intricacies of construction work. Even the parking lot stripers have pages of blueprint instructions. Each parking block has to be a minimum of so many feet wide, each sign has to be a minimum of so many feet above the pavement (and each type of sign has its own code to be met), and...and...and.
Then we go park in the parking lot and are completely oblivious to the tremendous amount of layout, construction and finish work that gone into making that parking lot what it is.
I remember the day Lili worked with Steve and me. Steve had to make an equipment run so he laid out a series of places Lili and I were to wash with the fire hose so they would be ready to have yield and stop signs painted on them (we're speaking of pavement, here). We got everything done by the time he got back except for two yield areas. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what he was talking about and he wasn't with us. When he came back, he reminded me there was a little sidewalk poured from the store to the parking lot. A yield sign had to be painted on the pavement on either side. Duh. Here I'd been trying to figure out which entrance or exit from the parking lot he'd wanted me to clean.
Anyhow, we're nearly finished with that project. Tomorrow, weather willing, we'll work on a Smith's parking lot up in Layton - about an hour north of here - and sometime this week we should finish the lot we've been working on lately. In the meantime I've also been subbing - have another full day coming this Wednesday and two or three already scheduled in March. So I keep busy.
Sue and Kevin and kids have been here for several days this week. Lili and Larry had friends over, too. yesterday Sue did a photo shoot of a bunch of Lili's friends in our living room - we moved all the furniture around to make empty space. After Sue got the shots she wanted, the kids created their own groupings using Genie's digital camera. They had a lot of fun but it's been really hectic for me. Oh well. The kids were busy doing something constructive instead of getting into trouble. Sometimes I think parenthood is one exhausting round of trying to come up with legal, morally acceptable activities for teenagers.
Well, 'nuff's enough. Hope you all have a wonderful week. I certainly expect to.
I had planned to add some photos to this posting but that's not happening like it's supposed to so i'm gonna go ahead and post this in hopes i can add some photos later.
Assuming all of you visit Wally's World once in a while, have you ever taken a good look at the handicap signs? In our area of the world, at lease, the metal signposts are set in parking-stripe yellow bollards. (A bollard is a HEAVY metal pipe about six inches in diameter. It's set several feet deep in concrete. Once that's dried, it is filled with fresh concrete into which the metal sign post is anchored.) Bollards and signposts have to be carefully checked with a level - as they're being set in the concrete - to make sure they're set completely verticle.
After the two different concrete jobs are set and secure, a third concrete job has to be done. The concrete the bollard is set in has to be built up an inch or two above the level of the pavement and sloped to the edge of the hole. Then the top of the bollard has to be mounded with concrete as well. You use a rather dry concrete mix for these last two jobs...if it's too wet it doesn't mound - it runs off. (been there, done that) After this last concrete is dry, the bollard has to be cleaned and painted to match the parking lot stripes and the actual sign has to be riveted to the metal post.
Of course, that's what happens when everything goes well. Since you're working on a construction site, all sorts of things can and DO go wrong. Workers running around with forklifts are the greatest problem. (When I was using the forklift I managed to not run into anything but that was only because Steve was outside guiding me. You can't see every little thing when you're up in a high cab - and i'm not talking about the little yellow forklifts you see in warehouses. I'm talking about great big green jobs probably half as big as our old Deutz-Allis tractor.) We had several signposts to straighten - still have one more - and the landscaping company has a bollard they have to fix for us - it's all caved in on one side.
Anyhow, Larry, Lili and I have all had our day of doing concrete finish work (it's really rather fun in my opinion). We've all done a stint on the fire hose (a two inch hose has enough pressure to knock you on your can, I found, if you aren't braced and ready when the water is turned on). We've helped lay out lines for striping the parking areas and putting the 'hash marks' on the fire lane at the front of the store. And we've learned a tremendous amount about the intricacies of construction work. Even the parking lot stripers have pages of blueprint instructions. Each parking block has to be a minimum of so many feet wide, each sign has to be a minimum of so many feet above the pavement (and each type of sign has its own code to be met), and...and...and.
Then we go park in the parking lot and are completely oblivious to the tremendous amount of layout, construction and finish work that gone into making that parking lot what it is.
I remember the day Lili worked with Steve and me. Steve had to make an equipment run so he laid out a series of places Lili and I were to wash with the fire hose so they would be ready to have yield and stop signs painted on them (we're speaking of pavement, here). We got everything done by the time he got back except for two yield areas. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what he was talking about and he wasn't with us. When he came back, he reminded me there was a little sidewalk poured from the store to the parking lot. A yield sign had to be painted on the pavement on either side. Duh. Here I'd been trying to figure out which entrance or exit from the parking lot he'd wanted me to clean.
