N322MX has emerged from the paint shop. Ooooooo-We. Zow!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
N322MX gets dolled up
N322MX is at the paint shop. Jeff's got the fuselage all faired out, buffed, primed and ready for paint. Here's MX getting the waterline and pinstrip placed...
(wings are in the paint booth)
(yeah, you were wondering. I could see it in your crinkled forehead)
(wings are in the paint booth)
(yeah, you were wondering. I could see it in your crinkled forehead)
Thursday, April 12, 2007
R.I.P. KV
When I was in the fifth grade I had one of those cranky-old-lady teachers who was mean. I've always had an anti-authoritarian streak in me and that year in protest I stopped reading. I read what I needed to get by in school but that was it.
In the 9th grade I was on a trip somewhere and bored and I stumbled upon a book called Slapstick. It was a weird and funny book set in the near future when gravity becomes unstable. On a heavy day gravity could pull the guts out of a horse. On a light day a man could hop to the top of the Empire State Building. Besides being a complete crack-up, the existential undertones of the book were really compelling.
After that I read any book by Kurt Vonnegut I could find. This actually wasn't all that easy at the time, I was in a small town and the nearest bookstore was 30 miles away. We didn't have a used book store, and we sure didn't have Amazon.com. But in looking for his books I stumbled upon others and by the time we were assigned to read Slaughterhouse 5 in the 12th grade I'd already read most of Vonnegut's books and had become an avid reader.
So thanks KV. You did a little good. May you rest in peace.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Big Bridge needs Big Truck
For the past few years the WSDOT has been building a new bridge linking Tacoma with Gig Harbor. It's a really big bridge and a technically challenging build. If you're into construction, it's been a cool project to watch.
They're about 80% done and at the point where they're ready to install the expansion joints. The first one shipped from South Dakota several weeks ago. It's really really really big: 70' long, 15' wide and it weighs 100 tons.
Problem is, it's so big the WSDOT wouldn't let the truck that's carrying it drive on our state roads. They had some concerns about things like bridges and overpasses that might get a little stressed out by such a massive load. So it sat, parked at the state border near Spokane while they tried to figure out how to move it.
They finally determined that in order to legally drive the beast to Tacoma, they'd have to modify the truck and add axles to spread out the load. This was a lot more than the original trucker had bargained on so he bailed and they had to hire a new hauler to take on the work. Then the state had to issue a new permit for the load.
After three weeks of reinventing large material transport, the truck is now 200 feet long, has 17 axles, a cab in the front and another cab in the back, and extra brakes. It takes up one and a half lanes and has an assortment of chase cars to escort it across the state.
The monster truck is now heading west on I-90 at about 15 miles per hour. For most of the way across the state the highway has just two lanes. Traffic is backing up behind the truck for miles. It's a slow moving vehicular parade that you can track online thanks to a GPS mounted in the cab. There's a live feed from the truck to WSDOT's website where you can watch the progress on a Google map as it uploads every 5 minutes.
For more info, check out this article in the Seattle P-I, the WSDOT bridge website, or this WSDOT page for all the geeky construction facts about the expansion joints.
They're about 80% done and at the point where they're ready to install the expansion joints. The first one shipped from South Dakota several weeks ago. It's really really really big: 70' long, 15' wide and it weighs 100 tons.
Problem is, it's so big the WSDOT wouldn't let the truck that's carrying it drive on our state roads. They had some concerns about things like bridges and overpasses that might get a little stressed out by such a massive load. So it sat, parked at the state border near Spokane while they tried to figure out how to move it.
They finally determined that in order to legally drive the beast to Tacoma, they'd have to modify the truck and add axles to spread out the load. This was a lot more than the original trucker had bargained on so he bailed and they had to hire a new hauler to take on the work. Then the state had to issue a new permit for the load.
After three weeks of reinventing large material transport, the truck is now 200 feet long, has 17 axles, a cab in the front and another cab in the back, and extra brakes. It takes up one and a half lanes and has an assortment of chase cars to escort it across the state.
The monster truck is now heading west on I-90 at about 15 miles per hour. For most of the way across the state the highway has just two lanes. Traffic is backing up behind the truck for miles. It's a slow moving vehicular parade that you can track online thanks to a GPS mounted in the cab. There's a live feed from the truck to WSDOT's website where you can watch the progress on a Google map as it uploads every 5 minutes.
For more info, check out this article in the Seattle P-I, the WSDOT bridge website, or this WSDOT page for all the geeky construction facts about the expansion joints.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
N322MX woke up!
