Showing posts with label pic post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pic post. Show all posts
2010-04-01
over Obama's shoulder as he edits a healthcare speech, Sep 9, 2009
this is a really rare opportunity to see how a presidential speech is written and rewritten and rerewritten for maximum effect. clicking through to the Flickr page and viewing the "original" size picture (click "all sizes" above the picture then "original") allows you to clearly see the edits.
one of the most interesting points is the complete removal of a section concerning Obama's personal experiences with his daughter's and mother's illnesses. some things must inevitably be cut, and evidently that section didn't advance the main thrust of the speech, so they were removed. i'm sure Obama was loathe to cut them.
i was turned on to this after stumbling across Michael Leddy's blog Orange Crate Art, which is also pretty interesting stuff.
2009-11-25
a twist on Irish-Austrian cream / Belgian coffee
today i got the urge to brew up another batch of what i tentatively christened 'Irish-Austrian Cream", which is a pretty good way to pollute your coffee, if you're so inclined. i generally prefer my coffee very strong and black (and the darker the roast, the better), but every now and then i get the urge for this stuff. the original 2006 post has the explanation for how this stuff came to bear its moniker (and i'm still open to suggestions), as well as the (very similar) original recipe.
i like Bailey's as much as the next guy, and i pick some up once in a while, but it's not the same as this. incidentally, i've also tried literally every kind of Irish cream liqueur available in any of the four liquor stores around here, and my pick for best tasting, cheaper Bailey's alternative is Carolan's.
since i posted that original recipe lo, these many moons ago, i've made the stuff at least half a dozen times, pretty faithfully to the recipe, though at one point i was using cinnamon extract, which was preferable as it doesn't precipitate to the bottom like powdered cinnamon can. alas, that (rather expensive) elixir has proven elusive (in my usual haunts), and i've since returned to using the powdered stuff- until today, when i came across something that i thought just might do the trick: YS Organic Farms CinnaHoney, cinnamon-infused raw honey. had to give it a go.
so, if anyone wants to make some of this stuff, here's what you need:
at the last minute i decided to throw in a pint of egg nog too, since i had some available, but even though this stuff's delicious, that was a bad move. my blender only fits about half the ingredients at a time, and i have to blend it in two goes, then stir them up in the final container, and that last pint filled my half-gallon container right to the rim (no room for the lid...guess i have to drink some!). so...i made a bit of a mess.
i couldn't remember how much whiskey i used last time, but i knew it was more than i did when i started making this stuff, so this is what i used this time:
3 @ 14oz cans of sweetened condensed milk
1 pint carton of heavy whipping cream
1 pint egg nog (i measured it with the whipping cream carton)
about 1/3 cup of cinnamon-infused honey
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp nutmeg
1-2 tbsp chocolate syrup (Hershey's, of course...just there to darken it up a little)
1-3/4 cups Bushmill's single-malt 10-yr Irish whiskey
...and it's good! the cinnamon honey definitely makes a difference, that's stuff's pretty strongly cinnamonic. incidentally, i like the flavor better using the Borden sweetened condensed milk rather than Albertson's store brand, and i've tried the imitation vanilla extract, and i like the real stuff better.
still needs more whiskey...
i like Bailey's as much as the next guy, and i pick some up once in a while, but it's not the same as this. incidentally, i've also tried literally every kind of Irish cream liqueur available in any of the four liquor stores around here, and my pick for best tasting, cheaper Bailey's alternative is Carolan's.
since i posted that original recipe lo, these many moons ago, i've made the stuff at least half a dozen times, pretty faithfully to the recipe, though at one point i was using cinnamon extract, which was preferable as it doesn't precipitate to the bottom like powdered cinnamon can. alas, that (rather expensive) elixir has proven elusive (in my usual haunts), and i've since returned to using the powdered stuff- until today, when i came across something that i thought just might do the trick: YS Organic Farms CinnaHoney, cinnamon-infused raw honey. had to give it a go.
so, if anyone wants to make some of this stuff, here's what you need:
at the last minute i decided to throw in a pint of egg nog too, since i had some available, but even though this stuff's delicious, that was a bad move. my blender only fits about half the ingredients at a time, and i have to blend it in two goes, then stir them up in the final container, and that last pint filled my half-gallon container right to the rim (no room for the lid...guess i have to drink some!). so...i made a bit of a mess.
i couldn't remember how much whiskey i used last time, but i knew it was more than i did when i started making this stuff, so this is what i used this time:
3 @ 14oz cans of sweetened condensed milk
1 pint carton of heavy whipping cream
1 pint egg nog (i measured it with the whipping cream carton)
about 1/3 cup of cinnamon-infused honey
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp nutmeg
1-2 tbsp chocolate syrup (Hershey's, of course...just there to darken it up a little)
1-3/4 cups Bushmill's single-malt 10-yr Irish whiskey
...and it's good! the cinnamon honey definitely makes a difference, that's stuff's pretty strongly cinnamonic. incidentally, i like the flavor better using the Borden sweetened condensed milk rather than Albertson's store brand, and i've tried the imitation vanilla extract, and i like the real stuff better.
still needs more whiskey...
