Every day I walk from work to Central Square and back twice; first for breakfast and again for lunch. Over the past several weeks, I have been watching as a new high-rise building goes up. At the risk of posting more than my quota of construction cranes for the week, I decided to get an aerial photo of the project now that the central elevator shaft seems to have reached its final height.
One of my fondest memories of our early days in Boston was taking the family out on a Duck Boat tour. The driver/captain was very funny and gave the kids a chance to drive once we were on the water. At the time, I did not pay attention to where we entered or left the Charles River. Today, on my early morning walk, I discovered the answer.
A major project to replace the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge is underway in Boston. This morning I walked over to the construction site and watched for a good 30 minutes. It was amazing. To facilitate the work, a large number of adjacent streets and bridges have been closed to the combined 56,000 daily car and train commuters. These closures have spawned dozens of sub projects designed to take advantage of the suspended traffic. After a few minutes of observation I was able to identify the small group of workers from the crew of 200 that were actually working on the bridge replacement. In the course of 20 minutes I watch three guys install a massive steel I-beam across the highway. One guy operated a 440 ton crane while the other two secured the 150 foot, 45 ton beam to the end of its hoist cable. They then moved the beam from the flat bed truck on which it arrived to its anchoring foundations with a level of speed and accuracy that I would not have thought possible. The project will use a total of 44 steel girders, 267 concrete deck panels and a fleet of 5 cranes to install them. The staging and choreography of equipment and materials is nothing short of incredible. After the Big Dig fiasco, I would not have thought it possible for Boston planners and worker to execute such a massive project so well.
While in New Hampshire yesterday, I had an opportunity to shoot more than just the ocean. After a nice bike ride with Jeanine this afternoon, to visit Maya’s tiny house, I had a chance to post process a couple of my favorites.
When plans to go sailing with friends in Rhode Island were postponed due to the potential for bad weather, Jeanine and I decided to head north to the New Hampshire coast for an afternoon at the beach. We stopped at several beaches along the way before settling down on one just north of Concord Point in Rye.
Jeanine was attracted to the water with all the zeal of a small child. The result was predictable and she returned from her initial foray dripping wet.
Later we set out chairs and a blanket and relaxed until dinner time. Contrary to our normal practice, I selected the restaurant. Using my very sophisticated algorithm (number of cars in the parking lot divided by the number of available spaces times the square root of two) I selected Petey’s Summertime Seafood which proved to be an excellent choice.
This morning I decided to walk over to the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge where major construction started today on what is planned to be a two-week project to replace the bridge. I will post some photos once construction is midway. On the way back to Superpedestrian I decided to put my drone up for an aerial view of Magazine Beach Park. Construction of a new kayak launch can be seen in the foreground and I plan to be one of the first to use it once completed.
Groupings for the 2018 Amputee World Cup were live-streamed today on Facebook. The top team in each group plus the next two highest finishing teams will advance to the round of 8. The USA draw has it grouped with Turkey which placed third at the 2014 World Cup. The good news is that Nicolai does not get along with Turkey’s star player (photo below from their 2014 World Cup encounter) and I am sure this will only serve to motivate him as he trains for the tournament which will take place late October and early November in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Rain every day this week has turned the far end of the field behind our house into a beautiful sea of flowers. More rain and high humidity are forecasted for several more days. On the bright side, this coincides with a very busy time at work so the reduced temptation to be outdoors is welcomed.
We finally found time to look at all the photos Kyle took during his recent visit to Europe. His adventure took him from Dublin to Galway, Ireland, and then to Paris and Marseille, France. This photo was taken a few blocks from Sacré-Cœur which was featured in a previous post including some of his other photos. I really liked this image because I felt transported back in time to my college term abroad in France. I very likely walked the very same street when I visited Sacré-Cœur some 40 years ago.
Slate rooves are attractive but they require regular maintenance to stay ahead of potential issues. The unusually harsh winter and the fact that we skipped having any work done last year has left a fair bit of damage to be addressed. Our regular slater quoted us a staggering figure based on replacing 50 tiles. A thorough, close-up survey of the roof with my drone revealed a far smaller number of damaged tiles. The pictures should prove a compelling resource when I discuss the job with our guy.
Several years ago I installed an automatic back-up generator for our homes electrical system. It was a rather complicated project requiring gas line plumbing, partitioning of the wiring at the circuit breaker box into critical and non-critical circuits, and installation of an automatic transfer switch. Recently I moved the 12V battery which starts the generator from within the outdoor generator housing to the interior of our house where it stays warm all winter. During two prior power outages, the generator did not start automatically (first time due to high winds affecting the gas to air ratio, second time due to depleted battery from sub-zero temperature). When the power in most of West Concord failed this afternoon, the generator kicked in and everything worked as planned. The computers, phones, routers, and TV (all on battery backup) bridged the automated switch over without a glitch and essential functions of the house remained operational (full kitchen except for ovens, one zone of HVAC, garage door openers, family room and media center). The outage only lasted for two hours but my satisfaction with the system finally working exactly as planned lasted all day.
Jeanine suggested a visit to the Revere Beach Sand Sculpting Festival this afternoon and it proved to be a great outing. The weather was perfect and the sand sculptures were truly amazing. We both agreed that it would be fun to return next year while the artists are still working on their creations. In addition to the works of art, we enjoyed live music by saxophonist Mike Rollins.
Today I rented a 3/4 ton pick-up truck with which to move Maya’s tiny house to a new location. Kyle, back from his European adventure yesterday, was a huge help. We hitched the trailer and towed the house from Verrill Farm, where it has been since autumn, back to our house. There we loaded it with all of the appliances and remaining building supplies that we have been storing in the third bay of our garage. Finally, we towed it to a new location on the property of a friend in nearby Sudbury. Here the house will be guarded by two sheep that live in their own tiny house located only feet away.
Nothing better than a company barbecue after a long day at the office. Caterers set up their grill in our parking lot which we converted to an open air dining area / playground. Later we headed back in doors for karaoke. Those who know me well are aware I have no aptitude for singing whatsoever but I do appreciate that gift in others. The whole evening was a ton of fun.
