StewStuph

The family went to see Divergent this weekend.  I am not going to give a review, just a simple observation. Dauntless Faction Corridor Under Chicago Hoth Ice Corridor

Our work neighbor is constructing a new building .  It will be a new 37,000 square foot building whose main tenant will be a Carolina Ale House .  I started taking pictures when the building on the lot was being demolished, however, I have not shared the pictures before.  I park in the deck adjacent deck and have a fairly decent vantage point.  I am going to start from the beginning and go through the current date.  In the future, you can find posts on this topic by either the label "Construction" or "Carolina Ale House." Demolition Counter-Weight for crane Rebar for tower crane pad Pouring the pad Completed Pad Tower crane being set in place Tower crane Elevator pit excavation Foundations Water in the elevator pit Elevator pit rebar Elevator pit pad Elevator pit and foundations Elevator shaft walls More water! First delivery of steel

Last night we had freezing rain in our little corner of the world.  This is unusual for the area, schools were closed, officials urged the public to stay off the roads.  This morning I went to take a look at the ice as I walked my dog.  I found an "Ice Erection" on one of our Tiki Torches.  I also recorded my son jumping on our frozen trampoline, which appeared to be very fun.  Of course I went to to work this morning, just a little later than usual.  Some drivers were acting as though they were driving on a sheet of ice, when in fact, the roads were merely damp (at least for my drive.) I am ready for all of this winter weather to go a way for a very long time.

Record Store Day is just around the corner and R.E.M. once again have a special release for the occasion.   They are releasing a vinyl set of both MTV Unplugged appearances from 1991 and 2001.  According to their website , this music has not been released before.  However, I somehow have BOTH of the shows sitting in my CD collection at home.  The 1991 show came to from a local record store that also sold "import" CD's.  While the 2001 show came to me via the internet from some source that had access to the audio from the show.  However, this is the first "official" release.  While I don't think I will be going to Schoolkids , my favorite local record store, to pick up the vinyl, I may go the following day to pick up the CD version.  Which brings me to my next point.  I love to listen to music, but I don't buy vinyl.  I don't own a record player and I don't have room to keep a collection of vinyl.  I think the last, and onl...

No, not for me.  Although I would love to go.  Really, Barclays Premeir League , Ligue 1 , Seria A  and I might not get to go.  It is my son.  He has an opportunity to go August 2015.  He is trying to raise money to help with the cost of the trip.  He has offered his pet sitting services to the neighborhood through the community facebook page.  He also has set up a GoFundMe site here  where people can donate money and select a reward for their donation.  Think PBS/NPR pledge drive.  If you have a few spare bucks, please consider helping him out.  Thanks.

Moldy Strawberries Cases of Strawberries Bad Cabbage Today our family volunteered at a food bank distribution for those in need.  It was my first time doing this and the most striking thing was how much had to go to waste.  There were many bakery items donated from stores that were past their selling date yet still edible.  The biggest waste was the produce.  Strawberries and cabbage were donated. However, much of this was not fit to eat. It is amazing how much we overproduce in our society and still many people go hungry everyday.

One of the things that I have been involved in professionally is the  Wake Technical Community College Advisory Board.  I sit on the board for Architectural Technology.  Each spring one of our activities is to review the graduating students final projects.  Yesterday was the midterm review.  There were three teams and all gave presentations of the progress made thus far.  This years project site is a lot in downtown raleigh  along Bloodworth Street from East Hargett to East Martin.  Students are tasked with creating a mixed use development with retail on the lower level and SRO apartments above.  Each team had decided to include a grocery store on the first level since the area is in a food desert .  The footprint for each  project team was different from the other.  The resident amenities were also different for each project.  I am looking forward to the final presentation at the end of the semester to see how comments ...

This morning was fine until leaving for work.  I was not even out of the neighborhood before may day took a turn down a dark and angry path.  Turning left out of the neighborhood is a difficult task most days and is only made worse by the rush hour traffic in the morning and evening.  In the morning, the majority of traffic is traveling North to South.  It is reversed in the evening.  Every school morning I turn left to take my son to school.  I make it to the stop sign and see a long line of cars coming from the north.  I know that I will be sitting for a while.  A white Honda Odyssey pulls up behind me to turn left. A black Toyota Tundra comes up on my right side to turn right.  When the truck is there, I can't see any of the northbound traffic which makes it dangerous to pull out.  The southbound traffic clears and the Tundra pulls away heading south.  However, I am still unable to see any northbound traffic because of the truck....

