Once a year a group of people interested in the act of cutting down trees for the good of mankind gets together in the city of Eugene for the Oregon Logging Conference. It is happening right now. It goes on for 3 days, and ends on Saturday. I chose to attend today, or at least to make a showing. I don't really have a role to play at the Conference this year, but it is good to see people I know and to "wave the flag" for my company. Jeff from Birmingham AL flew up to be the official representative of BRUKS. I just showed up because it is my territory and I know everyone.
Today was the day schools organize field trips to the Conference. Busloads of 4-6th Graders were trooped around to look a the big machines and to have them explained to them. I don't think they really care about feller-bunchers and slide delimbers, but you never know. Perhaps their dad's work on one, or maybe a grandpa. The intent is to make forestry accessible to youngsters, and perhaps to spark some interest in what we all think of as "a nasty, hot, sweaty, cold, muddy, noisy, and dangerous profession that doesn't pay all that well but you do get to work with some pretty cool machines" career. After all, it is all about the toys, right? the kid's favorite part is the chainsaw carving demos, when the guy carves owls and fish out of wood as they watch. Sawdust everywhere, the smell of 2-cycle engines, and lots of noise always attracts a crowd.
We Old Timers just shake our heads and talk about the old days when the Oregon State Fairgrounds was awash in high line yarders, donkeys (machine type, not the animals), and skidders all over the place. Today it is maybe 20% of what it was "in the day". True, the new machines are computerized, mechanized, can climb steep hills without slipping, and send the day's work production data to the home office using telemetry in real time, with all the trucks being tracked by GPS! But is that progress? Hell, YES! And you don't even get dirty.
Tomorrow I head home. The weather today was sunny but cool. Tomorrow it will rain becasue I have to be out driving in it. Thanks, Weather Gods!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Atlanta for the Week
As I finish another week in Atlanta, I am taking a moment to reflect on the past week. Sometimes I wonder why I don't blog during the week, but the fact is that I have very little time to myself in a normal working week down here. My days a full, and the evenings are busy with dinners and dinner meetings. Having Jeff always here means that I don't lack for a dinner companion, nor do I lack for someone to have a drink with , or a nightcap. The actual act of traveling at the airport and on the airplane is a different thing, however, and here I am a finally by myself again.
The focus this week has been on a.getting the final details worked out on a ship loader destined for the Port of Portland, OR. The customer is a promising a decision and and order next week, so we a taking the details seriously. The bidding as process we use goes from sloppy to increasingly accurate as the project develops. At this point it is supposed to be as accurate as we can make it, and many sets of eyes go over documents I have been sending out. Since receiving the PO is my last act in this process, I welcome the late scrutiny because this is our last chance to change anything. The customer is doing the same, as they ensure they have everything in the contract they want to have there. Since I have had 2 projects officially cancel this week, it would be good to have at least one commissionable project go this quarter.
I attended MOTAG South the past 2 days and had a chance to catch up with lots of the guys I know in the pulp business in the south and Atlantic states. For the first time in many years we have attendees above 150 and lots of them are from mills. My activity with this group stretches back to 1985 when I first attended and I have made man, many presentations here. The papers that were given this time were on many of the same subjects (chipping, screening) and people came up to me and asked why I wasn't giving them? Ha, ha. I should have.
Next week I'm on the road again, to Seattle on Tuesday, and Oregon for the balance of the week. Since snow is gradually falling out of possibility I should change out of the Blizzak tires and back into the high MPG tires I have. But not quite yet.
The focus this week has been on a.getting the final details worked out on a ship loader destined for the Port of Portland, OR. The customer is a promising a decision and and order next week, so we a taking the details seriously. The bidding as process we use goes from sloppy to increasingly accurate as the project develops. At this point it is supposed to be as accurate as we can make it, and many sets of eyes go over documents I have been sending out. Since receiving the PO is my last act in this process, I welcome the late scrutiny because this is our last chance to change anything. The customer is doing the same, as they ensure they have everything in the contract they want to have there. Since I have had 2 projects officially cancel this week, it would be good to have at least one commissionable project go this quarter.