2009-06-25
Bob Marriott, six years gone
i was in 8th grade when i first moved to Washington State from New York in January of 1981. everything was different, right down to the clothes people wore, the accents people talked with, the slang they used. the school was a lot smaller, there were less class periods in a day, you walked outside between classes...even the weather was different. College Place Middle School was the 6th school i'd attended in the last 4 years, so i'd gotten accustomed to making changes, but to say i experienced some culture shock this time around was an understatement.
on the other hand, i had a pretty good idea of what was in store for me. it's not easy being the new kid. everywhere i went, i was always a year younger than most and nearly always the smallest guy in my classes. i didn't play sports and i didn't do great in school, and i usually got picked on a lot, so i wasn't surprised to find myself confronted by a group of kids, on my second day at College Place, in Mr. Steiner's class, while he was out of the room.
one of those kids that started in on me was Bob Marriott. whether the kids, or Bob in particular, were serious or not, i was scared, and cornered. there was some shoving, and some desks got overturned, and some punches thrown. i held my own for a bit, but i ended up on my back on the floor. Bob reached down to grab me, and i kicked him in the face, once, hard. it was enough. i don't remember exactly what happened after that, except that Steiner returned, and it was broken up, and i wasn't damaged. i had my share of problems with different kids the rest of that year, but after that day, Bob was really friendly with me. he invited me to his house to hang out, and i went; he became my first friend in Washington.
we spent a pretty fair amount of time together in 8th grade, and the summer afterward. we'd hang out at each others' house (his more than mine) and listen to music, especially Journey and the Scorpions- both of which he turned me on to. he loved to sing. he was smart, and he had a fantastic imagination, and he cracked jokes constantly. his family always made me feel welcome. we'd take off on our bikes around Edmonds. he used to catch lizards, and i remember he had a chameleon. he'd put it on a plaid shirt, and watch it try to match colors.
we didn't have any classes together in 9th grade, so we didn't hang out as much in school, but we shared a locker out by the shop classes. i got in a fight by our locker once, and Bob happened to show up just after the other guy took off. when he saw me on the floor (i got kicked in the balls), he took off running to try to catch the guy. he didn't find him, but hey...he tried.
in 10th grade we ended up with the same chemistry class. we muddled through Mr. Burger's (often very dry) lectures and drew pictures and generally goofed off. one day in chemistry someone came to tell Bob he'd been called to the office- and when he got up to leave, he said, "see ya, man. i'm moving to California." i said, "what?!" he said, "yeah, right now." i was totally shocked, he hadn't said anything about it before. and then he was gone.
maybe a year and a half later my band was playing a battle of the bands at Lynnwood Roll-a-way, and right before we went on, from out of the blue, someone calls my name, loud. i turned around and up walks this long-haired guy in a black leather jacket. i didn't recognize him, and then i did! "BOB! what's UP man?! hey, i gotta go, we're playing, like, right now." he says, "really? cool, i play music too!"
we started catching up after the show, and we were thick as thieves all over again. the next year or so saw uncountable parties, rivers of liquor, endless days at the beach, a lot of girls, lots of new friends, and a lot of music played and recorded and listened to. good times.
when i moved to Florida in '86, Bob was there to see me off, and when i flew up to visit for a week, he was there. when i moved back from Florida, and started playing in a band again, he was there. after a while, i got kicked out of that band, and fell out with everyone involved for about a year. Bob and i only saw each other infrequently after that, but when we did, it was clear we were still friends.
life went on. i had a kid, got married. i was playing in another band, i was pretty busy. i had other friends that met Bob, and they only knew him from "now", and they didn't always mix well. once in a while he'd do something that rubbed someone the wrong way. we occasionally got together, but we'd mostly grown apart. i lost track of him for long periods, and i'm ashamed to admit that i sometimes felt like that was easier than dealing with him. i still considered him my friend, just...one who was hard to deal with sometimes.
