Holy Great Wall of Aluminum!

Actually, I think I've done a few that are bigger -50, 60 feet long, but those were pieces spliced together. This one has double rafters suspended from double headers, and I felt that splicing anything would compromise the integrity of the structure. So I had them deliver it from the plant, and today will be an interesting one as I hold up a 38 foot piece of aluminum with one hand and screw it up (in) with the other. Yes, picture me building it, just me, by myself. The projection on this cover is only 9 feet so it shouldn't be too difficult to -hey, where did all my readers go?

That's one of the funny things about blogs, they seem to take on the structure of your own life as you find yourself emphasizing the most significant things of your days: work, family, current obsessions, and then it fritters away into desultory political opinions. It's boring enough for me to live out, so I can't imagine someone being interested enough to read about it -though I would love to hear about Dr. Weaver's heaviest patient, or Escrow Officer Linden's largest file, for example. Anyway, I guess that's the challenge of creative writing, so enough! (And thanks for reading!)

Speaking of boring... still no new computer. Still staring at empty screen. Though they did send an Email this morning claiming it had shipped! Hopefully someone will be here at the office to receive it, while I'm out flailing beneath 38 feet of aluminum.

Speaking of work... Got a call the other day from a neighbor of the customer whose house I posted pictures of last week (the one that didn't burn down.) Seems the neighbor still has their house standing and their wood patio cover and they want it torn down and replaced with aluminum (the cover, not the house.) We will give them an estimate with a competitive price and put them on the schedule. That's business. Keep it coming, Lord.

What else? Well, this broke my heart a little bit, especially the ending. Still, I can't help but wonder if this kind of stuff impedes the performance of our troops in the field. Don't get me wrong, never in a million years would I ban or disallow this sort of thing, it just seems a sort of unhelpful distraction in a combat operation. Of course, the guys we're fighting love their children too, I'm sure, but they don't get a teleconference. Then again, I've seen the images of mothers raising their hands in holy celebration when their children strapped with bombs blow themselves up in a crowded marketplace. It's on Al-Jazeera, so I guess it could be considered a cultural equivalent. I like to think that the video teleconference of the soldier's kid's birth actually boosts the soldier's morale, and not just his, but everyone's. It's what they're fighting for, after all. I saw a bumper sticker the other day: THE U.S. MARINE CORP: DEDICATED TO LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF THOSE WHO THREATEN IT. Sounds about right. Anyway, fighting wars has changed quite a bit since WWII, the least of which is that it isn't so much nation vs. nation anymore, but more ideology vs. ideology. (Ours is better, by the way.)

Speaking of the troops... The AP reports that troop deaths are at a record high in Iraq. I find it interesting that a few days before that, the AP reported that Iraqi deaths are at a record low. I guess they had to add the second (non)story to keep the record straight, lest you begin to think we were actually winning the war and that conditions in Iraq were steadily improving. Also, you have to read to the end of the first article (after "Meanwhile,") to learn about the recent mass graves that were found. MASS GRAVES! MASS GRAVES! MASS GRAVES OF DEAD MUTILATED BODIES! How many times do I have to say it to get a headline? The Associated Press. Just who are they "associated" with anyway?

So that's my two cents. Sorry, I know you didn't ask for it, but it is Thursday, which can be a tough haul with the weekend just peeking over the distant horizon. I promise you, when the new Mac arrives, I'll be in a much better mood. I'll blog all about it!

...hey, where's everybody going?