I attended MOTAG South the past 2 days and had a chance to catch up with lots of the guys I know in the pulp business in the south and Atlantic states. For the first time in many years we have attendees above 150 and lots of them are from mills. My activity with this group stretches back to 1985 when I first attended and I have made man, many presentations here. The papers that were given this time were on many of the same subjects (chipping, screening) and people came up to me and asked why I wasn't giving them? Ha, ha. I should have.
Next week I'm on the road again, to Seattle on Tuesday, and Oregon for the balance of the week. Since snow is gradually falling out of possibility I should change out of the Blizzak tires and back into the high MPG tires I have. But not quite yet.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
A Winter's Holiday
Today is Wednesday, February 1st. Judy and I arrived in Whistler on Sunday, January 29th, with Shannon and Clint. The weather was just above freezing, and at the level of the village the precipitation was in the form of rain, heavy at times. The trees where free of snow, but we could occasionally see the hill above us blanketed in snow. We passed car after car that were heading towards Vancouver on our way up, and true to form the village was quiet and peaceful. There were people present, of course, but the hoards had departed for the City, and we had the place to ourselves.
Sunday night we visited a Greek restaurant, and three of us has the lamb, which was large and delicious. We enjoyed red wine with our dinner, which was the reason Shannon and Clint both complained of a poor night's sleep that night. I was fine, but apparently they weren't. Monday morning was the Get Up and Get 'Er Done day on the slopes, and it started out slowly with the Tremper's "walking like zombies". They bounded back pretty fast, I think, and when we met them for lunch they were both fine.
Judy and I skied together Monday morning on wide open slopes with essentially no lift line waits. We were on the Blackcomb Mountain side, and we stuck to the blue groomed slopes. They were wide open and smooth, and Judy did great. Our old skis were quite the attraction, though. As we got off the lift at the top we stopped by to talk with 2 skip patrol volunteers, women about our age or a bit older, who both commented on our skis. They encouraged us to go to the Demo Hut and get some proper skis for the day, but we decided to wait until later to try them out. Consequently we used the technology from the 1980's to ply the 2012 slopes, with seemingly good effect.
We met S&C at noon, and they commented that they had run into these same women, who recounted the tail of the couple with old skis on the hill, who didn't get Demo Skis. Keep in mind that they had no idea who S&C were with respect to us! Shannon asked if we had helmets, and they said no. In fact we were about the only ones on the mountain without them! I had no idea that this had caught on so completely. anyway, Shannon pointed out that the anachronistic couple skiing were actually her parents! We caught up with the ladies later and had a good laugh about it. we also then demoed the new style skis, and they were very nice to ride. I'm not going to concede that our older style skis were anything but fine and serviceable, They were. The new skis were certainly faster owing to the wax job they had, but our older ones also worked fine.
After lunch we all skied together for a while, and then the kids and I went further up the hill to the 7th Heaven lift, which goes above tree line. We took these long and wonderful runs a couple of times, and then decided to rejoin Judy and think about heading down. Juruf was quite tired at this point, and she opted to take the lift down. We skied next to the lift, and paced her most of the way to the midpoint of the mountain, where she needed to transfer to another lift to the bottom. Just before we got to that point we hit the fog bank, and the temperature jumped above freezing. The snow was wet and heavy, the visibility was nil, and we decided to take the lift ourselves. As we neared the bottom we saw Judy just ahead of us, still on her skis, heading to the Aspens Resort where we were staying. We all made it there at the same time, and headed to the hot tub for some needed relaxation.
We had a great time, and getting back on skis was fun for me. I am not in the shape I need to be in for this sort of activity, however. I need much more leg exercising, and I need to get my legs into shape. Back to the bicycle!
Sunday night we visited a Greek restaurant, and three of us has the lamb, which was large and delicious. We enjoyed red wine with our dinner, which was the reason Shannon and Clint both complained of a poor night's sleep that night. I was fine, but apparently they weren't. Monday morning was the Get Up and Get 'Er Done day on the slopes, and it started out slowly with the Tremper's "walking like zombies". They bounded back pretty fast, I think, and when we met them for lunch they were both fine.