sometime during the time we weren't in contact much, drinking became a problem for him. when i did see him, he'd often pass out after a only a couple drinks- not because he couldn't hold his liquor, but because he always had alcohol in him already. often he'd "go down" quickly, sleep for a while, wake up, drink something, go down again, repeat. he could sometimes be really argumentative. one time i thought he was going to punch me over whether or not i'd actually put quarters in a malfunctioning electronic dart board at a bar. sometimes he'd debate something almost incoherently for a long time, without ever opening his eyes, and no one could figure out what he was talking about. sometimes he'd say or do something that was just way out of bounds, but he wouldn't remember it later. when everyone else was waking up the next day with a pounding head, Bob would often get something to drink.
i finally decided drinking with him wasn't doing him any favors, and i told him i wouldn't drink with him anymore. i told him some people shouldn't drink, and he was one of them. he didn't like that, and it might have easily turned bad, but when i told him i was trying to do the right thing by him, he checked his pride and took my word for it. i think that says a lot about what kind of person he was. he didn't stop drinking, and i didn't drink when he did, for a long time.
somewhere along the way he wrecked a really nice truck he'd built; he put it in a ditch i think. he was lucky he didn't get killed, because it knocked him out and it was quite a while before he came to. if he'd been more seriously injured he could have died without anyone finding him. whether it was from this incident or another i don't know, but he got arrested for DUI. i don't think he fought the charge. they mandated alcohol counseling, and though he completely resented the state's intervention in his life, he tried more than once to comply, but he just couldn't bear it. i don't think he ever completed a program, or got his license back.
to get to work, he felt like he had to drive, so he did it anyway (like lots of people), but he was really nervous about it; he REALLY didn't want to go back to jail. i think this perpetual anxiety, which lasted for years and worsened, contributed greatly to his state of mind.
we were out of touch for a long time, but eventually he tracked me down again. i was glad to hear from him. he was living a few miles from here in Clearview. i went to see him and his roommate, someone we both knew, though Bob was much closer to him than i was. in a lot of ways it was like old times, but also not, in the way nothing ever can be. he usually had a beer in his hand, but he never seemed drunk. i actually had a few drinks with him on a couple occasions, but i never felt good about it. there was a little tension between us, but maybe not between us particularly; it seemed more like between Bob and the world. he was different, more serious, more troubled. it made me a little sad, but i didn't know what i could do for him. i invited him over to my place a few times, but he always made some excuse why i should come there. though he never said so, i came to realize it was because he was afraid to get caught driving, and probably over the limit a lot of the time. i stopped asking him to come, and i'd just go over there instead, but this made it less often.
not long after this, he had a falling out with his roommate, and he moved again. he moved in with another mutual friend, in Puyallup. i had some issues with his new roommate, so i didn't try to get in touch with them. while Bob was there, i learned later, some more things went badly for him; he couldn't get a job, and he had money problems (some of them again involving the state), and some more personal problems that i won't divulge. he felt more and more alienated from the world. he got seriously depressed, more so than he let on, and more than anyone noticed.
without telling anyone, Bob quietly put his affairs in order and committed suicide, six years ago today. i was driving when his roommate- devastated- called to tell me he'd found him, in his bedroom at home. i almost drove off the road, i had to pull over.
everyone who knew Bob is familiar with his story of how he'd once died. he repeated it too many times to count, to pretty much anyone who'd listen, even though he knew he'd told it a million times. for those who haven't heard it, i'll summarize: trying to save a friend who was being electrocuted, he got electrocuted himself, and he had an out of body experience. he was absolutely convinced that he died. i argued with him about that many times; i said if he'd actually died, he'd be dead. eventually that debate got skipped altogether, since neither of us could ever convince the other, but he'd still talk about the experience. he described floating up above his body, looking down at it lying on its back on the ground, and then being drawn toward a light. he really wanted to go to the light, he knew it was a good thing, but something snatched him back, as if it wasn't his time. until then he was never religious in any way, and he'd never believed in any life after death, but afterward he was absolutely positive there was something peaceful waiting on the other side. i can't help but think this peace is what he sought when he checked out.
i went to his memorial, a small gathering of family and friends at his father's house. i'd collected every piece of music i could find to which Bob contributed, burned it all to CD, and brought it to give to his father- who immediately put it on the stereo. Bob's voice was filling the house for quite a while before things got underway. the service was completely informal. it was about what you might expect; everyone was sad, people spoke about him.
it wasn't a large gathering, and the few friends that attended were people who'd known Bob for a long time. i was easily the friend who knew him the longest, but almost certainly by this point not the one who knew him best. i felt really, REALLY bad for his father, Bob Sr., who i'd also known for 22 years. he said something to me, when just the two of us were talking that day, that i'll never forget. he looked around at the other few friends who'd come and said, "maybe if Bobby knew he had this many friends he wouldn't have done what he did."
which brings me to why i'm writing this. sometimes people we care about are going to be hard- maybe very hard- to deal with, but not making that effort can be worse. i'm not vain enough to think that i could have made the crucial difference in Bob's life, but maybe, if everyone around him had tried a little harder, things might have been different.
