Happy sketching,
L
Friday, September 22, 2017
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
Happy sketching,
L
Thursday, September 14, 2017
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
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.
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.
Friday, September 1, 2017
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
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
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