"It's ALIVE!!!"
N322MX got its first whiff of power Monday and after opening its eye for the first time, one-by-one the instruments woke up.
EDM engine monitor
Garmin GPS and communication system.
Garmin navigation system
Dynon situational awareness system
Dynon and the amazing Blue Mountain
Thanks for all your help Steve!Wouldn't have done it without you.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Unplug 'em
So I'm building a little neighborhood in a development at the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. It's a new development and so there's construction happening on adjacent parcels and for the most part we all get along pretty well. But a few weeks ago I discovered that one of my neighbors had tapped into one of my transformers to run power to their jobsite. I discovered this on the morning we hooked up our second of four buildings to the transformer and the transformer exploded.
Now this transformer is not some trash-can type unit that's mounted on a telephone pole. It's installed at the end of our secondary power line, and is a decent size unit (37.5 kva). It's not cheap either. So when it blew up, it was kind of a big friggin deal.
The power company (PSE) came out almost instantaneously and replaced it with another transformer that had double the capacity (75 kva). I had to scratch my head. Then I had to call my Construction Manager - why did PSE have to double the capacity of our transformer? Well, it appears that our neighbors down the hill have their temporary power hooked up to it. What?! How come they're plugged into my transformer? I dunno - he says - but let me ask around.
Now, my neighbors down the hill have two tower cranes and at least a dozen trailers on their site. It is not a small operation. And I had to wonder, how come they didn't get their own damn power off their own secondary line like we had to?
Well, apparently, there was a little bit of good-'ol-boy cowboy-style construction going on when they started up. Somebody from their site asked somebody from our site if they could tie into that there transformer. And since our construction hadn't made it so far as to use that transformer yet, and since our transformer was a lot closer than the main road with the primary, it turned out to be a cheap and easy solution for them to run a few lines to our transformer. So based on a nod and a grin, they ran a 6" conduit about 200' overland and up the outside of a 75' high retaining wall and set a pole with a meter in what is now the backyard of a home I'm trying to sell.
And no, they never asked me. And no, I didn't give them permission to run that line across our property, to install a meter or to plug into my damn transformer. Because the transformer is sized to handle just our four buildings and not our four buildings plus the construction trailer park down the hill. And yes, the guy from my site who gave that little nod is no longer working for our company. In fact he left last fall just before we completely changed the field staff (let's just say he saw the writing on the wall).
So, when that transformer blew I started asking questions. First I looked into the transformer capacity. Even with the new 75 kva transformer, there's only enough connections to plug in my four buildings. No room for anything else, even if there is line capacity in the equipment.
Then I looked into easements, since my neighbor seems to think that PSE's easement allows them to put their power lines and power meter in my backyard. Turns out that my neighbors never asked PSE if they could run their lines to our transformer. They just assumed they could run their power lines and they'd be covered. They assumed wrong. The easement only counts if PSE installs the lines. Which means that my neighbor committed (according to PSE) an "illegal tresspass" on my property. And do you know, this is the first time in my life that the blanket easements granted to utilities have actually worked in my favor. It means I can unplug my neighbor.
The transformer blew up three weeks ago and when it did I formally notified my neighbor that I wanted them to remove their temp power from my property. You'd think they'd have done something, come up with some backup plan or tried to get another line from the transformer they'd just installed on their own property. I know that if it were me, I'd be working my butt off to secure another source of power on the off chance that chick up the hill did unplug me.
I've been on the phone with PSE every other day trying to get them to figure out another way to supply power to my neighbor. Today I even went down to their office and talked to their engineers in person. And you know - I'm starting to think that I'm the only one who's really pushing to get my neighbor's power from somewhere else. I'm getting the sense that these guys are not taking me at my word.
I told them that when I drop meters on that last building I will unplug them to connect my last building. My meter order is called in. They'll show up sometime in the next seven days. And when they do, I'm gonna unplug 'em.
UPDATE:
So I wrote that post last Wednesday. On Friday the boys down the hill finally came up to take a look at where they were getting their power from. They brought along a couple of engineers from PSE to see if there was any way they could jerry-rig it so they could stay plugged in. They cracked it open, took a gander at the guts and PSE said No-Can-Do. And That's when the boys started to take the matter seriously.
Today is Tuesday the 13th and this morning we unplugged 'em.
Now this transformer is not some trash-can type unit that's mounted on a telephone pole. It's installed at the end of our secondary power line, and is a decent size unit (37.5 kva). It's not cheap either. So when it blew up, it was kind of a big friggin deal.