i miss Bob a lot; i think about him often. i know some people who didn't care for him at all, but he was my friend, and this world's worse off without him. i keep his picture up in my house where i'll see it often. not so much to remind me of Bob, because i won't forget him, but to remind me to try to be a good friend.
circa 1985, my folks' place, Edmonds
1986, the day i moved to Florida. that's my Mom and Dad grinning at Bob cracking jokes.
same day. from the left, my Dad and Mom, Scott Bloom, me, Jeff Sawyer and Bob Marriott.
same day. from left, Bob, Jeff, and that's Beth Bailey on the right
same day. Bob gettin' his dork on.
the next two are from Bob's memorial service
on the other hand, i had a pretty good idea of what was in store for me. it's not easy being the new kid. everywhere i went, i was always a year younger than most and nearly always the smallest guy in my classes. i didn't play sports and i didn't do great in school, and i usually got picked on a lot, so i wasn't surprised to find myself confronted by a group of kids, on my second day at College Place, in Mr. Steiner's class, while he was out of the room.
one of those kids that started in on me was Bob Marriott. whether the kids, or Bob in particular, were serious or not, i was scared, and cornered. there was some shoving, and some desks got overturned, and some punches thrown. i held my own for a bit, but i ended up on my back on the floor. Bob reached down to grab me, and i kicked him in the face, once, hard. it was enough. i don't remember exactly what happened after that, except that Steiner returned, and it was broken up, and i wasn't damaged. i had my share of problems with different kids the rest of that year, but after that day, Bob was really friendly with me. he invited me to his house to hang out, and i went; he became my first friend in Washington.
we spent a pretty fair amount of time together in 8th grade, and the summer afterward. we'd hang out at each others' house (his more than mine) and listen to music, especially Journey and the Scorpions- both of which he turned me on to. he loved to sing. he was smart, and he had a fantastic imagination, and he cracked jokes constantly. his family always made me feel welcome. we'd take off on our bikes around Edmonds. he used to catch lizards, and i remember he had a chameleon. he'd put it on a plaid shirt, and watch it try to match colors.
we didn't have any classes together in 9th grade, so we didn't hang out as much in school, but we shared a locker out by the shop classes. i got in a fight by our locker once, and Bob happened to show up just after the other guy took off. when he saw me on the floor (i got kicked in the balls), he took off running to try to catch the guy. he didn't find him, but hey...he tried.
in 10th grade we ended up with the same chemistry class. we muddled through Mr. Burger's (often very dry) lectures and drew pictures and generally goofed off. one day in chemistry someone came to tell Bob he'd been called to the office- and when he got up to leave, he said, "see ya, man. i'm moving to California." i said, "what?!" he said, "yeah, right now." i was totally shocked, he hadn't said anything about it before. and then he was gone.
maybe a year and a half later my band was playing a battle of the bands at Lynnwood Roll-a-way, and right before we went on, from out of the blue, someone calls my name, loud. i turned around and up walks this long-haired guy in a black leather jacket. i didn't recognize him, and then i did! "BOB! what's UP man?! hey, i gotta go, we're playing, like, right now." he says, "really? cool, i play music too!"
we started catching up after the show, and we were thick as thieves all over again. the next year or so saw uncountable parties, rivers of liquor, endless days at the beach, a lot of girls, lots of new friends, and a lot of music played and recorded and listened to. good times.
when i moved to Florida in '86, Bob was there to see me off, and when i flew up to visit for a week, he was there. when i moved back from Florida, and started playing in a band again, he was there. after a while, i got kicked out of that band, and fell out with everyone involved for about a year. Bob and i only saw each other infrequently after that, but when we did, it was clear we were still friends.
life went on. i had a kid, got married. i was playing in another band, i was pretty busy. i had other friends that met Bob, and they only knew him from "now", and they didn't always mix well. once in a while he'd do something that rubbed someone the wrong way. we occasionally got together, but we'd mostly grown apart. i lost track of him for long periods, and i'm ashamed to admit that i sometimes felt like that was easier than dealing with him. i still considered him my friend, just...one who was hard to deal with sometimes.
sometime during the time we weren't in contact much, drinking became a problem for him. when i did see him, he'd often pass out after a only a couple drinks- not because he couldn't hold his liquor, but because he always had alcohol in him already. often he'd "go down" quickly, sleep for a while, wake up, drink something, go down again, repeat. he could sometimes be really argumentative. one time i thought he was going to punch me over whether or not i'd actually put quarters in a malfunctioning electronic dart board at a bar. sometimes he'd debate something almost incoherently for a long time, without ever opening his eyes, and no one could figure out what he was talking about. sometimes he'd say or do something that was just way out of bounds, but he wouldn't remember it later. when everyone else was waking up the next day with a pounding head, Bob would often get something to drink.
