Falling

I think I'm a work-aholic. After 3 weeks of unemployment I got a call to show up at a UW Hospital expansion last week. A few familiar faces are there so it's been easy to get back in a groove. Unfortunately for me someone knew I am proficient with big pipe and high voltage. The building power from the utility is 13,800 volts and runs through 5" rigid metal conduit. to put that into home terms most homes are 120/208 volts and the utility wires fit in a 1.5" PVC conduit. A 10' stick of PVC weighs about 5# and can be cut and glued together in relatively no time at all. A 10' stick of 5"RMC weighs about 135# which is then threaded at each end to fit into a 15# coupling and then can be cut and bent to appropriate angles. It's at least a 2-person job fitting 5" and there's little room for error and with the cost of the material there's no 2nd chances so getting it right the first time is a must.  Fortunately I had a good journeyman once. My first year as an apprentice I learned how to run big conduit. If you're ever on Observatory Drive between Walnut and Babcock or by the Kohl Center between Dayton and Regent look down at the sidewalk. Under your feet there are hundreds of feet of conduit put there by yours truly providing power for the surrounding buildings. 

Thursday was a long day. 14 hours of disassembling, moving, cutting, bending, moving, reassembling 5" RMC. Yesterday we intended to put the wire in the run. Each high voltage wire weighs roughly 2# per foot, three wires per phase with a ground we're looking at almost 5,000 pounds of wire for half the feed to the building. After 10 hours with 8 guys setting it up we were ready for the weekend. 

There are moments I would like to be free-airing control wires again.

Today is a bye week for the kids on Seph's futbol team. They're 4-0-1 and with the enforcement of the off-sides rule other teams aren't able to cherry-pick to stay in the game. They're averaging 6 goals per game while allowing only 2 or 3 per game. 
Kix pre-match with Coaches Dan and Bill.

Coby, Henry and Sephie as forwards start the match against the Mustangs.

Seph makes a rare left footed shot for a goal. Last week I posted a Sky Yaeger inspired logo. It's from the 2004 Bianchi Axis I found on Craigslist for $600. I changed a few minor components but it's solidly spec'd and should be a blast to ride.

The AxisAt the USGP event in Sun Prairie the singlespeed field was staged behind the 2/3 field. On the first day we had fun mocking them when misfortune and carnage ensued. 

Cupcake should have preregistered for a better starting position... then he may have been in the middle of the bike pile.I don't think they heard a word we said.

Yesterday I may have tweaked something in my lower back horsing the wire for the feed. I'm not going to Badger Prairie today, but I hope to go to CamRock tomorrow.