Dear Friend...

I didn't get to make anyone cry today (sigh) nor the alternative, me.

I did get spoken to about how to red-tag equipment and that the bed alarm is not a red-tag item, and if that person had looked at my report I didn't red-tag it for the bed alarm, I red tagged it because the sander belt doesn't work correctly. And the bed alarm is too a red-tag item. Or a possible red-tag item. Supposedly safety first and that bed alarm is an important safety factor. But whatev. It's all an adventure.

Today we worked on a gore-point crash guardrail. It was quite interesting and very cold to do this type of work in 20 degree weather with a lower wind chill factor. At one point, I got handed the tools by MS and him and Q walked away. "Trial by fire" for sure as the guys would say. I was nervous and took forever and it being cold didn't help but whether it was cold or warm it still would not have went well for me. sigh

Tomorrow, back to the basics and clean up of the trucks.

Send me all the news.
Love,
L

Dear Friend...

Went into work Saturday, December 23 to Sunday, December 24 at 5pm to 5am.

I was driving 1417 a manual midrange that I like driving. Today it had a strange high whining sound that I could not figure out. Later I discovered it was the exhaust. Luckily I drove the night with my window all the way down or I would have been sicker than I was when I finally parked the truck at 1am as my LTC OPS told me to do. I waited for another truck to come back from Eisenhower Tunnel as the I70 west was closed and they needed help getting it back open. The tunnel actually lost all power and this means they have to close the tunnel as the carbon monoxide buildup from the cars becomes too dangerous to drive through without the ginormous fans pulling air out of the tunnel. My co-worker arrived around 2am and I drove for two hours in it.

Unknown to me, this truck should not have been used either for one the truck bed alarm did not work which is a red-tag item and number two the belt on it didn't work when you load it. It worked fine if it was empty but that's not how you sand. When I got back I emptied the truck and took it down to the wash bay to clean it up. Also unknown to me, I was supposed to leave it loaded for the next driver. He came and asked me why I had unloaded it. Geez-o-peez, these guys do NOT know how to communicate.

Lucky for him I did clean it out as sand was in it from the guy who took it to the mountains and the sand from that time period was still in it and it was like a block of ice. It took me over an hour to get it out and I had to climb up top of the sander to get the sand out. This is very scary. Needless to say I was quite unhappy with my co-workers who expect me to read their minds and somehow "know" that another driver is coming in. As I stood on top of the sander I was cussing, screaming at the top of my lungs using the guys favorite cuss word, MF. The guys stayed far away in a little smoking group ignoring me. Policy is to clean it out and wash it when it's not going to be used. Otherwise the windshield and mirrors need cleaned for the next driver.

It would have been better for me if I had known then I could have passed on an extremely aggravating problem to the next guy. But instead I did my job, which seems a bit unexpected around this place at times. An elected co-worker came down to the wash bay and told me to get the truck back up to be used per the LTC OPS. Fine, I did my post-report and red-tagged the truck. They used it anyway. At least if anything went wrong I'm not the one to blame.

End of story. Tuesday at work should be interesting. I can't wait to see if I get to make someone cry or the alternative me.

Send me all the news,
L

Urban sketching...home

I don't have a lot of ideas, nor money regarding a present for my mum for Christmas. She is going to have a beautiful blue spruce tree that has been in front of my childhood home since we moved there cut down. She's tired of the needles to clean up and not being able to grow grass underneath it as it is so high in nitrates that it's hard to grow grass underneath.

I decided maybe a sketch would be nice??? Who knows? I am quite lost at times when it comes to family, or people in general most times.

I took a photo of it and decided to sketch the home with the blue spruce tree still out front. The other tree on the parking is an old Chinese elm that has been there since we moved in over 45 years ago. The other parking used to have a Chinese elm too but it died and was removed a few years back.

There is an old saying that "home is where your heart is."

I believe "home is where your mom is" especially if she still lives in the childhood home that you grew up in since you were about six years old. Or perhaps "home is where you grew up." "home is where you feel safest." "home is..."

...something to contemplate, maybe in another post.

Our home used to be white with green trim which is what it was when we moved in, which I prefer. It's now a tan with darker tan trim. I'm happy that I was able to capture it with the blue spruce out front before it is gone.

It was built in the 1930's and is a lovely stucco home with a coolio apartment in the basement and the curbs are over a foot high, which is unusual these days. Funny story, I dated a guy that I told not to pull into our very narrow driveway only someone with lots of experience could handle it. He said no problem, I got this. He was quite mad about the $1200 dollars of damage he caused by not listening to me and later informed me that there should be a warning sign. I informed him that I told him not to drive into it. To actually get out he had to drive on the sidewalk and out the next door neighbor's driveway (which you see to the left in my sketch). Too funny.

Of note, the driveway has been enlarged and is not difficult to get in and out of anymore.

Anyway, this is "home" for me even though I own my own separate home. I love the character of it.



Happy sketching,
L

Dear Friend...

I've been really sick lately. Had to take most of my personal time from work to get over my illness. I'm still sick and have lost the hearing in my left ear. It's really weird as it feels like it's plugged and needs to "pop" open and won't. sigh.

Work has been work and I haven't written much about it. I followed the sweeper in the attenuator while we went north this time. I then worked with K doing delineation. Funny story though: K likes to get back to the shop when it's close to leaving work. He totally shuts down even though we have plenty of time to do things. C1 asked us to go and pick up a barrier sign at Ridgegate and K totally did not want to do this. I suggested that we could go and just check it out. That we didn't have to do anything. He totally fell for it. We headed up and found the barrier. As we sat looking at it I was like "oh, there it is let's take a look. But we totally don't have to do anything." K said, "yeah ok, maybe we could pick it up." I was like, "yeah but we don't have to."

OMG, this type of conversation drives me insane!!!! Inside, I just wanted to scream, "knock it off, let's just go and get it, pick it up and do our jobs, you idiot!!!!"

Ah well, I have learned that K is very susceptible to reverse psychology. It would be very amusing if it weren't so frustrating. We did pick up the barrier and got back to the shop with plenty of time and it was all his idea too. grrr.

To be fair, K is a hard worker. All the guys are.

On Friday, Dec 8 we were on snowshift. Which was a huge waste of taxpayer money since we didn't have any snow for that morning. The night shift needed to be on but morning shift could have been normal. At night, the cement flash froze and caused a lot of accidents. ugh. Cement roads are a huge waste of money. They take more upkeep and more money to maintain and cost you a lot of money because of the accident you'll be in because of it.

This week my patrol and another patrol are working nights, Sunday through Thursday. I'm on the crew that is sweeping the inside wall and for Denver this is safest to do at night. About 1 am the racers came out. There are some amazing cars.

That's it for now.

Send me all the news,
L

Uban Sketching...

I did draw "pigpen," an "affectionate" nickname that I call our sweeper. I was in the attenuator giving coverage for safety for the sweeper. Alas I was unable to catch the dust flowing from it. I tried to make the dust with the waterbrush and did not succeed.

I like The Rock in the background. I took a quick photo of the sweeper going towards The Rock and then while we were sitting and waiting for some reason I quickly drew the sweeper since I had a close up live view of it and placed the rest from the photo into my sketch. I wasn't going to do it this way but it worked out better since my photo is a bit blurrier than I like. I was able to catch some details of the sweeper that I wouldn't have just drawing from the photo. Although, since I had to quickly draw it the lines are a bit reckless.