i finally decided drinking with him wasn't doing him any favors, and i told him i wouldn't drink with him anymore. i told him some people shouldn't drink, and he was one of them. he didn't like that, and it might have easily turned bad, but when i told him i was trying to do the right thing by him, he checked his pride and took my word for it. i think that says a lot about what kind of person he was. he didn't stop drinking, and i didn't drink when he did, for a long time.
somewhere along the way he wrecked a really nice truck he'd built; he put it in a ditch i think. he was lucky he didn't get killed, because it knocked him out and it was quite a while before he came to. if he'd been more seriously injured he could have died without anyone finding him. whether it was from this incident or another i don't know, but he got arrested for DUI. i don't think he fought the charge. they mandated alcohol counseling, and though he completely resented the state's intervention in his life, he tried more than once to comply, but he just couldn't bear it. i don't think he ever completed a program, or got his license back.
to get to work, he felt like he had to drive, so he did it anyway (like lots of people), but he was really nervous about it; he REALLY didn't want to go back to jail. i think this perpetual anxiety, which lasted for years and worsened, contributed greatly to his state of mind.
we were out of touch for a long time, but eventually he tracked me down again. i was glad to hear from him. he was living a few miles from here in Clearview. i went to see him and his roommate, someone we both knew, though Bob was much closer to him than i was. in a lot of ways it was like old times, but also not, in the way nothing ever can be. he usually had a beer in his hand, but he never seemed drunk. i actually had a few drinks with him on a couple occasions, but i never felt good about it. there was a little tension between us, but maybe not between us particularly; it seemed more like between Bob and the world. he was different, more serious, more troubled. it made me a little sad, but i didn't know what i could do for him. i invited him over to my place a few times, but he always made some excuse why i should come there. though he never said so, i came to realize it was because he was afraid to get caught driving, and probably over the limit a lot of the time. i stopped asking him to come, and i'd just go over there instead, but this made it less often.
not long after this, he had a falling out with his roommate, and he moved again. he moved in with another mutual friend, in Puyallup. i had some issues with his new roommate, so i didn't try to get in touch with them. while Bob was there, i learned later, some more things went badly for him; he couldn't get a job, and he had money problems (some of them again involving the state), and some more personal problems that i won't divulge. he felt more and more alienated from the world. he got seriously depressed, more so than he let on, and more than anyone noticed.
without telling anyone, Bob quietly put his affairs in order and committed suicide, six years ago today. i was driving when his roommate- devastated- called to tell me he'd found him, in his bedroom at home. i almost drove off the road, i had to pull over.
everyone who knew Bob is familiar with his story of how he'd once died. he repeated it too many times to count, to pretty much anyone who'd listen, even though he knew he'd told it a million times. for those who haven't heard it, i'll summarize: trying to save a friend who was being electrocuted, he got electrocuted himself, and he had an out of body experience. he was absolutely convinced that he died. i argued with him about that many times; i said if he'd actually died, he'd be dead. eventually that debate got skipped altogether, since neither of us could ever convince the other, but he'd still talk about the experience. he described floating up above his body, looking down at it lying on its back on the ground, and then being drawn toward a light. he really wanted to go to the light, he knew it was a good thing, but something snatched him back, as if it wasn't his time. until then he was never religious in any way, and he'd never believed in any life after death, but afterward he was absolutely positive there was something peaceful waiting on the other side. i can't help but think this peace is what he sought when he checked out.
i went to his memorial, a small gathering of family and friends at his father's house. i'd collected every piece of music i could find to which Bob contributed, burned it all to CD, and brought it to give to his father- who immediately put it on the stereo. Bob's voice was filling the house for quite a while before things got underway. the service was completely informal. it was about what you might expect; everyone was sad, people spoke about him.
it wasn't a large gathering, and the few friends that attended were people who'd known Bob for a long time. i was easily the friend who knew him the longest, but almost certainly by this point not the one who knew him best. i felt really, REALLY bad for his father, Bob Sr., who i'd also known for 22 years. he said something to me, when just the two of us were talking that day, that i'll never forget. he looked around at the other few friends who'd come and said, "maybe if Bobby knew he had this many friends he wouldn't have done what he did."
which brings me to why i'm writing this. sometimes people we care about are going to be hard- maybe very hard- to deal with, but not making that effort can be worse. i'm not vain enough to think that i could have made the crucial difference in Bob's life, but maybe, if everyone around him had tried a little harder, things might have been different.
