Construction and Industrial Articles
posted on 22 November 2011
When I was at university I decided to get a casual job as a factory hand. The work often revolved around packing furniture into large boxes. Then we had to take to the delivery area of the factory. It was incredible as I saw all sorts of dangerous practices. Workers were expected to work in a dingy environment without adequate lighting, without proper safety overalls. At times it was hard to see what we were actually packing. We often had to lift heavy boxes which seemed to hurt my back. The furniture was very heavy and we had to rely on manual labor. We were never allowed to use the forklift. One time I nearly sprained my ankle as I lost my footing. It was dreadful. I put up with the appalling for year. I was fortunate that I didn't work at the factory full time otherwise I probably would have sustained lots of injuries. I am sure not all factory work is as bad as this however I am grateful for my desk top and never never wish to work in such an environment again. |
|
posted on 24 July 2011
On May 22nd, 2011 our town was hit by an EF 6 tornado, previously classified as an EF 5, they had to revise the scale to incorporate the record breaking winds that our tornado produced. After walking out from my families barely standing shell of a house we were astounded to see the damage caused.
I'd done my fair share of dirty and dangerous jobs in the past - from tank cleaning to road mending, but I knew this would be the job of all jobs to somehow get this town back to anything like the way it was.
Where once we had seen trees, we saw stripped trunks. Where once we saw East Middle school, finished two summers previously, we saw a tangle of metal beams that had been the gym. Our neighborhood was toast. Plain and simple. Our house, and older one built of stone, was the only one visible in the now flat landscape. The entire surrounding landscape was debris. Shingles, wood, mattresses, insulation, sheet metal and some lucky skeletons of houses. Cars were barely recognizable. Cleanup and search and rescue started that evening. For the first couple days we were attempting to save personal items. My room was never found. After a couple days of rainy weather and minimal cleanup. We started the real chore. Debris removal. We had five piles. Wood, shingles, trash, insulation and sheet metal. Temperatures reached 95 degrees. At this moment today it has almost been two months. We still work daily in our yard and "house". Press releases from our city say that if one dump truck leaves every 3 minutes 24/7 then it will take an estimated four months to remove the majority of debris from our city. |
|
posted on 8 July 2011
There's so much noise leaking from each classroom. While I'm teaching in one classroom, I can hear noise from the two adjacent rooms - it makes cocentration impossible. I like a quiet classroom, because noise just distracts pupils. Teaching mathematics demands a quite, studious atmosphere. Unfortunately we have thin walls - sometimes I feel they are completely useless. We need some kind of lead sheeting to absorb all that noise so we can all get on and teach properly. I think it's typical of a modern building that doesn't use the older materials - they've used less absorbing materials leading to the problems we face. I've raised the problem with the headmaster and he will be getting an inspection carried out. I'm surprised my colleagues haven't raised this issue in the past - perhaps I'm too sensitive to noise? It's very hard to tell, but a couple of my students did agree the noise was a distraction. |
|
posted on 26 April 2011
I live on a beautiful island in the middle of the pacific ocean. Everyday I see it being littered, and trashed by not just visitors, but by the hands of some of the locals here too. It's sad really, but alot of the time I think people don't think about the effects it has on our environment.The trash effects our ocean, the fish, and allot of people here depend on the fish, and ocean for us to eat. While I hear the sound of petrol pressure washers cleaning up the streets, I just wonder how we can make of such streets in the first place. Then of course we have a large amount of land that sits majestically on the mountainsides, or seems to roll on for forever from one town to another.Many of these spots being burnt to a crisp, by litter. Smokers throwing there cigarette butts that are still lit out their windows.Our country side has seen many,many, fires due to human error. No one ever thinks about the cause of what they do, especially litterers. Here if you are caught littering it is a fifteen hundred dollar offense, and still we face it everyday. Just goes to show, that even when you live in paradise, there is people who do not take pride in it.It's a shame |
|
posted on 12 February 2011
Our new mayor has really made a difference to our town. His first project - he stated - was to spruce up the town centre. Within a month of the new mayor taking his position, the town was getting a real historical restoration makeover done to it. My heart leaped when the scaffolding of our oldest buildings were removed - they looked so handsome again - they positively gleamed. The buildings made me feel proud of my town - and proud of those who lived here before me who had the skill, guile and sheer bravery to build such beautiful buildings.
Our mayor is now planning many more projects to try and gell the community together - to bring people back to the town centre for both shopping and entertainment.
It also saddens me to think of the years before our mayor arrived - and all the corruption and waste that occurred then - but we must look forward and not back. |
|
posted on 9 February 2011
As a website developer (mainly developing e-commerce sites), I see all kinds of business plans - I have also helped many online vendors over the years - from those that sell sew on velcro to those that sell concert tickets - you name it, one of my vendors probably sells it.
One site in particular interests me when it comes to business models: Google. 99% of Google revenues are from advertisements. Ads play a major part in Google's strategy. Yet, the only way Google can survive is by collecting and using your personal data. Google tracks your favorite website, your searches, your preferences, the places you go, where you are at any point in time...Scary, right? Well, there is an alternative: Duckduckgo.com is an alternative search engine. Duckduckgo.com is not collecting your personal data and information, it does not track the data of the users to build for-profit applications. It is a new start up but it was already mentioned by the Wall Street Journal. One of the strong points of Duckduckgo.com is the design of the website, simple, without frills, bringing you back to the original Internet search experience, to browse through different website, to assist you in finding information, as opposed to assisting companies to make money using your personal data.
It makes you wonder if one day Google will have the rug pulled under them! My advice is always to diversify your business model so if one area fails, you can survive with your other ideas. |
|
posted on 9 February 2011
Our house is nice, but we’ve noticed that there isn’t a lot of natural lighting. Bench saws and other equipment at the ready, we are gearing up to work on a sunroom. We got the idea after visiting one of our friends, they had just put one in and were thrilled with it. Since we live in the frigid northern US it will be just what we need to get us through some of the long cold winters. We will be furnishing it with a his and hers leather chair set, perfect for curling up with some of our favorite books. We are also going to set up a coffee station in the corner, maybe a little extravagant considering how close the sunroom is to our kitchen, but this room is all about comfort. The exterior will have some window awnings that can be raised or lowered with the touch of a button so that the summer heat can be blocked, to make this room a true four seasons delight. |
|
|
|
|