This past Tuesday the team that is Bayern Munchen proved to be too much for Arsenal to defeat.  While the loss  puts Arsenal out of the Champions League , they still have a chance to finish first in the Premier League , and are on to the semi-finals in the FA Cup where they will face defending champions Wigan Athletic .

Construction was halted on a home in a Raleigh, NC historic neighborhood.  The home is nearly complete, I am going to side with the homeowners of the newly constructed house after reading this article . From the article: "Raleigh's Historic Commission approved the homeowner's architectural application last year." " People connected to the state's preservation group say this case has implications for anyone wanting to build in a historic district. They say just because a neighbor doesn't like your house as long as you go through the legal process for approval, and you get that approval, you should be free to build your house."

First of all, I am don't think I am going to spoil anything if you have not seen the show.  Just in case though, here is your warning:   POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!! I got around to watching ABC's new show, Resurrection  last night.  The idea seems interesting, long dead people returning to to their loved ones, unchanged from the moments before their death. I do have a few complaints right off the bat.  Unfortunately for my wife, we have DVR and I was able to stop the show each time one of these "problems" arose. The kid, Jacob, "wakes up" in China wearing a baseball jersey of a local team in Missouri.  So immigration officials are called in to get the kid back to the USA and find out where he belongs.  Agents get the call on Saturday and the kid is already at the airport waiting to be picked up.  How long was he in China?  Since Thursday, Wednesday? So, let's get a list going While at the airport, a federal agent is trying to get J...

With March comes madness.  With madness comes celebration.  Last year at work I won the free throw competition.  It's time to start working on the technique to defend my title.  If you have ever spent any time shooting Nerf basketball, then you know it can be a difficult task.  The ball is small, the rim is VERY active, and the backboard is as stiff as cardboard.  Well, in all fairness, the backboard IS cardboard.  So get setup at home and work on your charity shots! Or don't, I'd like to win again.

Today I played my first ever round of footgolf!  I drove about an hour away to Keith Hills  on this wonderful day.  I walked the course instead of driving a golf cart.  It was looking a bit difficult off of the first tee as I immediately put my first shot off to the right of the fairway.  Once I got settled in it went a bit better.  The course is a par 71 at 2,610 yards.  I finished the front nine +12 and had to take two drops.  Once from a water hazard, and the other from a wooded area which I could not get behind to kick.  The back nine started with three pars.  On the 16th I got my first birdie, and finished the at +17 for the day.  I am looking forward to the next time I am able to go down and play another round. https://www.facebook.com/KeithHillsGC

Face it, we've all seen these stick figure representations of fmailies on the back windows of vans and suv's.  Love 'em or hate 'em, they are everywhere.  Some may be clever, most are boring.  Today, however,  I saw what may be the most confusing family.  See the picture below. I know it may be hard to see, but let me tell you who is there.  The father is Darth Vader, the mother is Princess Leia.  The children are Yoda and young Anakin Skywalker.  Really?  Darth Vader had and his estranged daughter somehow found each other and gave rise to.... Darth Vader as a young boy before he turned evil and then gave rise to his daughter who he then later.... Forget it.  Where does Yoda enter the picture in this circular family tree?  Yoda was a a Jedi master when he met Anakin who would then later grow to become Darth Vader who would, I guess, adopt Yoda later in life after he settled down with his own daughter.... I don't get i...

So many things have been going on lately.  I've been really busy at work, using Autocad instead of Revit .  Can I proclaim my distaste for that now?  The workflow is so slow compared to Revit, Xref-s, layers, blocks, multiple files.... Horrible. My usual coed soccer team began the season last night with a convincing win.  It seems as though the opposing team was a new formation and they even played down a player the entire match.  So a 7-0 win was not surprising. We had more winter weather this week.  A bit of freezing rain made the roads slick and postponed my trip to work Tuesday.  Not sure if it is related, but a window in our house broke Tuesday morning. This weekend I will be trying out a new game/sport called footgolf .  Imagine soccer combined with golf. Recently I took my son to see NC State lose to Miami .  That was his first NCAA Div I basketball experience and we both enjoyed ourselves.  Unfortunately, my Droid Raz...