i miss Bob a lot; i think about him often. i know some people who didn't care for him at all, but he was my friend, and this world's worse off without him. i keep his picture up in my house where i'll see it often. not so much to remind me of Bob, because i won't forget him, but to remind me to try to be a good friend.
circa 1985, my folks' place, Edmonds
1986, the day i moved to Florida. that's my Mom and Dad grinning at Bob cracking jokes.
same day. from the left, my Dad and Mom, Scott Bloom, me, Jeff Sawyer and Bob Marriott.
same day. from left, Bob, Jeff, and that's Beth Bailey on the right
same day. Bob gettin' his dork on.
the next two are from Bob's memorial service
2009-05-15
chowder on the rocks
Chowder was lookin' at bit bored yesterday, so i took him to one of my favorite spots, Edmonds Marina beach, where there's a pretty great dog park right on the Sound.
2009-05-01
old friends
i was happy to hear the distinct scratching and chirping (and some really excellent, initially surprising whistling) coming from the corner of the attic over my den recently, so it was time to observe what's become a yearly ritual: standing fairly still at my kitchen sink, looking out the window, camera in hand, waiting for a shot of my yearly guests.
a little research indicates this "wolf-whistle" call is not that uncommon, though it's certainly new to me and possibly new to these particular birds. i also discovered that the longest known lifespan of a member of this species is about 15 years, and that it's altogether common for them to return to the same nest year after year. according to wikipedia, these birds can be either monogamous or polygamous, so it's at least possible that only one of the birds (i would guess the male) is returning year after year. i've always assumed they must be migratory, since i don't see them all winter, and it turns out they are, when born in sufficiently northern latitudes.
i was starting to wonder if they'd make it back this year, and i'm somewhat surprised by how happy i am to see them. welcome home, old friends.
classic pose
up from the front yard, looking for something to eat
cautious
coming down to the edge of the garage roof to have a look at me through the window- and wait for me to leave before entering the nest.
a little research indicates this "wolf-whistle" call is not that uncommon, though it's certainly new to me and possibly new to these particular birds. i also discovered that the longest known lifespan of a member of this species is about 15 years, and that it's altogether common for them to return to the same nest year after year. according to wikipedia, these birds can be either monogamous or polygamous, so it's at least possible that only one of the birds (i would guess the male) is returning year after year. i've always assumed they must be migratory, since i don't see them all winter, and it turns out they are, when born in sufficiently northern latitudes.
i was starting to wonder if they'd make it back this year, and i'm somewhat surprised by how happy i am to see them. welcome home, old friends.
classic pose
up from the front yard, looking for something to eat
cautious
coming down to the edge of the garage roof to have a look at me through the window- and wait for me to leave before entering the nest.
2009-04-22
cable coiler
so i spent the majority of the last couple weeks fabricating a cable coiler for Hollywood Lights, with Jason. HL strings out miles and miles of heavy gauge cable to power trade shows, festivals, concerts, etc. all over the place, and when the show's over, coiling it all back up is extremely labor intensive, strong back work. they use some pretty big cable in up to 100' lengths. often they'll put down literally miles of cable as heavy gauge as 4/0 (huge single-conductor cable, a little over an inch in diameter, weighing close to 100 lbs per cable at 100') and 2/5 or 4/5 multi-conductor (with 100-amp hubbell connectors, commonly called Hubbell cable, which is about 2.5" in diameter and weighs about the 85 lbs per cable in 50' lengths).
removing that cable from job sites requires pulling its entire length along the ground, and coiling it up to about 16-24" or so in diameter, and doing that requires rotating the entire length of cable once per coil. sounds rough, right? well, once you've done it for a while, you get the hang of it- but it's definitely hard work.
so, after decades of doing it the old-fashioned way, they decided to build a portable coiler, something they could take to job sites, and tow behind the flat-bed golf-style carts they use on bigger jobs, and cut down on the labor- by which i mean both effort and man-hours. Hollywood Lights' Portland branch recently built one of their own, and experienced 20% labor savings on 'outs' (removing the cable from the field).
with the usual healthy dose of Portland/Seattle rivalry, we wanted to make a cooler one. i think we succeeded.
Jason had it basically drawn up as much as possible, with some rough measurements, and the rest we winged. i did most of the structural work, and all the welding; Jason had some steel pieces cut and formed to extend the arms on the (purchased) fully-collapsible reel. the reel collapsing in the center makes the cable easier to remove (and it's really easy, it just slides off, no problem); that's one of the improvements over Portland's coiler. now that i think about it, i should've taken a picture of the reel collapsed, too...maybe i'll get Jason to take that one, and edit this post later. the extensions we added allow the reel to take up all their feeder cable except 100' hubbell (which is just huge, and they only own 5 pieces that long).
