the day the shed died

Vallejo, CA

Along with a group of friends, I took down a shed in my back yard that was in danger of falling on the fences behind it.

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Post 1001, picture post 999

bricks rising up from under

Vallejo, CA

In the process of cleaning the backyard we discovered a brick patio.

My First Portrait Shoot

Fremont, CA

I had my first portrait shoot today. Never before has any one ever asked me to take their picture in a formal (and professional) setting, but today I photographed this guy. The top picture is the one he went with. The bottom one was his least favorite.

teaching children to use power tools

Antioch, CA

I had a client try to saw off my hand today.

three fingered gloves

Oakley, CA
A friend of mine who rides bikes was getting ready for a ride tonight when I saw her gloves. I have never seen three fingered gloves before.

just hanging out

Oakley, CA

A friend of mine just hanging out in our "Spiderman swing" at work.

The Bumble Bee Ramp

Near Vallejo, CA
(please listen to Flight of the bumble bee as you enjoy today's picture)

As a favor to Amy's family, Amy and I built a ramp today. Her father painted the ramp a color that "would be noticed by people walking up to the house." After we were done applying the anti skid strips we stood back and decided that the ramp looked like a bumble bee. This came after a day of lamenting about not painting squares on it and posting a sign out front to "follow the yellow brick ramp."

(BTC - the Ramp in build)

Amputated Sugar Cookie Men

Oakley, CA

I don't want to sound demented or anything, but when I saw last night that there were two amputated cookies I just knew I had to bring them into work. I work with severely disabled children.

H1N1

Pittsburg, CA

In an effort to stop the spread of the H1N1 flu, Health Services gathered 6,000 people together, put them on close quarter buses and then had them stand in line together before getting a poke in their arms.

I volunteered as a traffic enforcer.

The return of the snowman

Oakley, CA

The snowman returned today and the tree went away. I decided I hated the hat it used to have, so I gave it a new hat along with a scarf, which I hate. I have a therapist coming in on Monday to help the scarf.

(BTC - I finished the project for my photo class)

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree

Oakland CA

Tonight for our date, Amy and I went to temple hill to help build a set for the "Magic of Christmas" Celebration next Saturday.

Hot Dog Boy

Oakley, CA

Cindy went into the hospital today and would be cheered up if you vote on her blog.

One of my clients showed up to therapy today as a hot dog.

bringin in da fall

Oakley, CA

All during this past week we have been converting from Summer to Fall. This is the third attempt at creating branches. The first two attempts were me and almost made me cried. Eventually a co-worker came to my rescue. This is 100 times better than what we had before.

What it was before and what it was before that, and before that.

Post #851
Pictures since day 1: 850

Super Barack

Oakley, CA

One of my jobs at work is to keep the coloring pages stocked. Today I was looking for Hello Kitty and Spider-Man pages online when I ran across this one. He's in Healthcare, the war, student loans, ACORN investigations and now he is in Comic books. What a super hero!

(In case you can't read Spider-Man's bubble "Hey if you get to be on my cover can I be on the dollar bill?")

basket of apples

Oakley, CA

I'm working on getting the apples ready for September.

Not my move

Antioch, CA

Tonight we loaded the trailer with the last of Bill & Marsha's stuff. On Friday my dad and I will drive it out to Utah.

Jenga Stress

Oakley, CA

One of the more stressful aspects of my job is playing Jenga with a particular competitive client. Being a former English and Sociology major and not an engineering major...never quite sure when those blocks are going to tip over.

(BTC - The Bear is back)

solenoid

Oakley, CA

I had a customer blow a solenoid last month and I just got around to fixing it tonight. Wiring is one aspect I don't enjoy dealing with in this job. There are so many variables. First I checked the connections to make sure it wasn't a loose wire. Then you check to see if it is one of the channels on the timer that's out. Then you check to make sure it's not the wire. Then you check to make sure it's not the valve. Then, then you replace the solenoid and you hope that solves it. Which it did. All in all it took an hour.

Empty house

Pittsburg, CA

The move is finally over. Now I can go back to sleep; Eating real meals; not sneezing every 5 seconds; not killing black widows; dealing with my own move.

moving someone else

Pittsburg, CA

I helped move my friends Bill and Marsha tonight. In fact, I helped them move Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and will be back here Saturday. Then - at some future date - I will drive my own truck to Utah with their stuff. Good times.

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Now if I may rant for a few minutes...I believe that service is a good thing and that you should give service as your time allows, but not as your heart dictates. If you have 4 hours to work, come give 4 hours and work as those that are in charge direct. No matter if you do nothing but move dirt from one place to another, I feel that as long as you are serving as those in charge direct, you will receive a reward. (My dad believes in Carma and believes that good Carma will be brought back onto you. I believe that when you are in the service of your fellow being you are in the service of your God. I believe that as I serve my God he will bless me.)
On Thursday night there was a man who came to work. In the Mormon church he would be called the High Priest group leader. As the night progressed I had some other names for him, which I won't share. This man was constantly telling Bill that it wasn't worth packing certain items and that they should get thrown away. Sometimes when Bill wasn't looking he would throw stuff in the truck. (I would dig out some of it). This HPGL is in Finance. He is not a radio engineer and he sure as heck is not one of the top radio engineers for one of the UC schools in the area. And so while it may look like junk to him, these items are stuff Bill needs. Your job, when you come to do service, is to provide the assistance that is asked of you, not to sort the pile for what you think is valuable. This guy and I exchanged comments on a few other points and it won't be long enough before I see him again. And if I ever move again, I'm sure as hell not inviting him. I do however, would like to go over to his house when he moves, and throw away his crap.