Week of October 22

I'm in a great mood as I write this.  Awesome Halloween party Saturday night.  First pheasant hunt of the season Sunday morning and I had to clear out my sewer line Sunday afternoon.  "What, you're happy about having had to clean your sewer line?" you're likely asking yourself.  Well, not really.  But I'm stoked that I didn't have to call a plumber.  Instead I called Stan.  You see, my buddy Stan is the MacGuyver of my crew.  He has every tool known to mankind and can fix anything.  So when I was bummed about having to buy a 50' snake, I stopped off at Stan's house to see if he had one.  Not only did he have one, but it was one of the industrial-sized motorized ones (his aunt and uncle used to own hotels.  I had to ask).  So he set me up big time.  But that was just the half of it.  Later, he stopped by to see if I needed help.  And yes, I really did.  The contractor I hired to put in a clean out in my sewer line put in a 90 degree bend that was hard to get the snake into.  With an extra set of hands and Stan's ingenuity, we figured it out.  It still took awhile to get the clog out, but it finally did and I will be forever shocked to see the garbage my wife and kids flush.  Seriously, I'm amazed and completely grossed out.

Anyway, I am so stoked about Stan's overly cool act of kindness, that, despite not getting my Sunday-day-after-going-hard-recovery-nap, I'm in a fantastic mood.  If you're in CM 10 or CM 121, you had better hope this feeling lasts.  And if it lasts until I write your exams, you all owe Stan a beer (He's a Pliny guy, if you're wondering.  I'll make sure he gets it).

Quote of the Week

"I've come to the conclusion that the two most important things in life are good friends and a good bullpen."  -- Former major league player and manager Bob Lemon

This quote is appropriate for two reasons.  Obviously because of the MLB playoffs, but also because of the story up above.  Take care of your friends.

CM News and Events

There are no student events this week that I know of.  However, this is the week the CM Department goes through its evaluation for accreditation.  I have a ton of stuff to pull together to prove that I actually teach you something (yeah, I'm still figuring out how I'm going to pull that rabbit out of a hat...), so if I'm more absent-minded that usual, you have my apologies.  Also, be cool to Mike this week and try not to burden him with unnecessary issues.  He's likely developing a minivan-sized ulcer right now.

Job Leads

Nothing this week.  But if you haven't heard, it's job huntin' season for you graduating seniors.  Other students, the internship hiring season typically come later.  If you haven't done so yet, polish your resume.  And a word to the wise:  unless you're looking for a job as a PX (and you're not), keep your resume to one page. No one in our department, including faculty, can justify a resume longer than one page.  If you cannot say it in one page, you will lose your audience.  

What's Going On In Classes

CM 10: Exam this week.  It will cover all of the classes and guest speakers we have had (Nick Parker (Turner Construction), Heman Chand (Whiting-Turner), Tim Murchison (URS), Ruzaw Cooper & Bill Schmazel (Cooper Oates Air Conditioning), and John Nunan & Scott Maxwell (Unger Construction), as well as my lecture on the Reno teams.  Test will be true/false.

CM 121:  Exam on Tuesday.  True/false, multiple choice, and one or two problems to be solved (as we discussed in class).  Thursday we will start discussing timber construction.  We will start the timber estimate for Goodyear this week and will spend two weeks on it.

CM 126:  I'll be honest--I don't have the list of speakers on me, so I'm going to wing this.  Please confirm with me tomorrow morning if there is some confusion.

Two toolbox presentations on Tuesday:  Maria Gutierrez (safety awareness/red tape) and Tom Salazar (lock-out/tag out).  I'm hoping for a "what not to do" demonstration from one of those presentations, but I won't say which...

I'll present something on quality control.  Ironically I'm guessing it will be low quality given that I haven't started it yet and I have a two hour Department meeting tomorrow.  And unlike some of you, I don't use my laptop when others are speaking.  It's rude.  And yes, I just passive-aggressively nagged you just like m

On Thursday, Sean Davis will cover crane safety in his toolbox.  Then Cliff Allison and Dan Mello will give their team presentation on managing labor.  Assignment 6 is due on Wednesday.  I hope to have it graded by Thanksgiving.  2013.