The snow is freakin beautiful

    Thursday morning on the island, and big surprise,  it's snowing!

     We are here, and trying to get ready for concrete tomorrow at 9:30 and 11:15. The snow is coming down pretty hard, and the weather is predicting 6-8 inches. All this makes it fairly difficult to work, but I need to get this poured tomorrow because the tides next week aren't good to get concrete on the island.

The island at 7 am.

I am not sure at what point, I started thinking this was a bad idea

It takes a special breed of people to start you day like this..

and know, you will be here...

for 8 or more hours.

This job site is a mess now, snow, ice and mud.

Blankets everywhere, heater hoses everywhere.

Consider the building you work in, and then think of the people who built it.

Like I said, it takes...

a special kind of person to do what we do, like Teddy.

What a mess.

More like a disaster.

   
     The weather got worse very quickly, the wind was whipping around and it became blizzard like. Shortly after this picture was taken, on my way back to the trailer, I got word, they were shutting down the island. The last ferry out would be at 1:30. So, change plans, as usual on the island. Now it is time to pick up the tools, put heater hoses inside the forms to melt the snow that has accumulated all day, and cover with blankets, so more doesn't get in there before tomorrow's pour.  

Yep, that's me.

Matty and Rod, happy cause they just got the news we are leaving.

I am sure Big Jerry is being safe, Baby Doll wants him to come home.

Tomorrow will suck.

Your's truly, Curly from Pioneer Valley Concrete Service.

First week back and...

     First week back and we what? We shoveled snow on Monday,  after the Sunday storm. We managed to get some stuff down on Monday, in preparation for a concrete pour on Wednesday.  Tuesday went well, and by the end of the day,  our pour was ready for the next day, however, they were calling for quite a bit of rain. Now rain usually doesn't keep us home, but, when it is the middle of the winter, it can get pretty miserable out there. And, if it is really raining hard, a lot of our equipment doesn't work well, so what do we do? When it comes to weather reports, your guess is as good as mine. If I cancel and it doesn't rain, on this job, the logistics, don't allow me to change my mind the day of. If I plan on pouring and it turns out to be a crappie day, well that can get pretty expensive for PVCS. I decided to roll the dice and pour, I have one last chance to cancel in the morning at 5:30 am, before they start batching the first truck. So what happened?

We decided to take our chances. We need four hours to pour, shoot anchor bolts, straighten and top off the wall, and lastly, put the heater hoses on and cover with blankets. It was drizzling all morning, but we got our window.

     The rain held off, and we finished our 22 yard pour. As always,  the guys did a great job. They know what needs to be done and when, our job, is about working around the weather, concrete deliveries and a ton of other variables, we have no control over.

     So we finished out the day getting ready for our next pour, building wall and footings. Concrete is scheduled for Thursday and Friday but, we are now supposed to get another 3-6 in. of snow starting tonight, Wednesday. Given that, maybe the island will shut down, or maybe we just won't get our concrete,  who knows. It is hard to plan anything here, on the island.

We're back!

     It has been quite awhile since I have posted anything,  but that's because we haven't been here. With all the snow and frigid temperatures, work on the island became unproductive. PVCS gets paid to pour concrete foundations and floors, when your spending half of the day shoveling snow and it is in the single digits,  it's time to stay home. Two and a half weeks at home, with my wife, I am perfectly happy with that, but now it's back to work.

     And when we get here, what do we find, six inches of new snow from last night!

The temperatures climbed, the sun came out, and it turned out to be a nice day. We built some wall, and plan on pouring Wednesday,  Thursday and Friday,  if weather and seas permit. Of course,  they are expecting rain on Wednesday and Thursday though. Let's hope for the best though.