Happy sketching,
L

'Tangle art - Nautilus, Quirly, TITMOTT

Hello, after speaking with some certified zentangle artists, it is my understanding that I cannot use the word unless I am certified. So I changed everything to 'Tangle art out of respect for these people's good intentions.

I've been sick for the past week and did some 'tangling. I am very happy with this one. I left some nautili unshaded to remind me how important shading can be. It really brings dimension to the art.

My tile has Nautilus, Quirly and Thing in the Middle of the Thing (hence the shortened version in my title), which are recently learned by me.

Happy doodling,
L

Urban sketching...

The urban sketching group I belong to decided to do some outdoor drawing and this museum was the choice for the day. I will admit I showed up a few days later than the group. I'm a bit unconventional and people make me nervous.

This is the Pioneer Museum. I was sitting at an angle and had an issue with sketching the angles. I did this drawing in May 2017, after an interview with an attorney. We didn't care for each other at all. It was a strange interview and he needed someone a bit more insecure than myself. Needless to say I didn't get the job.

Urban sketching...Nederland

Hello, these are the last sketches of Nederland.

This is a sketch of the "Moose shed" which was our sand shed at the shop. The moose like to come here and hang out. They like the salt that is in the sand and come to eat it. I have never seen a moose before coming to Nederland. They are very strange looking. Like a camel. These animals are very shy and very blind, which makes them a very dangerous animal. They don't like to be bothered. I learned that when they have their antlers it is very painful for them to carry them. Also, if a moose ever charges you, you should try to find something big to hide behind or zig-zag run away because of the blindness. They can run straight very fast. This sketch was done in March 2017.

These next sketches were all done in April 2017.

This is the shop at Nederaland, Patrol 12. The snowplows you see is "Grandpa" and the back of 3875, a favorite plow of my co-worker "Patch." Grandpa is called a 6x (said, "six by") and his front wheel is as tall as my head, he's a big guy. He is very fun to drive. I felt safe in Grandpa. This view is looking west. I'm at approximately 9000 feet at the shop.

This is Nederland Town Hall. I took a weekend day and did a sketch of two buildings this day. This one and a restaurant right next to it.

This restaurant is called Neds. It's very bright and cheery with the colour scheme they chose to paint it with. I'm told that this is actually a new building as the old Neds accidentally burnt down.

I remember the wind started to pick up and at 8500 feet that tends to make it a bit chilly and I packed up and left after drawing the two buildings. It was handy that they were next to each other.

Happy sketching,
L

Urban sketching...Nederland

More sketching from when I was in Nederland, CO.

This is a sketch of the home I lived in. Looking north. My rooms are located under the solar panels. In the background you will see Longs Peak its the one with the flat top. Mount Meeker is next to it. Longs Peak is one of the most difficult mountains over 14,000 feet to scale as the last 300 feet you are holding on by only your finger tips and toes with a sheer drop of approximately 300 feet. Not for sissies. Once you get to the top you are standing on a flat top the size of a football field. Many people die each year because of the last 300 feet. It's a tricky mountain. There's also a lot of sky space here and I wanted to capture that in my drawing hence the reason the mountains in the background almost look like tiny rocks on a hillside. This sketch was done in April 2017.

The next is the view from my window as I my room was on the second story of the home. Again you can see Longs Peak from my bedroom. Quite incredible since it was approximately 30 miles away. Just goes to show a person how big nature is. This sketch was done in March 2017




Happy sketching,
L

Urban sketching...

I noticed that I have not shared my earlier sketches from this year when I was in Nederland and a little after I returned home.

this is the view of my living room from the upstairs landing of the place I rented in Ned. It was a beautiful home. I have a sketch of the home too.

I love this lamp. It's from the 1960"s and my mum let me borrow it while I temporarily lived in Ned. It came in very handy. I had messed up a previous sketch and decided to use the rest of the paper to sketch the lamp. I am happy with the drawing.

this is Milo the cat in one of her favorite sleeping spots. This is #2 graphite pencil. This chair is a comfy suede chair and sat in the landing outside my room. My room was on the second story and I climbed a fabulously beautifully handmade floating staircase to my room. I felt like a princess ascending to her chamber each time I went to bed. It really is the little things. And living in a beautiful uncluttered space was a meaningful gift each day.

Happy sketching.
L

Urban sketching...

Hello, here are two sketches that I've done this month. It's not much.

The first is Patrols 24 and 25 where I work. The sheds don't have too much character. I was actually trying to capture the cloud shapes above them. Not certain I did. This was done during a lunch break.


This old deep dark red barn is one that I see when I take Hwy 105 home from work. I love this barn. It's so artistically made and it's really, really big. It will be a shame when it is torn down, which won't be for awhile. Someday though. sigh.

I recently noticed that at times there is an old Palomino horse in this pasture with the barn. As I was drawing the horse was no where to be seen. She blends in well with the now browns of fall. As I was finishing up I noticed she snuck out from the back to take a peek at me and I quickly placed her in the drawing. She watched me intently, most likely hoping for a carrot. I love this barn and the hillsides behind it have lots of dimension and character to draw as well.

Happy sketching!
L

Dear Friend...

Last week M1 came to my patrol asking for volunteers to work Sunday and Monday night, 10 hour days, and then you could either take personal time of 4 hours or come in and work 4 hours and be off the rest of the week. Say what??? I slowly did the math in my head. Meanwhile, C2 volunteers. I did too. I could hear C2 said a cuss-word in his head because now he gets to work with me, he didn't look too happy but it was too late for him to back out (smiles). I get to work two days and have the rest off unless snowshift is called. Yeah me. totally worth it.

Sunday night was interesting and not too cold. I did wear long-johns and wool socks and layered 3 shirts and a coat. I was very confused by the traffic control being set up and kept saying "what is going on? I'm confused." C2 and I sat in the attenuator giving coverage to the Patrol setting up traffic control. C2 finally called M1 to let him know that something needed to be done. Whew, thank goodness.

We were helping with a gore-point guardrail replacement. These things are really cool and totally show how engineering and science help save lives. The gore-point guardrail collapses in when a vehicle hits it at a high speed and instead of being something solid to stop the vehicle immediately it slides in on itself slowly (it's really heavy). Slowing the vehicle. This design saves many lives to those who are "distracted" driving by either electronics, drugs, drunk or racing. I was surprised by the racing. It goes on a lot in the early morning hours in this area. In fact we got to see about 20 cars racing this night.

The replacement went well. I helped where I could and learned how this type of gore-point works.

I think C2 got tired of me because the next night I drove the attenuator alone. He seemed to regret speaking with me so much the night before. oh well. Monday night was potholing. It's so much safer doing this in the early morning in this area. The night work with all the lights blinking is a bit difficult. This night went well too.

I learned some new lingo from C2 on the first night. A D1-Dozer is man-code for a shovel. I found it to be amusing. In fact, C2 told me lots of times the guys tease the FNG by asking them if they want to learn how to operate a D1-Dozer and really build it up and then in the end hand the person a shovel and tell them to get to it. I found that to be pretty funny. Or another comment can be about a co-worker is that they don't operate a D1-Dozer, which is man-code that they are not very good at helping out.

Anyway send me all the news.
Love, L

'tangle - Tri-Rose

I took a zentangle class back in July and have been hooked ever since.

The Tri-Rose was one of those patterns that I just could not wrap my head around to draw. I fell in love with it the minute I saw it. I had to draw it about 20 times before I ever got it right. It's such a beautiful pattern and I was determined to get it. It's one of my fav's. Alena Light is the originator and she has lot's of cool patterns.

