Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
en ce lieu fit halte Obwondiag
"In this place, in 1757 Chief Obwondiag, known as Pontiac, Chief Odawa, conqueror of the English, made a stop."
I sure hope he didn't have to suffer that horrible pink brick exterior and cheap white railing.
I sure hope he didn't have to suffer that horrible pink brick exterior and cheap white railing.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Our squirrel neighbours
In the warmer seasons, these guys use the small window sills outside our back stairs as one of their many resting stops. It's funny because you can go right up to the window and look at them, even with the light on behind you and they don't seem disturbed. But as soon as you go out the back door, which is almost two stories below them, they totally freak out and scramble out of their nest to escape to the roof via the ivy. In the spring and once or twice in the later summer, they grab leaves and re-pad their nest. That process is enjoyable to watch.
(note these photos were taken last summer.)
Sometimes there are three of them all crammed together. It looks quite cozy.
However, I have to admit that up close they aren't really that cute. Look at those orange teeth!
(note these photos were taken last summer.)
Sometimes there are three of them all crammed together. It looks quite cozy.
However, I have to admit that up close they aren't really that cute. Look at those orange teeth!
Monday, January 17, 2011
The new road!
I do apologize to all of you for making you wait for months for the satisfying climax of this epic construction journey. I simply had to enjoy the smoothness on my own for a few months. Now that it is covered in snow and grime, I am ready to share with you the images of the beautiful new road on Clark street.
I don't know very much about this process, but grading is clearly crucial. This image is one of multiple passes that several different machines made up the street as each new layer was put down. There is also a guy on foot who is constantly measuring.
What you don't realize is that a road isn't flat, it actually has a very gentle slope, rising up to the middle. This is so water can run off into the gutters. I really have no idea how they get that slope, but it sure was consistent. Most impressive.
Look at that beautiful smooth road, it's dark-grey matte surface welcoming the late summer sun.
See how tightly it fits up against the new sidewalk. Really satisfying to look at for some reason.
Let me tell you, this thing is really nice to ride your bike on. It's practically a velodome. Same for cars I imagine because sadly, they are back. And what's worse this new road really encourages speed so they come whipping up the street faster than ever. I really should have tried to get a speed bump in place when I had the chance. Oh well, I guess it's back to caltrops. And yelling.
I don't know very much about this process, but grading is clearly crucial. This image is one of multiple passes that several different machines made up the street as each new layer was put down. There is also a guy on foot who is constantly measuring.
What you don't realize is that a road isn't flat, it actually has a very gentle slope, rising up to the middle. This is so water can run off into the gutters. I really have no idea how they get that slope, but it sure was consistent. Most impressive.
Look at that beautiful smooth road, it's dark-grey matte surface welcoming the late summer sun.
See how tightly it fits up against the new sidewalk. Really satisfying to look at for some reason.
Let me tell you, this thing is really nice to ride your bike on. It's practically a velodome. Same for cars I imagine because sadly, they are back. And what's worse this new road really encourages speed so they come whipping up the street faster than ever. I really should have tried to get a speed bump in place when I had the chance. Oh well, I guess it's back to caltrops. And yelling.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
The pour!
Pouring concrete is the best. I have a friend who is a serious pro and when he starts talking about it, you realize what an art and a science it is. I've had the opportunity to lay a couple of house foundations as well as several smaller jobs and I can tell you there is something quite satisfying about watching it settle and seeing the cream rise to the top. The coolest thing about concrete is that no work is needed to make it level. You do need to flatten it and get a nice texture, but it is simply physics and gravity that gets it all level. There is something truly cool about that. You can also do all kinds of stuff with colours, textures and creative shapes with forms. Another friend of mine designed a really beautiful series of kitchen counters entirely in concrete.
Unfortunately, it is perhaps too efficient at large scales and has basically taken over the residential construction industry, filling cities (like ours) with soulless, cold concrete boxes for living spaces (and the design industry follows suit trying to sell us on minimalism; another gang of scumbags that will be sent to work camps when I take over the world). Finally, the production of concrete is really bad for the environment.
But I digess, back to the local:
How sweet is that! They sprayed the surface with some kind of whitening agent that is supposed to slow down the drying process (concrete sets best at a certain temperature, if it sets too hot or too cold, it weakens the final product). The problem later is that we had our little drawbridge and since the sun didn't shine under it, it left a dark rectangle on our sidewalk! We'll see how it turns out after a winter and some wear and tear.
