Blog of Chris

As promised, here are some photos of what I’ve been up to lately.

Evan supervises while Billy installes the first row of cabinets… installing cabinets takes patience, math, and a little common sense. Once we got rolling it went pretty smoothly. It took about 2 nights to set them all, a few hours for door hardware, and a few more hours for trim and fillers.

Here’s a corner of my finished cabinets, ready for granite countertops and appliances. Note the ktichen sink, not at all usable.

SSG Dilley of the 243rd Engineers operates a bobcat on my project site. I served with him on my deployment, along with 3 other troops who were tasked to me for this current project.

Here you see uprights that are not quite upright. Most of these will become supports for walls and a catwalk structure.

After the concrete pour, the uprights are indeed upright. We began to set the preassembled 8 foot catwalk sections into place today. Building them on the ground and lifting them into place with a forklift is a lot easier than building them 10 feet in the air.

It takes a highly skilled forlikft operator to dodge obstacles and position a very heavy section of catwalk without killing anybody. My troops are doing an amazing job, and everything is running smoothly and on schedule.

Cynthia and I, in mid-gallivant. :-p

That’s all for now. Soon you’ll see pictures of a finished LRC for the Army, a finished, armed and fully operational kitchen, and more adventures as summer gets into full swing. Peace out for now.

-C

P.S.
Kudos to anyone who just got that subtle Star Wars reference.

Last Monday we began construction on the new leader’s reaction course for the Maryland Army National Guard.  I am the Project Officer, and am in charge of 6 soldiers from the 244th Engineers and 6 from the 243rd Engineers (my old unit, 4 of whom served with me in Iraq).

After pretty extensive earthwork, environmental controls, prefabrication of certain parts of the framing, exacting layouts, excavation with a bobcat mounted auger, et cetera, et cetera et cetera, we were ready for concrete at the end of Saturday.

I spent the evenings last week installing my new cabinets, which generated enough empty cardboard boxes to create a whole neighborhood of clubhouses for little kids.  Billy, a friend from the neighborhood who coincidentally installs cabinets for a living, led the way with help from Ryan, Evan, Cynthia and Myself.   It took about 2 nights, and the results are spectacular.

We had Sunday off from the Army, which I used to catch up on some sleep.  After sleep was brunch in Hampden, Fort Meade for new Army uniforms, PetSmart for new fish, Target for cleaning supplies and home stuff, Panda Cabinet to choose my granite (Blue Sapphire!), home to install cabinet pulls (thanks Cynthia!), Korean dinner, and then sleep once more.  It was a productive Sunday, but still a good break from the construction site.

Today we had our concrete pour, which didn’t go as smoothly as I’d planned.  Even though we had a pump truck, bracing each upright beam took longer than expected, and held us up a bit.  Then, because so much concrete was spilled between footers, we were short a bit, and had to get another truck to come out.  We still had an early day, but it was a tough one.

Tonight I am assembling a frame for the breakfast bar in my kitchen so the granite guys can measure.  I don’t have pictures handy, but I promise some are coming tomorrow.

I’ll be on the Army project for the rest of the week, and then it’s time for a memorial day barbecue this Saturday, and a few days off until my next Annual Training period starts on the 2nd of June.  (After that it’s off to Korea!)

-C

Intransitive verb

to gallivant (third-person singular simple present gallivants , present participle gallivanting, simple past gallivanted, past participle gallivanted)

1. (obsolete) To flirt, to romance.
2. To roam about for pleasure without any definite plan.

   1914 Bertram, it is true, when he heard of the plan, rebelled, and asserted that what Billy needed was a rest, an entire rest from care and labor. In fact, what he wanted her to do, he said, was to gallivant — to gallivant all day long. — Eleanor H.Porter Miss Billy–Married, Chapter 18.

I like to Gallivant, in the roaming sense of the word.

Here’s a website with more insights on Gallivanting.
-C

That’s a programming joke for all you nerds out there, but it describes what’s going on right now. I’ve been so busy not being busy that I haven’t had time to write.

The rowhouse I started renovating over 3 years ago is just about done. The weather has warmed up, and I’ve seen a gradual decline in the need for me to be constantly working. I’ve been busy not being busy, and by that I mean running, dining, exploring, meeting new people, hosting happy hours and parties, grilling, and catching up on movies and TV I’ve missed over the past years (via Netflix, which I now swear by).

This summer I’m the Project Officer for the Maryland Army National Guard’s brand spankin’ new Leaders Reaction Course (a teambuilding confidence course, of sorts) at Gunpowder Military Reservation. This a small construction project, but places me in charge of about 80 soldiers over 2 months, plus a lot of material and timeline constraints.

I’m also planning to travel up and down the east coast to catch up with friends in Boston, NYC, NJ, and Philly. Follow that with 2 weeks in Korea to visit my brother Eugene and my father.

I’ll be starting to explore my capabilities as an Entrepreneur during the second half of summer. In what exactly, I am not sure, but the prospect list is growing, and I’m ready to take on the road ahead.
I’m back.

-C

Of a new batch of 6 fish, only 2 remain.  The hatchetfish have survived.  The guppies have all perished.

I know your Whogivesacrap meters are all pegged.

-C