DP

Deral...

Maybe he didn't sleep yet??? Or a furry feline woke him?? Or he had to pee?? Or??

Yea, Deral, whatchadoingupsoearly!!! 😀

Sometimes your schedule gets out of whack. Nothing sinister, just sorta got my schedule offset by six or so hours. I'm a morning person anyway though.

I hear ya. I went on nights last wed. Back to days yesterday. I awoke around 3 this am.

Test- Bridgeville

That's a nice shot. Is that going to be a new overpass/highway or just the yard?

It is the convergence point of 5 seperate bridges coming together from 2 highways (SB121, WB635) and their service rds. The picture is oriented looking west. This is just a portion of the SB. Eventually as we move east the bridge that ties them all together will be 26 lanes wide. Just south of here maybe a half mile will be the new flyovers where 114 comes in and the north entry to DFW Airport peels off. From there the project turns west and goes to Southlake.

26 lanes. Wow! Life in the big city it seems. How many surveyors are roaming about on the average day? That seems like a ton of work for one crew, even one of your capabilities. 🙂

We have 4- 2 person crews dedicated to survey, most of the other disciplines have rovers and can do their own checking. I am kind of getting excited about the paving coming up. They supposedly are using some kind of high speed Leica machine control on the pavers. It should be interesting if nothing else. It amazes me how far it has come from "pulling a string". Thad is absolutely correct about machine control.

Roadhand...

You're in Fort Worth??? I almost moved there! Been there many times as my aunt use to live there. (She dropped dead at age 36 at the mall there. I forget the name). Uncle is still there; a security guard at the very same mall!

I always liked Fort Worth; went in 2007 to visit her grave. The people there were very kind and helpful. I got lost on that damn freeway and downtown looking for Greenwood and I was going in circles and they steered me to the right direction & gave me a rose for her grave. Complete stranger here and they did that. Blew me away. I ate at an IHOP at 3 am and all the bar hoppers had let out and were there eating too and knew I wasn't from those parts (no accent). They were so very kind, even though they were drunk as skunks. People said yes maam, yes sir, opened doors, etc. You don't see that very often anymore.

PLUS Fort Worth is getting an IN-N-Out!!! LUCKY dogs!!!

Only thing I didn't like was the tornado sirens. :-S

Roadhand...Noodles

Without the tornado sirens you would not know when to run outside and climb up on the roof. (tis true)

Roadhand...Noodles

> Without the tornado sirens you would not know when to run outside and climb up on the roof. (tis true)

WHY would you go to the roof during a tornado??? :-O Isn't that the most dangerous place to be??

Noodles

It is a redneck "Thang".

Kind of like
"hold my beer and watch this".

Roadhand...Noodles

Years ago we had little in the way of decent radar warnings so it was just part of the routine to watch the storm with your eyes and THEN to take cover when it appeared likely that you were going to be in the path.

Hail is a crucial thing in all of the tornadoes that I have seen in my life, and that has been over a dozen or so. When the hail stops and it gets deathly still outside then you had better be ready to get in the shelter. This is NOT a scientific fact but just based on my own observations.

Greenwood Cemetery

I grew up in Ft.Worth and have a lot of kinfolks buried in the Greenwood Cemetery. When I was in High School in Ft.Worth, the Greenwood Funeral Home would lend us a coffin to use in our haunted house at school (boy has high school changed). After Halloween was over, I had to take the coffin back to the funeral home. The folks there told me to take it around back to the loading dock and someone would be there to help me unload it. Well no one showed up and I was fixing to be late getting back to school, so I went looking for them down one of the halls leading back into the funeral home. Turns out it was the hallway that led to the embalming rooms. Needless to say, I beat it out of there pretty quick and never offered to take the coffin back to the funeral home.

Roadhand...Noodles

We were working on a stormy, South Florida summer afternoon, when I spotted a tornado in the distance. (a tornado here is what Oklahomans call a "dust devil")

That thing was coming right at us, I yelled BOX IT! and we all turned to head for the truck.
The I-man was unscrewing the gun and that thing whizzed right past us, between us and the truck, before we could even take 3 steps!:-O

We were left standing there in disbelief as the sky cleared and the twister disappeared. We set back up and continued working.