Jason also cut and fit the diamondplate, and bolted up everything that was mechanically fastened.
so, here's what the thing looks like.
motor side:
3/4 view:
coiling side:
the little struts between the wheels and the front legs (they're pointed up in the pictures) are for loading it on liftgates of trucks. the whole thing's light enough to be lifted by hand, so the struts are a little taller than the clearance to the ground, which cocks the whole machine back slightly and makes it less tippy with the trailer-hitch end (and the front legs) not on the gate.
closeup of the reel & rollers:
the cable runs from the ground up through the rollers, and onto the reel. the rollers are 2.5" in diameter (bought through Grainger), and the spindle for them is spring-mounted, so they could be mounted in a solid structure and still removed if they ever need to be replaced. another consideration for the structure for the rollers was that we wanted to be able to tip the whole machine upright to save space in trucks, and since the rollers needed to be on the back, we had to figure out a way to stand the thing upright and drag it around without damaging them. another consideration was that whomever's using the machine needs to feed the cable back and forth across the rollers, so the cable feeds evenly onto the reel. since this means someone's hand is in the area of moving parts, everything needed to be made as user-friendly as possible. the machine coils up to 250' per minute (variable speed, controlled by the orange foot pedal in the pictures), which means it's moving by the rollers pretty quickly, and jamming your hand into something sharp would not be good. everything's rounded off, especially the mounts that hold the rollers- don't want to score up that expensive cable, either. the mounts for the horizontal roller double as feet for when it's stood upright. most of the non-threatening welds on the thing were left alone in the interest of saving time, and i think it gives it a cool rough look. Jason's going to clear-coat the whole thing (except the diamondplate, which is the only aluminum part), and leave all the markings written on the steel when we bought it...sort of a Joe Sixpack fashion statement that totally fits the Hollywood Lights crew.
closeup of the roller assembly- this part was fun to work out and build:
the wheels were scavenged from an old electric tricycle the company had lying around. they have pneumatic tires, so as long as the rims don't get damaged they can theoretically be replaced.
wheel closeup:
we needed to find something steel that fit the bearings in those wheels, and didn't want to spend money, so Jason hit on using a ground rod, 8' x 5/8" galvanized, which is particularly fitting since Hollywood Lights uses them all the time, to ground generators. since the (replaceable) wheel bearings do the rotating, we decided to cap the square tube the axle runs through on both ends, and i welded the axle in permanently. now we needed something to hold the wheels on with- and what better than an acorn? acorn clamps are what get used to secure the bare copper ground wire that runs from the generators to the ground rods. since it's made for the rods, all he had to do was drill it out, add a cotter pin, and it's perfect.
axle closeup:
the motor didn't need to be reversible, so they didn't spring for one. the variable control is all in the foot pedal, and you need to be on the other side of the machine to coil cable, so there's no variable control on the motor itself.
motor closeup:
we needed something to secure the end of the cable with, to get the coil started on the reel, and Chuck came up with using a piece of chain-link fence hardware, which Jason made a little backing plate for, and we mounted to the reel:
reel closeup:
and voila, a cable coiler.
i feel compelled to mention that Jason gets the John Henry award, for racing the machine today and coiling up a 100' piece of 4/0 faster than the machine did. he was moving fast. i personally doubt anyone's going to outwork the thing over the course of an entire day. there's also, as with all machines, a learning curve to operating it, so it's going to take a while to really compare coiling speeds.
another question that remains is whether it costs time uncoiling the cable after using it; that is, if not twisting the length of cable around 360-degrees for every coil loop makes it harder to uncoil the cable and get it to lie down straight. time will tell. in the meantime, it's going to save a lot of back strain on outs.
well, there you have it, finished today. back to the job hunt tomorrow. one thing's for sure: whatever job i have next, i'm gonna miss hangin' out with all the guys at Hollywood Lights, i've known them all a long time, and they're great guys. and i'm especially gonna miss hangin' out every day with my buddy, Jason's dog Dozer- the hardest working dog in show business.
quitting time:
removing that cable from job sites requires pulling its entire length along the ground, and coiling it up to about 16-24" or so in diameter, and doing that requires rotating the entire length of cable once per coil. sounds rough, right? well, once you've done it for a while, you get the hang of it- but it's definitely hard work.
so, after decades of doing it the old-fashioned way, they decided to build a portable coiler, something they could take to job sites, and tow behind the flat-bed golf-style carts they use on bigger jobs, and cut down on the labor- by which i mean both effort and man-hours. Hollywood Lights' Portland branch recently built one of their own, and experienced 20% labor savings on 'outs' (removing the cable from the field).
with the usual healthy dose of Portland/Seattle rivalry, we wanted to make a cooler one. i think we succeeded.