I made this out of a magnet that I got on the front of my yellow-pages book and I glued black paper on it and drew this. I also sprayed it with a clear acrylic spray to make the drawing last a little longer. Gotta be careful to not spray too much or it will ruin it (ask me how I know).

I'm happy with it and it's now on my refrigerator.

Happy Zentangling.

Dear Friend...

Answer to the terror:

Keep making each moment, each day, each year your own kind of blessing. Stay determined and never give up, never give in.

Live by being proud of each decision made and each moment lived. If you feel uneasy or made the wrong decision, make it right.

Love, L

Dear Friend...

Does the terror of each day ever go away???

I went through a time period as an adult years ago not being able to sleep for fear I would never wake up, and when I did sleep I would wake up in a cold sweat with a scream at the edge of my throat about to erupt.

I eventually worked through those nights and learned to let my fear go. I don't really recall what got me through this time. I do recall hearing or reading that no matter what I do or feel, it wasn't going to change that I was still alive, still going to go to sleep, still going to most likely wake up (law of averages), and that I should enjoy life, not fear it.

These days I'm just terrified most of the time. Putting one foot in front of the other can be one of the most difficult things I do. Having a job that is mostly male-orientated doesn't help either. My terror doesn't come out of the fact that I'll never wake up anymore, it's that I'm not doing enough.

What is enough?

I try to look at each day as an adventure. Some days this works and some days it doesn't.

I wish I had something more profound. I don't.

Send me all the news.
Love, L

spinning...

spinning:

Dragon Faery Dyeworks, LLC - colourway: orchid ombre style - a merino bamboo mix (60/40)
spindle is a lovely Jenkins Finch.



happy spinning!

kniting...

Let's see something pretty:



This pattern is called Summer Solstice by MeshaMarie. A lovely design. I enjoyed knitting it.

Happy knitting,
L

Dear Friend...part 2

Second night of snow shift started out well, or well enough.

This night the atmosphere is more tense because we may see some "action" (snow). This is what we train all year long for, to coin a phrase I heard somewhere. I find out later their mostly upset about other things.

Anyway the guys (C1, C2, K) are more tense than last night and seem cranky. Our lead has been verbally reprimanded about his personal life by our boss. This seems strange and inappropriate for the boss to be doing. But whatev, you can't change stupid, as the guys would say. Me, I look at it as a bad decision. So, the guys are uptight about this inappropriate decision. I am later informed that this all came about by social media, which is how the guys keep up with each other. Whatever happened to speaking directly to each other? sigh Anyhow, I say "oh, well then you asked for it. When you let people in your business like that you never know what repercussion you'll get." The guys asked what social media I use and I said none other than a knitting site because it brings nothing but trouble and the first thing everyone in this room needs to do is delete your account to all social media. Same goes for this blog (irony it's a bitch).

Anyway, I finally get training on my liquid truck. C1 and C2 instruct me on it. C2 takes over the training and does a good job with it. He's really good at training and even if he thinks I'm an idiot he's better about his tone and takes me through the steps. He doesn't just show me he actually let's me do all the steps myself. Most people get inpatient and have to finish the step themselves. C2 realizes he should let the person do it and interrupts for guidance only. Lucky for me that he did so well, as later C1 and I get mad at each other and I am damned if I'm going to ask any ONE of them for help even if I need it.

The liquid truck is a bear. The hose to hook up the APEX weighs a ton and then it's partially filled with unused liquid from the last fill it weighs even more. It's like a big reinforced firehose. Reinforced because the APEX liquid is dangerous to handle. All the valves and valve covers are huge and thick and heavy too. I struggle each time to hook up this hose. It's like struggling with a big anaconda snake. I hate it and it's even worse when it's cold. There are a half dozen valves to remember to open and close and if you get it wrong...well let's just say, get it right every time because there are no second chances if you get it wrong. This is a bit of an exaggeration but not by much.

Anyway, hook up everything and latch it all down; open up all half-dozen or so valves and press the start button on the pump. Fill the tank up to 925 gallons. It's pretty quick. stop the pump. There is no walking away from it to do other stuff. You must stay outside and observe to make certain that nothing happens like a hose collapse or a valve breaking. I get guidance from C2 twice and by the third time I'm so irritated with C1 and the rest of the guys (by association with C1) I hope that I get all the steps right because I'll die before I ask for help from any ONE of them. Luckily I get it right all 5 times I have to fill my tank.

On the fourth fill, C2 tries to help me out and I inform him succinctly, no thanks. He informs me "I was just trying to help" and I inform him "no thanks." He know's I'm irritated with him and is now trying to be nice. Really??? He's seen me struggle so many times before with other things and not offer help. What is the difference now? Besides in my mind, at this point it's not really good because he's not always going to be there to help me.

Anyway, the guys are brats (in my mind) this night. They are a close-knit team. They leave me behind and expect me to run red lights, which I am NOT going to do, to catch up with them. It's not their license. sigh. As we drive in the half-V formation, I am in the #3 lane (I am later switched to the #4 lane) and I can't see anything because they are dumping material so fast my windshield becomes so thick with sludge from the slicer that I can't see to drive. My finger is on my windshield wiper cleaner the whole time I'm driving. I feel like I'm on another planet. Driving like this is crazy!!! and unsafe. I later find out this is how they are all driving and that they fill up with washer fluid everytime they load their trucks with slicer. This would have been nice to know and OMG that's about 20 gallons of washer fluid for each truck each night. No joke!!! The washer fluid reservoirs on these trucks are from 3-5 gallons.

Anyway, I am now finally understanding why all these trucks have problems with the wipers so much.

I get a reprieve and get sent to another patrol to put liquid on their roads. So much for MB adamantly informing that they would NEVER send a newbie to another patrol to run their roads. This was said in my training with him when I asked him to show me this other patrols roads that we work with a lot just in case.

I am informed by C1 that I will be with this other patrol for the rest of the night. Say what??? I later find out from our boss, M1 that what M! informed C1 to send one of the other guys up to help this patrol. C1 just wanted to get rid of me this night. OMG, I am totally frustrated, confused and lost---literally on the road. I inform C1 that I will need someone to show me the road since I was informed that this would never happen and I am not familiar with the roads. C1 calls M1 and informs him that I need an escort. I find that M1 is my escort. Later by the guys' body language, the boss M1 is not happy this night. He seemed fine to me. M1 was just mad at the guys. M1 escorts me on the roads he wants liquid applied. Keep in mind this is my first time running the liquid in this truck and I am confused and dazed and trying to keep the thing on the road. At one point, M1 has me pull over so he can show me an adjustment because he wants 80% application of liquid being put on the road and I can't figure out how to change the application rate from 50% to 80. My patrol guys think I am in trouble over this and ask me about it later, which is when I find out how bratty they are this night for not telling me they made M1 mad. It's all a cluster and if this all sounds confusing you shoulda' been there. Ha.

After running the other patrols road where M1 wanted, M1 sends me back to my patrol. I say ok which exit do I take and he says just go back and I say yeah but which exit. He informs me that I am already headed south. Yikes. I am so turned around up here I'm lost even with following the boss. Good thing I requested help or I would have been lost all night.

Running the other patrols road was the only pleasant part of my night.

The rest of the night was spent trying to keep up with the guys, and being left behind all night long. At one point, my windshield is so dirty and I have no more wiper fluid they totally leave me all alone and I have to limp into the shop to get fluid going 25 miles per hour. What bothers me so much is that earlier in the evening C1 had informed me that we were not to split up. Yeah right.