And no, in the end, we decided against making our mark in the fresh concrete. It just looked so pristine. One of the neighbour kids did his though, which he seemed quite psyched about.
Unfortunately, it is perhaps too efficient at large scales and has basically taken over the residential construction industry, filling cities (like ours) with soulless, cold concrete boxes for living spaces (and the design industry follows suit trying to sell us on minimalism; another gang of scumbags that will be sent to work camps when I take over the world). Finally, the production of concrete is really bad for the environment.
But I digess, back to the local:
How sweet is that! They sprayed the surface with some kind of whitening agent that is supposed to slow down the drying process (concrete sets best at a certain temperature, if it sets too hot or too cold, it weakens the final product). The problem later is that we had our little drawbridge and since the sun didn't shine under it, it left a dark rectangle on our sidewalk! We'll see how it turns out after a winter and some wear and tear.
And no, in the end, we decided against making our mark in the fresh concrete. It just looked so pristine. One of the neighbour kids did his though, which he seemed quite psyched about.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Forms in place
They've clearly got the set-up of the forms into a pretty efficient rhythm as this got done in under a day. With this amount of concrete, you really don't need that support, but on bigger jobs, man you better make those forms sturdy! You hear tales of one-inch thick sheets of plywood just splitting apart down the middle like a zipper with concrete pouring out of it as not enough whaler bars were put in place.
Hmm, some of those forms don't look perfectly vertical to me. Tight sphincter, people! I'm still too young, but in about twenty years when I'm truly an annoying old codger, if I'm ever in a similar situation, I'm going to hang around while the guys are working, constantly checking their work and making sure they do a proper job. That's what the old portuguese guys did and I bet they got better quality sidewalks than we did!
See the vapour barrier/insulation to prevent water from getting down there freezing and causing cracking
Bring on the cream!
Hmm, some of those forms don't look perfectly vertical to me. Tight sphincter, people! I'm still too young, but in about twenty years when I'm truly an annoying old codger, if I'm ever in a similar situation, I'm going to hang around while the guys are working, constantly checking their work and making sure they do a proper job. That's what the old portuguese guys did and I bet they got better quality sidewalks than we did!
See the vapour barrier/insulation to prevent water from getting down there freezing and causing cracking
Bring on the cream!
The sidewalks came!
I can't even remember what happened, but I dropped the ball on my continuing report of the new road and sidewalk being put in on our street. Happily, I did take pictures and I will be putting up 3 sets over this weekend to complete the historical record. The last construction post was my excitement about signs that they were soon going to put in the new sidewalks. Well they did and here is the story in pictures:
First they came by and topped up the holes between sidewalk squares (which had been dug out to access our drains, I remind you) with fresh gravel.
And each house whose entrance was blocked by the hole got their own personal plywood drawbridge.
I don't know why, but I love seeing what's underneath the sidewalk. It's just so cool to think that the original concrete at the base of the stairs was poured directly onto some dirt and gravel that has since shifted, leaving little pockets that have not seen the light of day since their birth. Now, thanks to the construction, it is exposed to us. It's like history or something, man!
Then a truck came up the street, with workers dropping off the materials necessary to set up the forms. That is in fact the only work these guys did and I noticed that they were all Mexican or Central American. I guess maybe that's how you start your way up the ladder in the construction industry, though I would not be surprised at all if these guys were fully capable of setting up the forms and pouring the concrete themselves.
All ready for some form building!
First they came by and topped up the holes between sidewalk squares (which had been dug out to access our drains, I remind you) with fresh gravel.
And each house whose entrance was blocked by the hole got their own personal plywood drawbridge.
I don't know why, but I love seeing what's underneath the sidewalk. It's just so cool to think that the original concrete at the base of the stairs was poured directly onto some dirt and gravel that has since shifted, leaving little pockets that have not seen the light of day since their birth. Now, thanks to the construction, it is exposed to us. It's like history or something, man!
Then a truck came up the street, with workers dropping off the materials necessary to set up the forms. That is in fact the only work these guys did and I noticed that they were all Mexican or Central American. I guess maybe that's how you start your way up the ladder in the construction industry, though I would not be surprised at all if these guys were fully capable of setting up the forms and pouring the concrete themselves.
All ready for some form building!
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