Anyhow, we're nearly finished with that project. Tomorrow, weather willing, we'll work on a Smith's parking lot up in Layton - about an hour north of here - and sometime this week we should finish the lot we've been working on lately. In the meantime I've also been subbing - have another full day coming this Wednesday and two or three already scheduled in March. So I keep busy.
Sue and Kevin and kids have been here for several days this week. Lili and Larry had friends over, too. yesterday Sue did a photo shoot of a bunch of Lili's friends in our living room - we moved all the furniture around to make empty space. After Sue got the shots she wanted, the kids created their own groupings using Genie's digital camera. They had a lot of fun but it's been really hectic for me. Oh well. The kids were busy doing something constructive instead of getting into trouble. Sometimes I think parenthood is one exhausting round of trying to come up with legal, morally acceptable activities for teenagers.
Well, 'nuff's enough. Hope you all have a wonderful week. I certainly expect to.
I had planned to add some photos to this posting but that's not happening like it's supposed to so i'm gonna go ahead and post this in hopes i can add some photos later.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Ok... So here is our latest.
Kevin is back to work full time. We aren't sure when he os going to be called out of town, so we are trying to get the camper all ready to go, just in case the notice comes only 2 or 3 days in advance.
He has been working in about 6 inches of mud this last week, though. BYU-I is building a new auditorium. However, since the university is built on almost solid rock, they have to drill into it, then blast it so that the rubble can be hauled away. That is where HK comes in. They drive down into the pit and get loaded with rocks the size of an easy chair, then haul it back to the crusher pit. And since we have been having rain and snow, mixed with enough warm weather to melt it all, it is a soupy nasty mess to have to drive truck in!
Brandon is doing awesome in school... Like that is any real surprise! We had his parent teacher conference last week and he is getting the equivilent of straight A's. He is also a drawing fool!!! He gets all bent out of shape if he can't find something to draw with and/or on. He is quite the little artist, too. My bedroom door is covered with his artwork and I love it!!!
Sarah is still our little diva. She is discovering her own artistic abilities, but I am less than impressed with some of her efforts as they are more on the walls and floors, including the CARPETS!!! Who knew you could color on carpet?!?!?!? She loves getting her hair done, and having makeup on. I have to watch her carefully, or she gets into my makeup and paints herself real good! Sigh.
Emily is having a time trying to get over all of her bottles being thrown away. She was sick for a week and so we babyed the crap out of her with the stupid things. After she was better, she felt she still had to have a bottle all the time, so we threw them away. She is on a soft sippy cup now, but she is a tad hacked about losing out on the original.
She is also discovering that she can rival her sister in the whiney department. Boy these two have Lungs!!!
I am just hagin out, trying to be a good mom, and trying to work. Sigh. I am really looking forward to not working this summer. I am hoping to be able to just take off whenever I want to go see Kevin. I plan on camping a lot this summer!!! The kids are really excited!
Hope all is well with everyone! Til next time!
Kevin is back to work full time. We aren't sure when he os going to be called out of town, so we are trying to get the camper all ready to go, just in case the notice comes only 2 or 3 days in advance.
He has been working in about 6 inches of mud this last week, though. BYU-I is building a new auditorium. However, since the university is built on almost solid rock, they have to drill into it, then blast it so that the rubble can be hauled away. That is where HK comes in. They drive down into the pit and get loaded with rocks the size of an easy chair, then haul it back to the crusher pit. And since we have been having rain and snow, mixed with enough warm weather to melt it all, it is a soupy nasty mess to have to drive truck in!
Brandon is doing awesome in school... Like that is any real surprise! We had his parent teacher conference last week and he is getting the equivilent of straight A's. He is also a drawing fool!!! He gets all bent out of shape if he can't find something to draw with and/or on. He is quite the little artist, too. My bedroom door is covered with his artwork and I love it!!!
Sarah is still our little diva. She is discovering her own artistic abilities, but I am less than impressed with some of her efforts as they are more on the walls and floors, including the CARPETS!!! Who knew you could color on carpet?!?!?!? She loves getting her hair done, and having makeup on. I have to watch her carefully, or she gets into my makeup and paints herself real good! Sigh.
Emily is having a time trying to get over all of her bottles being thrown away. She was sick for a week and so we babyed the crap out of her with the stupid things. After she was better, she felt she still had to have a bottle all the time, so we threw them away. She is on a soft sippy cup now, but she is a tad hacked about losing out on the original.
She is also discovering that she can rival her sister in the whiney department. Boy these two have Lungs!!!
I am just hagin out, trying to be a good mom, and trying to work. Sigh. I am really looking forward to not working this summer. I am hoping to be able to just take off whenever I want to go see Kevin. I plan on camping a lot this summer!!! The kids are really excited!
