Back to South Dakota

Well, after six months in Cheyenne, I am back in South Dakota, Brookings area, not too far from the first project helped here just about a year ago. I won't be helping to erect any towers this time however, gonna be doing that lovely stuff people call concrete. Right now we are fighting weather and not the cold wet variety, just the wet. My truck has fun going through the mud (well I do to for that matter) Usually I have pictures to go with my posts, but alas not this time around. I should have posted more when I was in Cheyenne as I had some just breathtaking shots of cloud formation, sunrises and sunsets, with turbines typically in the foreground of course. :) From what I can gather, seems be here til around the end of November, then.... EEEEEEK possible lay-off. I have a couple of ideas in mind should that happen, just not sure which is more plausible at this point. I Just have to keep in mind that things work out one way or the other, and accept things if they don't work out the way I want... have had lots of practice in that arena.... WAY too much if you ask me. Anyway I'll try and be a little more fiberish when it comes to this thing and keep it more current.

Cheyenne

For those who don't know, my job currently has me in Cheyenne Wyoming. At this point in the job we have only 5 and a half towers to erect. Luckily they will keep us busy here for a while even after the fun and excitement of stacking cans is over. Picking up trash....woohoo, but hey it still pays. Anyway I know it's been a while since I posted (ashamedly) I have had some pretty cool things happening. Had a trip (ironically enough) to Sheridan Wyoming to celebrate Easter with my family. I know I have some pictures some place. Think I might be getting senile, I can't remember anything. We had a really great time. I know the kids just loved playing with their cousins. Bre and Arianna amazed us all. It was almost a year since the two saw each other last and they picked up right where they left off a year ago. I was very proud of Michael during that trip. He was wonderful with his younger cousins, and the two of them chaperoned very nicely at the kids table during Easter Supper. I give kudos to Allison. Just wish I was able to spend more time with them.

Ok, one thing that is so incredible about my job is we get some of the most beautiful skylines, or maybe it's just that we notice it more cause, well we are always looking up!!!! Unless of course we're in the tower, then obviously not. Recently we had to play touch and go with Mother Nature. It's a rare occurrence when she loses as far as that goes. 300 hundred feet in the air with lightening is not conducive to a long, healthy life, so when it shows up... we disappear. The following pictures were of a day that we did do a disappearing act eventually, but not before I got some nice picture of the towers with cool looking clouds as the backdrop. Enjoy!!!

This one is cool, well simply put we were literally in the clouds on the ground!!!

Finally some pictures!!!

Ok so I finally found the usb cable needed to hook up my camera to my computer. As a result I have some fairly cool pictures of the area I am in, as well as a couple of what we were doing. I would like to take more of the actions ones, but unfortunately work tends to get in the way of that. I have it in the works to get some photos taken by our safety guy, most of which are of us putting it all together.


I took the one above because I thought it was really pretty. I have a few that are like that.


Hanging the blade on the one above. I wish I could figure out how to take night shots without them being so blurry. I am sure it's the shutter speed, but can't find the menu options to correct it. :(



What can I say, I like the view and I like the truck!!!

Texas, Almost Done!!!

OK, so I know it has been a while since my last post. But this coming week will be my last one in Texas, maybe not permantly as we have other jobs coming up down here, but for a while anyways. I will get to go home for the weekend, spend it with my kids, and probably leave Monday, maybe Tuesday next week to find a new home in Cheyenne Wyoming. All I have to say is cool!!! That puts me roughly 9 hours closer to my kids. I really hope cell service up there is better then hear, cause it just plain sucks down here. They say everything in Texas is bigger.... I think they forgot the cell towers. Anyway I have some cool pictures that I have taken throughout the course of the project, but I am having problems locating the cable to hook up the camera to my laptop. As soon as I do, I will post them on my next probably couple of blogs. Hopefully the internet set-up will be better there too. If it is I will be a little more consistent on my posts.

Crazy Weather

Ok I gotta say the last weekend was busy, busy, busy. But in all reality I don't mind. I love my kids and I love being in the Army, so the lack of sleep I get when I am home for a BTA weekend is of little consequence. What is of a larger deal is when that lack of sleep catches up to me. As it did Monday morning. To keep costs down in traveling back for military duties, I fly into Minneapolis, and rent a car to take me the rest of the way to Fargo. Monday my flight was scheduled to leave at 6:55 am, and I am pretty sure it did..... minus one passenger. Sunday night I decided to take a short nap, and then I was going to hit the road, to make sure I didn't miss my flight. It takes me about 4 hours to get from my apartment to the airport, to give some background information. Anyways that short nap turned into a 5 hour one, as I woke up at 4:00 am. Do the math, and yep I was going to miss my flight. I called the airlines, made arrangements and booked a later flight, all from my apartment. That could have been a big mistake, because when I walked outside, my posterior almost made fast and ready friends with the concrete sidewalk.... it was freezing rain. Yeah I had about an eighth on an inch on the windows of the rental. My new flight was scheduled to leave at 10:40 am, and I had serious doubts as to if I were going to make it or not. Fortunately it the rain stopped east of Fargo, so the roads were good all the way to the airport. Now from what I hear, North Dakota is going through a blizzard with several inches of snow, and where I am at in Texas is under a thunderstorm warning. Crazy weather.

It get so frustrating!!!

Normally I am pretty chill about things but once in a while I have to rant and blow steam like everyone else. I like my job, love what I do, enjoy the crew I am working with, but I hate not having my camera. What is frustrating is that my phone takes a normal size picture one minute and then a thumbnail size the next. I had some awesome views of various things over the last week, and NO CAMERA!!!! Teach me to forget it in Fargo next time. :( Oh and another rant is well, not that I can do anything about it but I am really starting to get annoyed with the wind situation down here. My hours have been sad, to say the least. In Langdon and Brookings I was averaging 75 hours a week. Here I am happy if I hit 55 grrr. Although the irony of the situation isn't lost on me. You know having to get shut down because it gets to windy...... working on a wind farm. So anyway I am done ranting. Well I could go on about other things, but I am all better now. So anyways the picture is when we were stabbing the second blade. You might be able to tell, but shortly after that picture was taken, it got so foggy we could barely see the crane boom. It made lowering the rigging a challenge after it was disconnected, because we could barely see it to call it down and the guys on the ground couldn't see it at all until it was about 50 feet off the ground. All in all it was an interesting experience.

Stackin the Cans!!

Today was a good day at work. We actually got to do something worthwhile. Since I have been here in TX all our crew has been doing is prepping the components for flying. Upper management decided to go to two shifts today, fortunately our crew staying on days. As a result of this decision we got to stack the upper mid, the top and the bottom section of nacelle. Sadly enough I left my camera back in Fargo, so I didn't get any pictures of it, but I have a couple from another job that will suffice.

I am NOT a Bleeder!

The last time I was in Fargo for Army training, I had to recertify as a Combat Life Saver. Part of this training is that we learn (or relearn) how it administer IVs. As you can see, if you forget to apply pressure to the vein after inserting the needle, it can get a little messy. Honstly it looks worse then it really was. Actually I was laughing at her through most of it. I was just glad she didn't go through the vein. That does hurt and usually leaves bruises all over the arm.

Back Home

Well most might not know this but I am working in Texas right now putting up wind turbines. I was able to make it home the first weekend in January for the Army, which I am grateful as it gives me the opportunity to spend time with my children. Granted not a lot, but every little bit is nice. I am glad Allison took some pictures of it. Seeing them is a very pleasant change from an otherwise hectic life.