Judy and I skied together Monday morning on wide open slopes with essentially no lift line waits. We were on the Blackcomb Mountain side, and we stuck to the blue groomed slopes. They were wide open and smooth, and Judy did great. Our old skis were quite the attraction, though. As we got off the lift at the top we stopped by to talk with 2 skip patrol volunteers, women about our age or a bit older, who both commented on our skis. They encouraged us to go to the Demo Hut and get some proper skis for the day, but we decided to wait until later to try them out. Consequently we used the technology from the 1980's to ply the 2012 slopes, with seemingly good effect.
We met S&C at noon, and they commented that they had run into these same women, who recounted the tail of the couple with old skis on the hill, who didn't get Demo Skis. Keep in mind that they had no idea who S&C were with respect to us! Shannon asked if we had helmets, and they said no. In fact we were about the only ones on the mountain without them! I had no idea that this had caught on so completely. anyway, Shannon pointed out that the anachronistic couple skiing were actually her parents! We caught up with the ladies later and had a good laugh about it. we also then demoed the new style skis, and they were very nice to ride. I'm not going to concede that our older style skis were anything but fine and serviceable, They were. The new skis were certainly faster owing to the wax job they had, but our older ones also worked fine.
After lunch we all skied together for a while, and then the kids and I went further up the hill to the 7th Heaven lift, which goes above tree line. We took these long and wonderful runs a couple of times, and then decided to rejoin Judy and think about heading down. Juruf was quite tired at this point, and she opted to take the lift down. We skied next to the lift, and paced her most of the way to the midpoint of the mountain, where she needed to transfer to another lift to the bottom. Just before we got to that point we hit the fog bank, and the temperature jumped above freezing. The snow was wet and heavy, the visibility was nil, and we decided to take the lift ourselves. As we neared the bottom we saw Judy just ahead of us, still on her skis, heading to the Aspens Resort where we were staying. We all made it there at the same time, and headed to the hot tub for some needed relaxation.
We had a great time, and getting back on skis was fun for me. I am not in the shape I need to be in for this sort of activity, however. I need much more leg exercising, and I need to get my legs into shape. Back to the bicycle!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
San Francisco
I missed posting about my trip to the Bay Area this past week. The Pacific biomass Conference was being held downtown at the Mariott and I was speaking on Tuesday morning. I flew down from Seattle on Monday afternoon, arriving about 4:00. I took BART in from the airport to Powell Street, which was right next to the hotel. Very convenient, and just as fast as a taxi at 1/5th the price.
Also at that station is an Apple Store. I took advantage of this by taking my iPad in. It had spopped charging normally, and they agreed that it was messed up. They offered to replace it with a new iPad just like the one I had, for $99. I took the deal when they would not make an allowance on an iPad 2. So, this posting is being made on my new iPad.
The conference was well attended and I had a good visit wth lots of industry friends. As the news from Seattle continued to predict a bad storm starting at midnight, I chose to take an early flight and hit the ground at 10:40 pm. I made it home at midnight. It was not snowing when I was coming home, and there was no snow south of Woodinville. However, there was lots of snow on the ground on Wednesday morning, and the depth increased during the day. I made the right call by coming home early.
You have seen the images of the snow from the TV. Suffice it to say that there was as much snow here as anywhere in the Seattle area. Judy was steadily shoveling. I broke out the snow blower on Thursday and did the driveway and the courtyard. I took them down to less than an inch, and when the rain started on Friday they cleared first. It was nice to have clear driving at home.
The local roads were terrible on friday. Slush, deep snow, and lots of rain combined to make things difficult. By Saturday it was getting better. The main roads were good, and the highways were fine and clear. In another couple of days there won't be any snow left.
Also at that station is an Apple Store. I took advantage of this by taking my iPad in. It had spopped charging normally, and they agreed that it was messed up. They offered to replace it with a new iPad just like the one I had, for $99. I took the deal when they would not make an allowance on an iPad 2. So, this posting is being made on my new iPad.