I can't believe I actually thought we could make it back to the truck before that thing got near us! They move a lot faster than I ever imagined.

:coffee:

Greenwood Cemetery

Aww...did you get a little "spooked" Jeff?? 😉

Greenwood changed between 1992 and 2007. When my aunt died in Sept. 1992, it must have been drop-dead-day there or something cause the place was jam packed with dead and alive and they told us we have 1 hour for visitation and that was it. This was from 8-9 AM. I had just drove straight through from So Cal to Fort Worth and I was beat. I arrived at 7 am to hear this "news" so I was pissed!! No sleep for me!! I was also tired and hungry and had road lag, etc... Anyhow, I figured I just better wash my face and head to the cemetery so I could see her one last time. (Keep in mind I was still numb in disbelief that a 36 year old woman dropped dead in a mall so I HAD to see her and make sure it was her.)

My other aunt (the calm one) & I get there first and walk in to see her. All of the undertakers were rushed I guess because they did a horrible job on my aunts embalming, etc. I was LIVID!! Her embalming cut and stitches were visible, her make up was all splotched & she was NOT human color, her hands weren't together, hair was a rats nest, clothes not all buttoned, etc... I was thinking great, all of my relatives and my aunts husband are gonna be here any minute and they are going to freak out! Knowing my mother she would slug the undertaker!! So I asked them what are you going to do about this??? "Nothing, ma'am. We're booked today and don't have time." I gave them a look of utter disgust and told them if my Italian family sees this, there WILL be a big scene.

So two of the undertakers come in and were still on the "We don't have time" kick. My calm aunt says "Angel, you can fix her; you're good with this!" I said fine, I'LL DO IT. One undertaker looked at me like I was nuts; the other left and came back with this palette of colors and brushes and other gadgets (like an embalmers toolbox) and said here you go!! So...off I went.

Talk about the quickest make-up job in history. Anyhow I got her face all fixed, even got a bouquet of flowers added to her hands so no one could notice the hands mishap, got the hair done and put a flower in it, and added a trinket to her casket. Then I hid all the gear behind the stand. I was proud of myself. I shed a small tear. No sooner than 1 minute after I had finished did all the other relatives arrive and walk in. My aunt and I looked at each other and held our breaths. My mother and other aunt & my uncles were bawling but in between that they kept saying "Oh she looks so beautiful and peaceful, look she has a flower in her hair! Angel must of put that in." Little did they know Angel got stuck with it all. After time was up, (and they LET us know at 9 am to get the hell out) I stayed and waited until everyone was out. I closed her casket and told them "Your stuff is there, behind the stand", with one of those "If looks could kill YOU'D be in this casket instead" looks and I walked out rattling a few choice words under my breath. I just couldn't grasp at how being a funeral home that they could be so heartless. I had every intention of going back to complain, but by the end of that I was so emotionally and physically drained that I just wanted Wendell. So my aunt and I decided to get the heck out of dodge and hopped on a plane and flew to Las Vegas. (It was my birthday weekend too.) Wendell was there waiting for me with open arms, a meal, a hug, gambling quarters and a nice hotel bed.

Forward to June 2007. I'm dreading going into the place because it's been 15 years. I remembered how I was treated last time and hell if I remember where my aunt is buried! I knew I was going to have to go INSIDE. I had got lost, drove up and down roads a plenty, and was hotter than heck cause of the humidity. Plus no flowers. Well I walked in and had about 15 minutes before closing time. A nice lady comes up and greets me and I tell her my "I got lost and I am from Oregon" story. All be damned!! They were the most friendliest, helpful people this time. They brought me a very detailed map of exactly where her grave was at and highlighted stuff so I wouldn't get lost again and said, "Ma'am, take as long as you want out there. We'll let the gate man know. You don't have any flowers? Hold on." They came back with red roses, for free! I was in awe. Flabbergasted!! Maybe someone bitched them out too and things changed, definitely for the better.

Sorry guys...I didn't mean to rattle on & get so personal but to understand it all I had to rattle on. 😉

That picture/project is one reason to be happy that I don't work in Southlake anymore.