I had brought my dinner this night and the guys had not. C1 asks me what I want to do, which was dumb because this is the point where I say what is happening. He informs me that we all have to go to the fast food and they buy it and sit on the side of the road to eat in their trucks because M1 doesn't like us to be out of our trucks. Oh boy, I inform him why did he ask me what I want to do when I don't have a choice? (creep) I think he heard that last word too. I could eat at the shop while they get their dinners and then let me know when they are ready to roll. nope. I got to sit in my truck all cramped up. ugh.

As the evening progresses, C1 tells me where to drive and who to follow too late for me to even follow the person. He does this with each of us only he lets the others know before it's too late. The only thing that saves me is that I can read his mind this night and I follow the person he tells me to before he tells me on the radio (such a brat).

During the night we all pull over at the Lincoln exit for a short break. This is where the guys get out of their trucks, have a smoke break and chit-chat. Plus we need a break from all our lights blinking the blue and ambers can get to be a bit much. I don't get out. I put my head down and close my eyes because I need a break from the lights and the guys. They leave without me (meanies). I notice they have left and I hope that I am caught at a red light. I'm tired of their chit-chat on the radio and the chit-chat at the short breaks is irritating because it is "much ado about nothing." In fact, the chit-chat is so inconsequential it's irritating.

On our last break, I finally get out of the truck because the short breaks help with keeping your limbs from atrophying, which is smart. I get out and do not go into the convenient store we are at. I look at the moon and the trees and stretch a bit. I finally decide it's a good opportunity to look at the truck windshields to see if my suspicion is correct. The guys finally come out and they actually come over to speak with me. Usually, they stay away from me. In fact, I've learned that a good way to clear a room out is to enter it. Or if they are outside and I go outside they go inside. Yep, so true and yes I do feel like I'm in junior high.

At this time, snow shift is winding down. We speak about the windshield issue, which would have been nice to know. And they all admit that they are all pressing that button like it's their next fix and that they fill up that reservoir each time they fill up with slicer. Who knew? I need fuel and I need to clean my truck. I'm pretty useless at this point and it's decided that I should go and fuel up and use the wash bay to clean my truck. What a relief.

Truck washed and time to go home. The guys all stay to speak with MB (our foreman) about me. I bet he got an earful. No matter. I'm tired and I hope they say horrible things about me. I go home and have a long drive through dense fog.

There are other little tidbits but that's enough for now.
Send me all the news.
Love, L

Dear Friend...part 1

I've been on snow shift for two nights now. I don't count the first one as I was by myself, which was more pleasant than I knew. Due to the following:

Snow shift on the really busy Interstate is so much more different than in the high Rocky Mountains it's almost like being on another planet.

The first night we (four of us) worked on debris pickup and delineation and then drove the plows around to show a presence. GRRR, the "higher ups" dictate that we do the plow driving when we shouldn't. I see it as wasting my taxpayer dollars and just want to strangle the "powers that be." I am certain it's a silly man (smiles). As I was writing, the night went far better than what was to come the next day. This first night was interesting as I, the New FNG, did see how the night-shift works. They work well together and are quite a team. I like to see this as that means there is not a lot of wasted time (crosses fingers in hopes that this is true). The first night was just cloudy and not a whole lot to do. The guys did put down some slicer (sand, salt and chemical) around midnight as the roads were a little wet and our lead had the presence of mind to see that it would keep the road from freezing. Our Foreman the next day even mentioned that this helped them immensely. We drove in a half V formation with the trucks and each truck close enough to the other truck to keep cars from passing because it's dangerous for us and them if they do. Plus it's against the law to pass a snow truck formation like this.

The first night was busy and went fast since two of us picked up debris and the other two did delineation and then we got in the plows at midnight and drove around. I was one of the two fixing delineation.

Side note: our roads are all cement. Cement freezes quickly and does not warm up as quickly as asphalt. In my opine, we should make roads asphalt not cement. Cement is a safety hazard. From what I have witnessed with the decision making process around here from the "higher ups," the "higher ups" always want the brand new fresh shiny toy that some salesman (engineer) has convinced them is "better" instead of going with what really works. Ah well, your tax dollars at work no surprise here.

My next night was very trying on my nerves. The guys were all uptight and cranky (their menses had synced and it was recently a full moon). I drive a liquid plow truck, which I'm not happy about and here's the contradiction, I am happy to learn. I knew from farming that liquid is a whole different animal to be driving around than slicer. It's more difficult; as it moves, slicer is stationary. When you have a whole lot of moving going on with the liquid that does something to your driving and compensating for this movement can be very tricky at times. Because it's easy to over compensate even in a normal vehicle let alone a big truck with liquid, and if you do, you are SOL.

So here I am FNG to the area and new to liquid too. I'm not certain any of my bosses have really thought this out very well. They've known that I'll be driving a liquid truck for over a month now and have they bothered to train me on filling, emptying or given me any safety equipment-insulated rubber gloves, and booties to cover my shoes? Answer: NO.
oops, I have taken an online course, which is how I know I don't have the right safety equipment as this liquid is very dangerous stuff. Hands-on training is so much better. But like a guy, let's not bother with it until we have to mentality is prevalent. sigh. I call these types of people "Ostrich Heads." Explanation: an ostrich will bury it's head in the sand until whatever upsets it passes.

Ok I gotta stop now as my blood pressure is up and silliness like the above frustrates me plus I've been at work 10 days straight now and perhaps that is where my frustration is really anchored and I certainly want to present a fairer perspective no matter how silly anything is in my opinion plus I may not be making a whole lot of sense since I'm so tired.

Send me all the news.
Love, L

Dear Friend...

Sunday was just as busy as Saturday. There was a ladder in the road that caused an accident. No injuries and no damage to cars. One car went down the slope and through a fence. J2 and myself got to fix the fence asap as there were cows in this area. It was interesting and took a couple hours. Picked up a sign and a dead doe (be at peace). I also got called back in for and evening debris pick up by the TMIII on duty. I said ok, I'll be there in half-an hour or so. She (yep she---very unusual to have a she in this position. She is one of two), didn't get that I would be awhile. I called J2 to let him know I was on my way and that I would be awhile. He was already at the shop. He spoke to the TMIII about how long I would be and she said she didn't realize this and that they would take care of things. She texted me to stand down. I felt bad that J2 had to be out late and I got to go home. Perhaps I will be able to help out at another time.

The guys keep asking me what I'm thinking when they ride with me. It's really irritating. I'm at peace with my own quiet self and I don't believe they understand it. I just want to reply, "I'm thinking how stupid you are." Which is not true I don't think that (anymore anyway-smiles). Or what I really think is that they should be asking their wives or girlfriends this question not me. Instead I make something up, usually about the Theory of Relativity, String Theory or anti-photons, ect, ect. You get the picture. They get real quiet and don't ask me that question anymore. I just laugh inside. Because you have to keep studying that stuff to really know what is going on with it.
Anyway it's still funny to see the look on their faces. On one occasion I did speak about another co-worker who was mean to me and said that next time I was going to catch everyone's attention with my reply. He laughed and said yep, that would catch everyone's attention and I hope you get a chance to do it.

Send me all the news,
Love, L

Dear Friend...

This past week went fairly well.