The conference was well attended and I had a good visit wth lots of industry friends. As the news from Seattle continued to predict a bad storm starting at midnight, I chose to take an early flight and hit the ground at 10:40 pm. I made it home at midnight. It was not snowing when I was coming home, and there was no snow south of Woodinville. However, there was lots of snow on the ground on Wednesday morning, and the depth increased during the day. I made the right call by coming home early.
You have seen the images of the snow from the TV. Suffice it to say that there was as much snow here as anywhere in the Seattle area. Judy was steadily shoveling. I broke out the snow blower on Thursday and did the driveway and the courtyard. I took them down to less than an inch, and when the rain started on Friday they cleared first. It was nice to have clear driving at home.
The local roads were terrible on friday. Slush, deep snow, and lots of rain combined to make things difficult. By Saturday it was getting better. The main roads were good, and the highways were fine and clear. In another couple of days there won't be any snow left.
A bit of home work
Mostly I write about my travels, but I wanted to recount the trevails of a little kitchen repair project that has taken a week to complete.
Last Saturday we decided to finally get around to replacing the not-working hot water tap at the kitchen sink. When we had the grantite counters installed we also had this convenient little tap installed, and loved the occasional cup of tea it provided. The instant-on hot water was nice. Well, after a few years it started acting up with occasional bursts of spontaneous hot water erupting from it, then loud heating noises, then a funny smell in the water. I finally just unplugged it from the outlet under the sink, and turned off the water supply. So, there it sat from then until last Saturday when it "was time" to do somethihg about it. We went to the Home Depot and bought a replacement, cleaned out under the sink, and here I go...
I had put this project off exactly because I knew what would be required. I had to dismantle all the piping under the sink, take out the garbage disposal unit, remove the soap dispenser, and un-hook all the connections to the heater unit. The real trick was to get that large box from behind all the obstructions. Unfortunately the replcement box was even biggger! I managed to get it in, and mounted to the back wall. In fact, after all this Joe Plummer stuff with me lying on my back with my head in the leaked kink drippings (which smelled very bad), I was reminded why I went to university in the first place! Anyway, I had it all but installed when the final act was to be to use the screw in the bottom of the faucet unit to engage a moon-shaped plate under the granite which holds it in place tightly. Damn, the screw was 1/2" too short! Judy ran to the hardware store to get a longer one, but they were closed (Sunday afternoon in the snow storm), etc. We were literally screwed. I got a replacement screw yesterday and the final installation took about 30 minutes.
I didn't mention a slight complication. During the dismantling process I left the main water faucet alone so it could be used. Judy just casually took the portion of the faucet that pulls out, like she had done a 1,000 times, and it snaps off in her hand, spraying water all over her and the kitchen! What are the chances? Anyway, while I had all the parts accessible we were able to replace this part too, so now we have all new hardware. Very nice.
So, in the standard Smith Family fashion, a Molehill to Mountain sort of situation developed when none was planned. We started out to replace the hot water spiggot, and ended up replacing all the sink faucets in the process. Overall cost was about $425.
Last Saturday we decided to finally get around to replacing the not-working hot water tap at the kitchen sink. When we had the grantite counters installed we also had this convenient little tap installed, and loved the occasional cup of tea it provided. The instant-on hot water was nice. Well, after a few years it started acting up with occasional bursts of spontaneous hot water erupting from it, then loud heating noises, then a funny smell in the water. I finally just unplugged it from the outlet under the sink, and turned off the water supply. So, there it sat from then until last Saturday when it "was time" to do somethihg about it. We went to the Home Depot and bought a replacement, cleaned out under the sink, and here I go...
I had put this project off exactly because I knew what would be required. I had to dismantle all the piping under the sink, take out the garbage disposal unit, remove the soap dispenser, and un-hook all the connections to the heater unit. The real trick was to get that large box from behind all the obstructions. Unfortunately the replcement box was even biggger! I managed to get it in, and mounted to the back wall. In fact, after all this Joe Plummer stuff with me lying on my back with my head in the leaked kink drippings (which smelled very bad), I was reminded why I went to university in the first place! Anyway, I had it all but installed when the final act was to be to use the screw in the bottom of the faucet unit to engage a moon-shaped plate under the granite which holds it in place tightly. Damn, the screw was 1/2" too short! Judy ran to the hardware store to get a longer one, but they were closed (Sunday afternoon in the snow storm), etc. We were literally screwed. I got a replacement screw yesterday and the final installation took about 30 minutes.