Hope all is well with everyone! Til next time!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
a week at walmart
Been an interesting week down here in SLC. Steve and his partner were asked to do an emergency cleanup job for the new WalMart they did the parking lot striping for in December. The store opening is next week and the parking lot was an absolute disaster. Debris everywhere, frozen into sheets of ice upwards of six inches thick in places. Larry and I needed money, the guys needed workers - so we've been working for Steve and Keith.
Larry's job the first two days was to work with the man they hired to use a huge bucket tractor and clean snow off. Lar's part was to pick debris out of the snow before the tractor loaded it in a belly truck to be hauled off. Yesterday afternoon he was allowed to use the tractor, himself, after the regular operator quit for the day. Larry thought he'd died and gone to heaven!
I, in the meantime, was using a hot pressure washer to break up ice. It really wasn't bad except the pressure gun leaked. It kept me warm but it also soaked me to the skin. My feet sloshed in my sorrel packs every step I took. But I'll tell you what, that little gun was a 'git 'er done' gun! I could cut through that ice like a hot knife through butter. It really was rather fun.
Then, wouldn't you know, it snowed last night?! So today there wasn't much for me to do. Keith was using my machine because his broke so I came back home after 2 1/2 hours. Supposed to snow tomorrow, too, so I'm going to sub out at Lake Ridge Elementary instead of playing in the snow. Larry will work with Steve, again, though.
All in all, it's been good. Nice to be out of doors for a while. There's nothing to do around here so I never go out except to haul kids around. This was a lovely change of pace. Thank you for the opportunity, Steve.
I don't think I'll ever wonder why nobody hears much from Steve, though. That man's a going machine! Gets his kids up and to school so Jenn can sleep since Ammon doesn't sleep through the night yet (likes to munch too much!). Then he's in Ogden by 8:15 to pick up hired workers. Down to the job site as soon as he can get there (this one is over an hour's drive away from Ogden), works at a run most of the day, quits when it's too cold to work any longer, takes his worker(s) back to Ogden then goes home and either babysits his own kids so Jenn can get out for a while or goes and referees area adult sporting events.
On top of that, he's got a bum knee. Wears a brace and hauls his crutches around in his car but doesn't use them. They 'd slow him down too much. If I work with him on Friday I'll try to remember to take my camera so I can post some photos to give you an idea of what he's doing. Today, while I was there, he did a lot of ice-chipping while I used a cold-water hose to melt the edges - in between stints on the hot pressure washer, hauling ice chunks off in a wheelbarrow and using a fire hose to wash slush off parts of the parking lot. When I left he was back on the pressure washer to give Keith a break. He talks about how, at age 30, he doesn't heal as fast as he did as a teenager. No duh! I can't imagine why.
Larry's job the first two days was to work with the man they hired to use a huge bucket tractor and clean snow off. Lar's part was to pick debris out of the snow before the tractor loaded it in a belly truck to be hauled off. Yesterday afternoon he was allowed to use the tractor, himself, after the regular operator quit for the day. Larry thought he'd died and gone to heaven!
I, in the meantime, was using a hot pressure washer to break up ice. It really wasn't bad except the pressure gun leaked. It kept me warm but it also soaked me to the skin. My feet sloshed in my sorrel packs every step I took. But I'll tell you what, that little gun was a 'git 'er done' gun! I could cut through that ice like a hot knife through butter. It really was rather fun.
Then, wouldn't you know, it snowed last night?! So today there wasn't much for me to do. Keith was using my machine because his broke so I came back home after 2 1/2 hours. Supposed to snow tomorrow, too, so I'm going to sub out at Lake Ridge Elementary instead of playing in the snow. Larry will work with Steve, again, though.
All in all, it's been good. Nice to be out of doors for a while. There's nothing to do around here so I never go out except to haul kids around. This was a lovely change of pace. Thank you for the opportunity, Steve.
I don't think I'll ever wonder why nobody hears much from Steve, though. That man's a going machine! Gets his kids up and to school so Jenn can sleep since Ammon doesn't sleep through the night yet (likes to munch too much!). Then he's in Ogden by 8:15 to pick up hired workers. Down to the job site as soon as he can get there (this one is over an hour's drive away from Ogden), works at a run most of the day, quits when it's too cold to work any longer, takes his worker(s) back to Ogden then goes home and either babysits his own kids so Jenn can get out for a while or goes and referees area adult sporting events.
On top of that, he's got a bum knee. Wears a brace and hauls his crutches around in his car but doesn't use them. They 'd slow him down too much. If I work with him on Friday I'll try to remember to take my camera so I can post some photos to give you an idea of what he's doing. Today, while I was there, he did a lot of ice-chipping while I used a cold-water hose to melt the edges - in between stints on the hot pressure washer, hauling ice chunks off in a wheelbarrow and using a fire hose to wash slush off parts of the parking lot. When I left he was back on the pressure washer to give Keith a break. He talks about how, at age 30, he doesn't heal as fast as he did as a teenager. No duh! I can't imagine why.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