The power company (PSE) came out almost instantaneously and replaced it with another transformer that had double the capacity (75 kva). I had to scratch my head. Then I had to call my Construction Manager - why did PSE have to double the capacity of our transformer? Well, it appears that our neighbors down the hill have their temporary power hooked up to it. What?! How come they're plugged into my transformer? I dunno - he says - but let me ask around.
Now, my neighbors down the hill have two tower cranes and at least a dozen trailers on their site. It is not a small operation. And I had to wonder, how come they didn't get their own damn power off their own secondary line like we had to?
Well, apparently, there was a little bit of good-'ol-boy cowboy-style construction going on when they started up. Somebody from their site asked somebody from our site if they could tie into that there transformer. And since our construction hadn't made it so far as to use that transformer yet, and since our transformer was a lot closer than the main road with the primary, it turned out to be a cheap and easy solution for them to run a few lines to our transformer. So based on a nod and a grin, they ran a 6" conduit about 200' overland and up the outside of a 75' high retaining wall and set a pole with a meter in what is now the backyard of a home I'm trying to sell.
And no, they never asked me. And no, I didn't give them permission to run that line across our property, to install a meter or to plug into my damn transformer. Because the transformer is sized to handle just our four buildings and not our four buildings plus the construction trailer park down the hill. And yes, the guy from my site who gave that little nod is no longer working for our company. In fact he left last fall just before we completely changed the field staff (let's just say he saw the writing on the wall).
So, when that transformer blew I started asking questions. First I looked into the transformer capacity. Even with the new 75 kva transformer, there's only enough connections to plug in my four buildings. No room for anything else, even if there is line capacity in the equipment.
Then I looked into easements, since my neighbor seems to think that PSE's easement allows them to put their power lines and power meter in my backyard. Turns out that my neighbors never asked PSE if they could run their lines to our transformer. They just assumed they could run their power lines and they'd be covered. They assumed wrong. The easement only counts if PSE installs the lines. Which means that my neighbor committed (according to PSE) an "illegal tresspass" on my property. And do you know, this is the first time in my life that the blanket easements granted to utilities have actually worked in my favor. It means I can unplug my neighbor.
The transformer blew up three weeks ago and when it did I formally notified my neighbor that I wanted them to remove their temp power from my property. You'd think they'd have done something, come up with some backup plan or tried to get another line from the transformer they'd just installed on their own property. I know that if it were me, I'd be working my butt off to secure another source of power on the off chance that chick up the hill did unplug me.
I've been on the phone with PSE every other day trying to get them to figure out another way to supply power to my neighbor. Today I even went down to their office and talked to their engineers in person. And you know - I'm starting to think that I'm the only one who's really pushing to get my neighbor's power from somewhere else. I'm getting the sense that these guys are not taking me at my word.
I told them that when I drop meters on that last building I will unplug them to connect my last building. My meter order is called in. They'll show up sometime in the next seven days. And when they do, I'm gonna unplug 'em.
UPDATE:
So I wrote that post last Wednesday. On Friday the boys down the hill finally came up to take a look at where they were getting their power from. They brought along a couple of engineers from PSE to see if there was any way they could jerry-rig it so they could stay plugged in. They cracked it open, took a gander at the guts and PSE said No-Can-Do. And That's when the boys started to take the matter seriously.
Today is Tuesday the 13th and this morning we unplugged 'em.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
The best birthday card ever!
Someone had a birthday yesterday. One of those big birthdays that can be the source of dread. The kind of birthday that makes you feel not so young any more. That particular birthday on which you need a little more support from your friends...
So from the South Pacific - the very south pacific - see the iceberg back there? - came this salutation from our amigo Daniel and his friends aboard Greenpeace's Eszeranza.
Daniel is aboard the Esperanza with Greenpeace's Ocean Defenders documenting the Japanese whaling fleet in antarctic waters. In the background is the Nisshin Maru which has been disabled by a fire in its engine rooom and another whaling ship is rafted to it for support. For more information on what our frio amigos are doing in the antarctic waters and to see more photos from Daniel, click this linky.
So from the South Pacific - the very south pacific - see the iceberg back there? - came this salutation from our amigo Daniel and his friends aboard Greenpeace's Eszeranza.
Daniel is aboard the Esperanza with Greenpeace's Ocean Defenders documenting the Japanese whaling fleet in antarctic waters. In the background is the Nisshin Maru which has been disabled by a fire in its engine rooom and another whaling ship is rafted to it for support. For more information on what our frio amigos are doing in the antarctic waters and to see more photos from Daniel, click this linky.
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