I didn't mention a slight complication. During the dismantling process I left the main water faucet alone so it could be used. Judy just casually took the portion of the faucet that pulls out, like she had done a 1,000 times, and it snaps off in her hand, spraying water all over her and the kitchen! What are the chances? Anyway, while I had all the parts accessible we were able to replace this part too, so now we have all new hardware. Very nice.
So, in the standard Smith Family fashion, a Molehill to Mountain sort of situation developed when none was planned. We started out to replace the hot water spiggot, and ended up replacing all the sink faucets in the process. Overall cost was about $425.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Holidays in the Rear View Mirror
We had a very happy holiday here at the Smith house. There were family and friends around us, we had lots of good times and no bad ones. We never ran out of food or drink, and the dogs kept us entertained every minute. It was great.
Now as I see the snow on Pilchuck, creepoing down to the bottom of the hill, thoughts turn to skiing and snow activities. I hope things get cold enough to support the snowfall we need for skiing and other activities. The happy start to the season in November seems to have puttered out. It has actually been dry, and we need the snow to kick things into gear. My awesome tires are still awesme, but I don;t have much of a chance to show them off.
We are scheduled to visit Whistler at the end of January, so I suppose that is a sort of guaranteed snow event. Maybe I should not worry?
Now as I see the snow on Pilchuck, creepoing down to the bottom of the hill, thoughts turn to skiing and snow activities. I hope things get cold enough to support the snowfall we need for skiing and other activities. The happy start to the season in November seems to have puttered out. It has actually been dry, and we need the snow to kick things into gear. My awesome tires are still awesme, but I don;t have much of a chance to show them off.
We are scheduled to visit Whistler at the end of January, so I suppose that is a sort of guaranteed snow event. Maybe I should not worry?
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
To and Fro - this is the Fro part!
Note: I wrote this while on the plane back from Atlanta. I have men remiss for not posting it sooner. My apologies.
After spending a week in Alpharetta it will be good to be home again. There is not too much for me to do when I am there except work, go to dinner, and sleep. I don't get to exercise and it gets dark so walking is genially not possible. The group always goes out for a big lunch so I skip breakfast most days to compensate. Exercising again will be great. And golfing a bit.
Last night was the company holiday party. Most of these have been deadly dull but last night was the exception. I had fun, and so did Judy. She wore a slinky dress and looked fantastic. We mixed and mingled. There were several new folks, all of whom I knew, so we spent some time meeting spouses and SO's, some of whom were very interesting. At the conclusion of the evening we went over to the company president's house for another drink before calling it a night. All in all a very positive evening. And I wore the holiday hat I bought in Finland which was a sensation. Lots of fun.
So here we sit on the plane heading home. We are both in economy but are not sitting together. She is on the aisle in row 34 and ditto for me in row 23. We are getting in about an hour early, so that is good. Hopefully we can spend some quality time at home.
No travels planned this week. Lots of paperwork to deal with, and project work.
After spending a week in Alpharetta it will be good to be home again. There is not too much for me to do when I am there except work, go to dinner, and sleep. I don't get to exercise and it gets dark so walking is genially not possible. The group always goes out for a big lunch so I skip breakfast most days to compensate. Exercising again will be great. And golfing a bit.
Last night was the company holiday party. Most of these have been deadly dull but last night was the exception. I had fun, and so did Judy. She wore a slinky dress and looked fantastic. We mixed and mingled. There were several new folks, all of whom I knew, so we spent some time meeting spouses and SO's, some of whom were very interesting. At the conclusion of the evening we went over to the company president's house for another drink before calling it a night. All in all a very positive evening. And I wore the holiday hat I bought in Finland which was a sensation. Lots of fun.
So here we sit on the plane heading home. We are both in economy but are not sitting together. She is on the aisle in row 34 and ditto for me in row 23. We are getting in about an hour early, so that is good. Hopefully we can spend some quality time at home.
No travels planned this week. Lots of paperwork to deal with, and project work.
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