teardrop revisions

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I have a list of revisions in my head regarding the teardrop trailer.

  1. Five feet wide, not four.  If you’re going to build something, make it comfortable.
  2. Aluminum trailer, not steel.  If you’re going to pull something, make it lightweight.
  3. Aluminum frame, not wood.  If you’re going to build something up in the air to face the wind, make it stable.  The walls should be fastened to aluminum.  The doors should be inserted into an aluminum frame.

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min. 3 years experience

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I’ve been searching non-stop for employment since convocation in April.  I have had a few interviews and spoke with several employers, but pretty much all positions posted online require minimum 3 years’ experience.  There are repeat job listings rewritten with “This is not an entry-level position” included in the job description.

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when drinking coffee, time … flies

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During my days looking for employment daily and practising engineering & architectural stuff, I sometimes head to a coffee shop.  There’s one close by called Good Earth.  Nice surroundings, nice enough people.  The coffee’s not fantastic – a bit on the weak side – but good enough.  Free refill.  Good scones.  I commented to a server that the music playing was good.  Then, 10 minutes later, a person in the back turned it to something else – “You’re no good, you’re no good, you’re no good, baby you’re no good,” repeated the lyrics over and over and over and …  <sigh>  I left.  I used to go to Starbucks (MMDS), but there are so many flies there that it makes it impossible to concentrate on anything I’m doing.  The coffee is always good.  Yesterday I went to the Starbucks downtown.  Also good coffee.  I once waited about 20 minutes for a coffee at The Penny Coffee House.  Good coffee, nice enough surroundings, but so busy that it took forever.  I couldn’t complain because the staff are all working full-tilt.  But sometimes it’s just nicer to sit at home and continue working.  Cheaper, too, for someone not employed.  Unfortunately, staying in the house all day makes the day drag on.

Morandi’s technology

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It finally happened.  Morandi’s bridge in Genoa, Italy, finally collapsed.  Yahoo! Engegniri USA Today  Mr. Bohnert, our instructor, was correct.  Poor design, materials, & construction: people die.  This bridge was build in the 1960s and was plagued from the start with its proven unreliable technology.  Is its use of pre-stressed steel and reinforced concrete to blame?  When a storm came, with heavy rain and lightning, the thing collapsed.

dismantlement of Alpine Sprite

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I began this afternoon the dismantlement of the Alpine Sprite 400 caravan (camper trailer).  I didn’t use it last year and haven’t this year either.  Its contents; two 6-volt deep-cycle batteries (12-volt in series), 140-Watt solar panel, 2500-Watt inverter, 3-stage charger, fresh- & gray-water tanks, water pumps (pressure & draw), 16,000 BTU propane forced-air furnace, on-demand propane water heater, 1000-Watt microwave oven, stereo & speakers, two propane tanks with auto-switch-over regulator, sink, faucet, shower, LED lighting, and a few other things; will all be used somewhere else.  The shell of the trailer will be up for grabs.

  8/9/2018  3:38 PM     96051610 Sprite Alpine 1965 20180809_153453 dismantlement.mp4
  8/9/2018  3:41 PM      3365771 Sprite Alpine 1965 20180809_154127 dismantlement.jpg
  8/9/2018  4:23 PM      4155610 Sprite Alpine 1965 20180809_162349 dismantlement.jpg
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  8/9/2018  4:35 PM      3636103 Sprite Alpine 1965 20180809_163557 dismantlement.jpg

ISL

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I went to ISL Engineering today and saw a manager.  They do roadways (urban & rural), bridges (eight different bridge sites in Lethbridge alone), city water infrastructures (fresh, waste, storm), landscape architecture, and any structure that connects people and place in which we live.

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