Monday was spent washing up the last of the trucks and sanders. Tuesday I got to drive the attenuator for the first time on my own. This was also the last day for The Sloth. Yeah me, I get to be with The Sloth for his last day. Makes me wonder what I'm being punished for and I know that all the guys are relieved that it gets to be me. Q even joked the next day that when Q even hear's The Sloth's voice all Q feels like doing is slitting his, Q's throat so he doesn't have to hear it anymore. I don't feel so bad calling The Sloth, The Sloth anymore as he kept touching my controls, which is really irritating and wouldn't get out to pick up debris like he was supposed to do. I had to tell him every time. He just wanted to sit and watch movies or take a nap. Grrr. Got back early from sweeping so I helped finish detailing a snowplow cab, S disappeared. The guys try to keep these cabs super duper clean as it's very helpful to do so there are other patrols not so conscientious. These guys are extraordinarily so. They do take immense pride in their work and working well.

Wednesday I got assigned the "shit" work (clean and straighten out the flag shed and flags) and since I am the FNG I get to do it. I was wondering the whole time why this type of work wasn't assigned to The Sloth. I mean S was here for 3 months and he didn't get this assigned to him??? whatev. I went through most of the flags and got things in order. The signs are big and cumbersome. The shed looks better than it did.

Thursday was more sweeping. The sweeper reminds me of Pig-Pen on Charlie Brown as there always seems to be a cloud of dust surrounding it. I hope to sketch it someday and I dream of catching that dust cloud perfectly. I made B mad at me this day. So much for keeping quiet and trying to be invisible around here, which is best. B leaves his coats and crap on the lunch table and it's questionable where these things have been, ugh or yuck. Even M1, our boss, dislikes it but sadly doesn't say anything, obviously he knows better than I do. I stupidly placed them on top of B's locker, which he hates. Wow, you should have seen him later. Yikes. Funny thing, earlier in the day BF called B a big baby, which is ironic that B has no clue why he hasn't been promoted. Geez, just ask me I could tell him, oh yeah, best plan here is to be invisible.

Friday, in the morning we had to pick up a boat load of trash that someone lost at the Lincoln exit. Good thing we got to it quickly as it was windy and that stuff was blowing everywhere. B found a dollar. I don't even know how he recognized it as money it was so faded. In the afternoon, more sweeping on Hwy 85. J2 and I had lunch at Patrol 26. Just before work ended B joked about his crap being on the lunch table again and me placing it on his locker. Because of note his crap was back on the lunch table yesterday. He made a big production about picking it up and finally putting it in his locker. Um, hey maybe this is one of many examples that um, explains the promotional issue (nobody wants to work with a big baby, ahem).

I have weekend duty this weekend so I will be working 10 days straight and then I have 4 days off if we are not on snowshift. Today is Saturday and J2 and myself were kept busy picking up large debris on several different areas, a big u-turn sign that was ridiculously heavy and a dead coyote and a dead deer, both were heavy. So far it's been interesting.

Anyway, send me all the news.
Love, L

Urban Sketching...

More sweeping today. This is a quick 15 minute sketch. Not the best sketch but it's ok.
I coloured it later at home. Love my watercolour pencils and Pentel water brush pen.

Titan and Hwy 85, looking west.

Happy sketching,
L

Urban Sketching...

I was in an attenuator giving safety coverage for the sweeper so I sketched this quickly and added the watercolour later at home.

This is looking north east on the off ramp, I-25 at exit 167.

side note: a core-drilling engineering group are taking core samples on this day in the same area so that I-25 can be widened to 3 lanes both ways, which is needed. The irony here will be that it will be a toll road. So the road will be built with Federal tax money (taxpayer money) and then the government will hand over a road contract to a contractor who will charge me and you, who subsidized it, for the use of it. And the biggest irony for it is that a contractor will run the toll road so they can make a profit with my subsidy of the road because the government cannot make a "profit." Capitalist welfare at it's best at work with taxpayer money. Another reason I never vote for a tax increase as I am tired of the "contractor welfare" provided with my money and yet my benefits are cut. grrr

Outsourcing is rarely a good idea, you actually get less for your money. I've witnessed it time and time again. shoddy work for "less." ooops sorry for the distraction.

Anyway, happy sketching.
L

Dear Friend...

Snow shift (star watch) went well. It was nice to be on my own and not have any "looks." I didn't see any stars either. I thought I wouldn't have much to do but kept busy with driving the road, fueling (which takes awhile for 42 gallons-and that's only half a tank) and then washing the truck as the "biodegradable" products that we use are very corrosive to metal. It took me more than two hours at the wash bay and I still don't think I got it all, and online learning. B and C2 called to check on me which was nice and if I had any questions. Nope, all went well.

Side note, earlier that afternoon The S was supposed to be helping Q and Q came in to tell B and M1 that The S was in the bathroom watching a movie. What a chump S is. Do you have to deal with co-workers that sneak to the bathroom to watch movies? Q needed to leave to deliver equipment and The S was supposed to go with him and help. Q left without him muttering under his breath what a lazy so-and-so The S is. B told me that M1 should have went and told The S to clear out as that behavior is totally unacceptable. Instead The Company gets to pay him for another few days of non-work. ugh.

I listened to Harvest radio while I drove with earplugs in my ears as the trucks are very loud. Don't know how the guys hear anything since they don't wear them while driving. Anyway the message was about how not to make judgements of others. As the same judgements you make of others will be the same ones you are judged by. The Paster went on to state that observations are a different story and the reason I bring this story up as it bugs me how filthy mouthed the guys are at work and their claim to fame is that of being Christian, which makes me cringe at times. Their walk confuses me since they are so filthy mouthed and other behavior too. This doesn't match the talk. Anyway, the Pastor stated that he was on the football team and was filthy mouthed and someone he looked up to asked him if it was difficult being a Christian when he spoke the way he did. The person was not judging just observing. I thought to myself, wow how tactful those words are. I hope that I can be that tactful with the people I work with and make an impactful statement like that and not be made fun of by the guys. I'm not usually lucky to be so insightful. Maybe one day. Although, now that I think about it, I don't think the guys would even understand the question let alone the reason behind the question. sigh. Is that a judgement??? Hopefully, just an observation that they just don't get "it."

I think the guys tend to believe that all they have to do is believe and keep doing bad stuff, which makes me laugh inside. If they've read their bibles correctly, if at all (ooops is that another judgement???) you don't get to go around being a bad person after you believe. You must live your life as Christ-like as possible and when you don't it's questionable as to the belief in the first place.

Heard something funny sad: "Good things happen to bad people."

Anyway send me all the news.
Love,
L

Dear Friend...

Just had to give and update. The Sloth (I cringe when I write that because I think it's cruel) showed up for work on Monday. I guess he has more grit than I believed. I really thought he'd never come back and return to his previous job. He got to work on trucks all day greasing (sigh, that's my favorite thing to do) and changing out oil filters. I mowed again.

Tuesday, I had new employee orientation at the main HQ in Denver, which would have been helpful to have the first month of employment not the fourth. The guys told me it wasn't worth going to, I should have known better. They always tell me this and it's rarely the case. The information given was about making informed choices for health care and retirement. sigh. I now have to wait for open enrollment to make any changes, which is a year from now.

Today is Wednesday, and The S has turned in his resignation and is going to return to his previous job. I see the smug smiles on my co-workers faces and they are all secretly happy and J1 did an imaginary boot kick. I'm a little glad too, because The S let me do all the work when I worked with him. Although, (and I hate thinking this) now the focus has shifted back to me. I wonder how happy they will be if I ever leave.

