- Joined
- Aug 17, 2010
- Messages
- 1,398
I did something today that I’ve never done before.
After I was laid off last week, and spent the week choring around the house and consuming an above average amount of liquor during all hours of the day, interspersed with naps and taking my two dogs on some nice walks through the bush trails in the area, I was called back to work this week. Some back to back 15 hour days ensued, so if this is “laid off” can I go back to my normal 50-60 hour weeks?
Today was the big day for our removal of some 15 ton drainage tanks from a site due for expansion. Lots of people and some expensive cranes were there. During our prep, we’d overlooked a 1/2” thick copper grounding cable. We were in a tight area (relatively) for the work we were doing so all the tool trucks had to be parked on the far side of the site after our prep work, so the cranes could be positioned for a safe lift, but keep the road open for vehicles moving around.
When we began to lift the tanks, we saw the overlooked cable. And with over $1500/hr in cranes, operators and riggers waiting on us, not including our crew or any of the heavy haul trucks and other personnel, I did something rash that I’ve never done before. Rather than walking as fast as I could (no running on site) to go get tools to remedy the problem which I was a part of causing, I used what I had available, smashing on the spine of a Busse with a rock. The receiver of this was my EDC Elmax HACK inflicted by a rock about the size of a large Gatorade bottle to chop the cable. This Max is a .090 thick hollow ground slicer that I’d further thinned and convexed the edge on, certainly not intended for the kind of abuse INFI would shrug off.
All in all, it did really good IMO. Copper might be relatively soft, but the steel it was against isn’t, and neither are rocks. Obviously no in use pics, given the urgency and the “no mobile devices on site” rule (I work in oil and gas, and anything not rated intrinsically safe, ie; not an ignition source is not allowed without proper permitting and procedures) so I took these later when the lifts were done and I got a break.
Even though it’s not thick and not INFI, Busse Elmax fared better than I’d expected. So here’s to Busse Elmax and random rocks for saving my butt when I needed it.
ROCK ON!
After I was laid off last week, and spent the week choring around the house and consuming an above average amount of liquor during all hours of the day, interspersed with naps and taking my two dogs on some nice walks through the bush trails in the area, I was called back to work this week. Some back to back 15 hour days ensued, so if this is “laid off” can I go back to my normal 50-60 hour weeks?
Today was the big day for our removal of some 15 ton drainage tanks from a site due for expansion. Lots of people and some expensive cranes were there. During our prep, we’d overlooked a 1/2” thick copper grounding cable. We were in a tight area (relatively) for the work we were doing so all the tool trucks had to be parked on the far side of the site after our prep work, so the cranes could be positioned for a safe lift, but keep the road open for vehicles moving around.
When we began to lift the tanks, we saw the overlooked cable. And with over $1500/hr in cranes, operators and riggers waiting on us, not including our crew or any of the heavy haul trucks and other personnel, I did something rash that I’ve never done before. Rather than walking as fast as I could (no running on site) to go get tools to remedy the problem which I was a part of causing, I used what I had available, smashing on the spine of a Busse with a rock. The receiver of this was my EDC Elmax HACK inflicted by a rock about the size of a large Gatorade bottle to chop the cable. This Max is a .090 thick hollow ground slicer that I’d further thinned and convexed the edge on, certainly not intended for the kind of abuse INFI would shrug off.
All in all, it did really good IMO. Copper might be relatively soft, but the steel it was against isn’t, and neither are rocks. Obviously no in use pics, given the urgency and the “no mobile devices on site” rule (I work in oil and gas, and anything not rated intrinsically safe, ie; not an ignition source is not allowed without proper permitting and procedures) so I took these later when the lifts were done and I got a break.
Even though it’s not thick and not INFI, Busse Elmax fared better than I’d expected. So here’s to Busse Elmax and random rocks for saving my butt when I needed it.
ROCK ON!
But congrats! That blade earned its keep! 