Jason had it basically drawn up as much as possible, with some rough measurements, and the rest we winged. i did most of the structural work, and all the welding; Jason had some steel pieces cut and formed to extend the arms on the (purchased) fully-collapsible reel. the reel collapsing in the center makes the cable easier to remove (and it's really easy, it just slides off, no problem); that's one of the improvements over Portland's coiler. now that i think about it, i should've taken a picture of the reel collapsed, too...maybe i'll get Jason to take that one, and edit this post later. the extensions we added allow the reel to take up all their feeder cable except 100' hubbell (which is just huge, and they only own 5 pieces that long).
Jason also cut and fit the diamondplate, and bolted up everything that was mechanically fastened.
so, here's what the thing looks like.
motor side:
3/4 view:
coiling side:
the little struts between the wheels and the front legs (they're pointed up in the pictures) are for loading it on liftgates of trucks. the whole thing's light enough to be lifted by hand, so the struts are a little taller than the clearance to the ground, which cocks the whole machine back slightly and makes it less tippy with the trailer-hitch end (and the front legs) not on the gate.
closeup of the reel & rollers:
the cable runs from the ground up through the rollers, and onto the reel. the rollers are 2.5" in diameter (bought through Grainger), and the spindle for them is spring-mounted, so they could be mounted in a solid structure and still removed if they ever need to be replaced. another consideration for the structure for the rollers was that we wanted to be able to tip the whole machine upright to save space in trucks, and since the rollers needed to be on the back, we had to figure out a way to stand the thing upright and drag it around without damaging them. another consideration was that whomever's using the machine needs to feed the cable back and forth across the rollers, so the cable feeds evenly onto the reel. since this means someone's hand is in the area of moving parts, everything needed to be made as user-friendly as possible. the machine coils up to 250' per minute (variable speed, controlled by the orange foot pedal in the pictures), which means it's moving by the rollers pretty quickly, and jamming your hand into something sharp would not be good. everything's rounded off, especially the mounts that hold the rollers- don't want to score up that expensive cable, either. the mounts for the horizontal roller double as feet for when it's stood upright. most of the non-threatening welds on the thing were left alone in the interest of saving time, and i think it gives it a cool rough look. Jason's going to clear-coat the whole thing (except the diamondplate, which is the only aluminum part), and leave all the markings written on the steel when we bought it...sort of a Joe Sixpack fashion statement that totally fits the Hollywood Lights crew.
closeup of the roller assembly- this part was fun to work out and build:
the wheels were scavenged from an old electric tricycle the company had lying around. they have pneumatic tires, so as long as the rims don't get damaged they can theoretically be replaced.
wheel closeup:
we needed to find something steel that fit the bearings in those wheels, and didn't want to spend money, so Jason hit on using a ground rod, 8' x 5/8" galvanized, which is particularly fitting since Hollywood Lights uses them all the time, to ground generators. since the (replaceable) wheel bearings do the rotating, we decided to cap the square tube the axle runs through on both ends, and i welded the axle in permanently. now we needed something to hold the wheels on with- and what better than an acorn? acorn clamps are what get used to secure the bare copper ground wire that runs from the generators to the ground rods. since it's made for the rods, all he had to do was drill it out, add a cotter pin, and it's perfect.
axle closeup:
the motor didn't need to be reversible, so they didn't spring for one. the variable control is all in the foot pedal, and you need to be on the other side of the machine to coil cable, so there's no variable control on the motor itself.
motor closeup:
we needed something to secure the end of the cable with, to get the coil started on the reel, and Chuck came up with using a piece of chain-link fence hardware, which Jason made a little backing plate for, and we mounted to the reel:
reel closeup:
and voila, a cable coiler.
i feel compelled to mention that Jason gets the John Henry award, for racing the machine today and coiling up a 100' piece of 4/0 faster than the machine did. he was moving fast. i personally doubt anyone's going to outwork the thing over the course of an entire day. there's also, as with all machines, a learning curve to operating it, so it's going to take a while to really compare coiling speeds.
another question that remains is whether it costs time uncoiling the cable after using it; that is, if not twisting the length of cable around 360-degrees for every coil loop makes it harder to uncoil the cable and get it to lie down straight. time will tell. in the meantime, it's going to save a lot of back strain on outs.
well, there you have it, finished today. back to the job hunt tomorrow. one thing's for sure: whatever job i have next, i'm gonna miss hangin' out with all the guys at Hollywood Lights, i've known them all a long time, and they're great guys. and i'm especially gonna miss hangin' out every day with my buddy, Jason's dog Dozer- the hardest working dog in show business.
quitting time:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)