I have to work snow shift tomorrow night, 3pm to 3am. It's mostly called a "star-watch" since there won't be much snow. But the higher-uppers believe that we must show our faces for PR purposes. I hate when my tax money is wasted this way. It's done because some dopey taxpayer who has moved here from another state and doesn't know how to drive in snow has called and complained. grrr.

Anyway, send me all the news.
Love,
L

Urban sketching...

I love this little garage in Castle Rock. It's for lease. I even wrote up a business plan for it as I think it would do well as a coffee shop with art gallery with seating in the garage area. I even called the realtor. A big name coffee company (starts with an S) has the same idea and has already negotiated taking it over. Guess what the rent is? $6300 per month and the building is "as is." Yikes! That's $75,000 per year for rent. Considering where this is located it's actually a decent price. I hope they renovate the building as it's got such character.

My angles and depth perception are a bit off and I'm disappointed that I didn't catch the presence of The Rock like I wanted. I still like it and enjoyed the drawing process.

This is the photo that I drew from since I was unable to draw this on site.





Happy Sketching!!
-all photos and sketches copyright by me.

Dear Friend...

Early this month (October) there was a recent fatal on north I-25 (this person was texting and driving). Two days after, I got assigned to work on delineation and pick debris with K and J2. J2 is the driver and K and I will work on debris and delineation. I hate it when fatals happen because K is quite the socio-path. We had to head up to the fatal first thing and look for money. yep, I'm not kidding and gross. I am throughly disgusted by this and I try to pick up debris which there is very little at this place. I'm so creeped out it's creepy. K found $1.50. I just want to throw up.

Later on in the month I work with K and The Temp. Whom I later find out the guys are calling The Sloth. OMG, I can't make this stuff up. I almost spit out my drink I was drinking when I first heard that nickname. It's funny and cruel. The reason they call him that is because he limps real bad and drags his foot behind him and is really slow. I suppose it's lucky they didn't think of Igor, Frankenstein's assistant, as a nickname as that's what he reminds me of. I suppose since he's not a hunchback they didn't think it "appropriate." Anyway working with K and S is very frustrating as K is saying "make it last" and running willy-nilly here and there and then working and then running willy-nilly here and there. I keep quiet and try to pretend I'm invisible. Since S is around the guys' attention for cruelty is focused more on him than me and for that I am shamefully thankful.

Last Monday, M1 finally has had enough of the Sloth and informs him to not come back without a doctor's note. I wonder if we'll ever see him again. On this day, me and three other co-workers are preparing for a cement median demolition that needs done since the contractor who did the road did not do the median correctly and didn't put in rebar to keep the hill from coming down. The hill is now sliding down and now we get to fix it. At one point I help chain up the skid on the trailer while Q watches, (Q makes me extremely nervous)and after about 20 minutes he finally offers help. I certainly try to never ask him to help me due to our "rocky" start and of course the major attitude here. The Company lets contractors get away with lousy work and instead of fining them ignores it and fixes it. I have a problem with this but I suspect it's because the contract was give to a "buddy" and the project was not inspected like it should be to make certain the contractor doesn't go short on supplies so he can make a bigger profit. The Contractors are sneaky as they know that their shoddy work won't show up until years later and by that time the contract they signed with the Company is past the time limit that the Company can fine the contractor. It's something that is done all the time. I hope someday this greedy behavior is blown to pieces. I'm certainly sick of it. I am not voting for any tax increases. As believe me, the government has plenty of money and needs to stop wasting the tax money and start doing something about contractor shoddy work. Taxpayers are too complacent. It's sad.

Anyway back to last Monday, while riding with my co-workers C2 says, "B you need to get back on the hiring board because M1 is batting a thousand." Meaning all M1 has hired are lousy workers that they cannot stand. C2 goes on and on about the Sloth and how horrible and slow he is and how horrible all the workers that M1 has hired. I let him dig his hole for awhile knowing that I'm going to interrupt and spring a lovely surprise on him. I finally say, "hang on, what exactly are you saying? Because M1 hired me." At this point the two guys up front hoot and holler and laugh so hard they are almost crying. And they say to C2, "yeah, what are you saying?" C2 has the decency to turn red and he backs up saying, "well, I didn't mean you and no I meant 50-50." Too late, damage is done. The guys like this so much they talk about it the rest of the week, still laughing about it.

Friday, I got to mow. Wow, this is really tricky in some places and you can roll the equipment easily if you are not paying attention. I finally got out at one point and had to have J1 help me out. In fact, when I got out I did not realize I was on the precipice of about either getting stuck in a deep weathered erosion ditch or rolling it. Yikes!!! J1 finally got me to a "safer" gore point and I happily mowed the rest of the day (thanks J1 - I'm going to miss him when he goes to the mountains as he is one of the few that's been helpful to me). The guys worked on shoulder work.

Anyway that's most of my news so far, send me some news of your own.
Love,
L

Urban Sketching...

Here's a sketch that I mentioned in an earlier post of an apartment building at I-25 and Hampden, looking east. Sketched while waiting for everyone to show at our staging area.



happy sketching!

-photo copyrighted by me.

stitch magic...

I got sucked into a really coolio machine stitching, mixed media class. I just happened to go to my local art center needing supplies for book binding (I'm totally hooked on bookbinding right now--photos on that later, promise) and walked into a stitching class that was happening.

It was fun and really interesting.

Libby Williamson (Blue Denim Designs) is the artist who teaches this type of art; using paper, fabric and machine stitching. The before and after photos are fun to see.

Here is some of her artwork:

and here is my before and after from class:

We "made" the paper that we used in our projects by using different types and making designs on them with acrylic paint. I love that I had this image in my head and that it came out how I wanted. I was worried that my sewing would mess up but using the darning setting really is easier than it looks. I love the Bingo paper that I "made" (decorated) and used for some of the mountains. the background is heavy canvas.

and here is an idea I had in my head that had to get out. It's already been made into a book cover. I'm 'tangling on the inside book cover's stitching, which is pretty fun.

The flower centers are buttons and I made machine stitching marks without thread that lean toward the umbrella that you may not see but used to simulate "rain."

Dear Friend...

I'm back from my two-week excursion with training. They call it Camp George because it's located at a minimum security prison. The prisoner's serve the breakfast and lunches and the Colorado State Patrol training academy is also located at this site.

The training was interesting at times. I was informed that if we were late we were to call and that we would not get credit for the portion missed. There was one guy that was habitually late and never called. How do I know this, I asked him. In fact, the first day he didn't arrive until the day was half over. He still got credit. He kept getting "better" about being less late each day. It was ironic that one guy got in trouble for being a little late and this guy never got in trouble. I laugh inside at such irony. On the first day, the trainer said, "well guys..." and someone piped up, "and lady." yep, I was the only girl. sigh

Overall, from the two weeks I could tell that I won't be getting to my home region EVER. I met two ops and the TMIII from that area and I could totally tell by the body language and how they spoke to me that they were not going to hire me because I'm female. sigh. These guys act like they have no men that are or have ever been lousy workers (not that I am a lousy worker because I'm not). I am already classified as a lousy worker just because I'm female. I know for a fact that there are and have been lousy male workers. Good grief, I miss Region 4.

I'm back at my patrol and crimmineee, it's like it's my first day all over again! crap! I'm still the kid that's picked last to play on a team. God I hate that. whatev. I'll never get picked first, even if I'm the best player. It's my lot in life, no doubt.

This week we are cleaning snowplows after a snowstorm. They pull the sanders each and every time. In Ned we didn't because we always had another storm coming in and didn't have the manpower or time. Because it takes a lot of time and a lot of manpower. Here we have both.

During one of the lunches this month, C1 asked what I was doing. I about jumped out of my skin as the guys rarely speak to me directly and I showed him a sketch I did of an apartment building on I-25 and Hampden, waiting for everyone to show up for mid-day potholing in Patrol 08 (my guys didn't like the idea as it's really busy through this area at this time --- I agree, not that I know anything). It was pretty interesting potholing, as C2 was driving and he had to miss getting side-swiped by the BC from Patrol 08. It was really great driving and I still don't know how we missed getting creamed by BC (P08). We were cold mix potholing and it's quite the very quick production. Clean the hole out, slap the cold mix bags down on the ground all around the hole; smash the bags open with a shovel; flip the cold mix into the hole; smash it down with a shovel. All this is done in about 7 seconds. I was totally lost and it was amazingly quick. The guys are really good at this. Denver Traffic hates us for this as we shut off two lanes. It's amazing the hate that this generates when it actually saves vehicles from being damaged. These were pretty big potholes. Anyway I showed C1 some of my favorite sketches. Don't know if he was interested or not (probably not) and I eventually shut down my conversation quickly before I said something stupid. I'm not used to them speaking to me like this and I prefer that they don't. It makes me nervous.

At the end of this week, we drove around willy-nilly, getting some work done, wasting time, and then getting some work done. It's very frustrating to be doing this especially since we have a new temporary co-worker who's being taught very bad habits by the others. He told me he's loving all the down time and not having to do much.

Today I got to be the lead, which was shocking and I thought the temp was going to duke it out with me regarding what I wanted done. He only wanted to weed-whip delineation and light posts and I wanted to do it all. The excuse I've been given and keep getting is that the mower will be used to get the rest. The truth to that is the excuse for not using the mower right now is that it's broke, or it's too wet or it's to (fill in the blank here). I say we're here, let's get it done now because the mower is never going to get here, and we have another storm coming soon, so DO IT NOW and be done. I've been previously told that if the mower is not in service weed-whip it. No blade of grass untouched, no weed un-whipped, etc, etc. All the excuses I hear make this "motto" sound like a lie or at the very least ridiculous. The contradictory actions is all very confusing to me. I don't like it and the men don't like me.

Man-o-man, the straight south-bound Lincoln on-ramp looks impressive. That was all me because the temp decided to walk down to the guardrail and pretend to work on a guardrail that didn't need whipped, he really just sat and pouted and smoked cigarettes. I cleaned out the weeds like it should be done. I hand pulled them and instead of leaving them on the side of the road like the others do. I put them in a garbage bag. We then worked at the Ridgegate on and off ramps and got a curly-que that was missed the day before. I don't know why K kept passing it by but whatev. K is always saying "make it last." The others do this too. Me, I say "get 'er done" and "get it done now," then I don't have to keep coming back and back and back, which is very frustrating and doesn't make any sense to me. Once again the men sense this and now I am beginning to realize after writing all this why I'll never be the kid picked first. What a pain in the @ss I am. (smiles)

I don't conform and never will. This makes me absolutely zero friends and less likely to be promoted. This makes for a hard life. I accept it and sleep well at night.

One thing I have learned around this place is to keep my thoughts to myself more. I was asked how things went by M2, and I said fine. He did ask what got done and I said Lincoln and Ridgegate. All of it this time --- I said the last part in my head to myself. I may go back and take a picture of it all as it finally looks nice and complete and not half-@ssed.

Today was nice to be the lead as I got to do the work "MY WAY" and get things done, FINALLY!!!

Send me all the news.
Love,
L

Urban Sketching...

Hello here's a sketch I did recently. I arranged to have dinner with a friend at this restaurant in Golden. I'll be sitting at the front left table you see in about 5 minutes after I drew this sketch. BTW they have good Thai food here.

Happy sketching,
L

Books..

Mean Streak by Sandra Brown --- Wow, wow, wow --- hold on to your seat belts there are more twists and turns in this story than you can guess. Yes, that's what I try to do is guess "who done it" and I usually do. I will admit on this one it was a little more tantalizing and very suspenseful. I'm still jumpy from it.

The Five Invitations; discovering what death can teach us about living fully by Frank Ostaseski -- I hate to admit but I've been reading this since March 2017. It's non-fiction and it makes the brain think about life and death. Both are beautiful in their own right, in my humble opine.

Dear Friend...

Update:

My rant is over. I'm not mad anymore. No I still don't get the hotel room. No matter, The Company can just waste money elsewhere, so be it. There are worse things in life. The end.

Urban Sketching...

Hello, here's some current sketches I've done. I don't really care for any of them. The first is a study in distances and which is an epic fail in my viewpoint. Although, (here it comes - contradiction of it's finest) I like it.

This is HWY 85 & approximately Happy Canyon Road. Love this railway and it was fun to draw even though my distance perspective is way off. Do you see The Rock in the distance??

I was just sitting waiting for millings in my tandem with this tandem in front of me. This guy is from Patrol 08 --- I took a little "artistic" liberty with his license plate (grins). I thought the dents and scratches were interesting to look at and I saw interesting patterns that caught my attention.

This is Schmidt Construction in Castle Rock. It's very yellow here. The little blob to the left is my "interpretation" of a skid steer loader. It makes me laugh when I look at it as I see it as a quite the comical interpretation. The Rock is partially in this one too. I see my fingers are covering some of it.

Dear Friend...

Warning: this is a rant...

I'm still working nights, which I like and don't like.

I recently learned that a man who sexually harassed a woman here got promoted and is now a director. REALLY??? Too true. And well, that figures. Instead of taking the high road and firing the guy he gets promoted. grrr. Unbelievable. sigh.

I have suspected for awhile now that I was hired to spite some co-workers here and that there is some sort of "power" struggle going on here.

I'm headed for training for two weeks and thought I would be obtaining a hotel room as the roundtrip drive is quite extensive. I found that out this morning, nope, I get to drive, which is a 3 hour round trip. more grrr. (I know others do more than this, FYI---this is about me at the moment).

I have seen this employer waste more money in one day that would pay for my two week stay at a nice hotel than what the hotel they have would cost. insert extreme amounts of grrrrr.

I informed my co-workers that "how ironic that it won't be the moronic treatment that I received from them that gets me to quit, and that they should have just had faith and let the employer's actions get rid of me instead, and that they didn't have to be mean to me at all." You should have seen their faces it was quite comical. I would have laughed out loud if I wasn't so mad at the time. snort. They got real quiet and left me alone for the rest of the morning.



Rant finished...for now.

GRRRRRrrrrr.

Dear Friend...

I have been working at night this week. Yep, Denver Metro is too big to shut down during the day. Who knew??? (yes, that is sarcasm) In fact, I can't imagine the trouble, headaches and extreme road rage that it would cause if they did. snort.

My respect for the guys in transportation grows and grows. Working at night is not easy. Your vision is cut by quite a lot (something to research), the work is tough enough and then the vision is hindered by the night, the bright stadium lights (they're called plant lights) and then the very bright yellow and blue lights on all the trucks. Don't know how the guys don't get a migraine from it all. They're a tough sort that is for certain.

My first night it's just me and J1. We had some other guys come from another patrol to pick up equipment and one guy walks over to J1 saying "hey, she hasn't quit yet." J1 one makes a grumble and changes the subject. Really??? I'm right here and the guys act like I'm invisible. I don't know whether to be insulted or thankful that at least they say these things sorta to my face, since the guy was talking to J1, not me.

Anyway, the night went well and was a long one. J1 kept us in stitches telling stories about anything and everything. I laughed so hard I was crying at times.

The next night I get to work early and find that there is lots and lots of drama going on at the shop and the guys are all mad at each other and everybody. Including me as I didn't get written up for accidentally getting the mud flaps ripped off the tandem by the paver and then again when I went to the dump and did it again. Sheesh. This stuff happens without me doing it on purpose and I did fix them each time. I did have help because you would not believe how heavy these mud flaps are.

Any whoo, I noticed that the guys go through being mad at everybody about once a month. It's like their "menses" are synced together, or something. Also, there is quite the underlying power struggle going on here that I still haven't figured out. It's all very odd and I usually try to stay out of their way until things settle down again. I find it ironic that my foreman informed me that he had a good shop and that they were not used to a female being around at the shop as a co-worker and that he didn't want or need any drama from me. ME???? Man-o-man, they need to take a look at themselves!!! There's plenty of drama without me, trust me.

Any whoo again, on the second night I am informed I'm being written up for not getting my time in. Bother. and Really??? I can't get into the work order because the area that it belongs to has not released the work order so I can get into it and input my time. I shrug my shoulders and write a note that I would if I could get my time done but can't, end of story. I think MB expected more hysteria from me and was disappointed that he didn't get any. He actually got more from the guys than me. Insert more irony here.

The third night J1 is not so vocal and that's ok. It's a long night again.

Fourth night, I get a chance to speak to M1 about my time and he passes it off as not a big deal to me yet he's threatening to write up the guys and me too in an email. It's all very confusing and I just don't get it. Deep sigh.

Any whoo 3, MB is on the paver this night as he was last night. Thank goodness. He knows what he is doing and gets it done well. Nicely enough this night, in front of all the guys in the shop and God too he informs me that I am one of the better trucks out there (I found it strangely interesting that he had to compliment the truck and not me directly). It was very helpful to me as the earlier comment on the first night wore on my confidence and made me wonder if there is some kind of money pool betting on when I'll quit. At times, I'd like to buy one of the squares too. It was nice of him to say. I told him he could thank the King area for this. He was funny and said absolutely not as nothing good comes out of the King area and he was going to attribute it to good instincts instead. Everybody laughed. There is a long-standing intense dislike between the King and Lincoln areas. It's all very strange to me and I just let it go and said well then it must be the 11 years of farming. As you must do this well or you die. He said ok then, that must be it.

Of note: I have since found out that the other women in the other areas are "coddled", best description. I don't like this. I want to be treated fairly not better. I really dislike it when this happens. It really gives us a bad image, which is frustrating and hard to overcome the negative attitudes that this creates when women work in this type of field. I guess I'm being coddled too since I didn't get written up for the mud flaps and I was informed that a guy would have been. sigh.

One thing I like is that each night those of us at the asphalt plant stand in a big circle, near a radio (so we are ready for when we get called to load up with asphalt) and talk. I get to know the other guys from the different areas. Most are pleasant. It's like a really cool mentorship. Strange thing is most of them do not know the other guys name and have worked with each other for years.

We had nick-naming going on this night. One guy's dad works for Nabisco so he got the nick-name, Keebler and Cookie Man. I got the nick-name Potty-mouth ironically because I don't have one and the guys do.

That's all for now. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to sketch at night as I'll be on night-shift for the next two weeks. I have some ideas and don't know if it will work. Wish me luck.

Send me all the news,
Love,
L

Urban sketching...

Here's a sketch of a mirrored reflection of the milling operation in Morrison, Colorado. The side view of the closest truck is the one I'm in. The mirror reflection is looking west and I am facing east. I don't like my interpretation of the milling machine. I do like the mirror reflection idea and despite what I don't like about the sketch, I do like it. Plus it's a cool idea, drawing things in a mirror.

I call this one mirrored tandems.

Dear Friend...

I am once again questioning my sanity for choosing to work where I am at.

Surprisingly, nothing bad or negative has happened at work. I just don't get "it" at times. I truly wish I had much better discernment than I do. I am constantly told to "hurry up" at work and then when I do the men question it and tell me to "slow down." I am informed that "commonsense" will tell me when to do either. Really??? It hasn't told me anything; nada; zippo with a capital Z; and I really have no clue. I did speak up to the comment and ask "well, what if you have no commonsense? Then what?" I was informed that I was screwed.

Now why am I here?? Oh yeah, it's a good plan and I have health insurance.


Send me all the news.
Love,
L

Urban Sketching...

and here's some sketching not at work. Palmer Lake is while I'm there and Sedalia, Colorado from a photo.

Palmer Lake, Colorado. These lake kayaks just got off the lake at it started to rain and in this area with rain there is usually lightening.

I just happened to be getting fuel in my truck which takes awhile even for a half a tank when I saw a photo op. About 15 to 20 minutes and decided a photo op was presenting itself. Imagine how long it would take to fill a tank when its empty. At the end of each day if the tank is below 3/4 of a tank we are to fill it.

This guy was having car trouble and I took the opportunity to take a photo to draw him later. the broken down Triumph is from a photo I took while getting fuel in my truck and drawing it while I wait at the plant to get loaded with asphalt. I took some artistic liberties with the Triumph sketch as the building with the flag on it is further to the right than presented. I really like my photo of this guy, not so much my sketch.

note: all photos (sketches) copyrighted by me.

Urban Sketching...work

Hello, here's some sketching I've been doing while I wait for hours in the truck. I want people to see my sketching and feel compelled to go to the places I've drawn. Most especially these industrial places. They are beautiful and ugly all at the same time. The last sketch has an apartment building in the background. And though my sketches don't exactly look like the place, it's close enough to "see" a likeness.


I named this sketch "all the pretty tandems" my coworkers and myself get in this line to obtain asphalt from one of the three cylos set up to drop asphalt. Sometimes the wait in line is 45 minutes to an hour.

Bear Creek Lake Park, Morrison, Colorado, Highway 8. This sketch was done while looking at the entrance to this park. The tandum and front loader were sitting there so nicely while we waited to get millings. These were later moved and worked very hard the rest of the day.

I named this sketch "busy as a bee" because the guy running this humongous yellow front end loader was so fast I was unable to get a photo. By humongous, I mean his tires are taller than me. I had to sketch him very quickly each time he stopped to get a load of cement blocks or dump it. They recycle the old cement blocks. Who knew? not me. I am glad to discover that it doesn't go to the dump.

This is a favorite sketch. We are all waiting in line to receive millings. My truck will get the millings before the ones you see in this truck. I am again in Morrisson, Colorado on Highway 8 between Estes Road and Wadsworth looking east on Hwy 8.

This is also a favorite done before the previous sketch. Again waiting for millings near the entrance to Bear Creek Lake Park on HWY 8 closer to Morrison, Colorado. Looking west. In fact, Morrison is just past the bridge between the two hills. The bridge is HWY C470.

This is another favorite. I like the apartment building in the background. Also, there is a creek bed with a walking path between the two areas of recycling, just over the small 3 high concrete blocks. I tried to capture the feeling that there is something there with all the trees.


Of note, its really, really dusty at the recycling asphalt plants. I can't imaging living so close to such an industry. It's also very loud. They do their best and send a guy around in a water truck watering the road to work on keeping the dust down. As I wrote that last sentence I find the irony in it, as there are places in the world with no water. And we do this for the "comfort" of those living nearby because a complaint has been filed. Such a waste of water.

note: all photos (sketches) copyrighted by me.