Day Fifty Six

Dear Readers,
      Sometimes there are jobs at my work that are out of the ordinary and more enjoyable than a regular day.  On Tuesday of this week, I did the job of basically being on call while at work.  Taking care of any calls and inquires that were left on the answering machine over the weekend and calls that may come in throughout the day.  One call that day was for water leaking out of a property driveway and spilling out into the gutter.  I show up, and there is a small river running down the street.  The business building is abandoned and pretty much boarded up.  You see, the city purchased this old car dealership with the intention of turning it into a Vietnam War Museum.  The funding and builder haven't been set up yet, so there it sits waiting to be transformed.  Back to the river, it turns out there was a busted pipe inside the building, completely flooding it.  There was water coming out of every direction of the building.  The front, the back and both sides.  There was a layer of water an inch thick throughout.  I could see the water spewing out of the wall hitting the ceiling in the process.  Enough to make that part of the roof cave in.  So I turned off the water to the building.  It took about two hours for the water to drain out, leaving everything soaked in its wake.  Since it is a city owned property, our guys received the privilege of cleaning out the building of all the trash and leftover furniture.
      Now fast forward to today.  It is day two in the cleanup process.  It was great totally destroying the place.  Kind of.  Since everything inside was pretty much considered trash, we were able to park the dump truck next to the balcony and throw all the furniture off the balcony.  Watching it smash apart as it fell below.  It was great just smashing desks to pieces to get them apart.  Every guy has an inner child that loves to destroy things.  I know I do.  I have to admit, we did throw a file cabinet over the edge to watch it smash into the floor.  We had to get it downstairs some way.  It was easier than carrying it down the stairs.  A lot more fun that way too.  Having a job destroying and taking out trash is pretty fun, but still hard work.  I was definitely tired afterward, but it was gratifying.  I was basically getting paid to have a little fun.  Can't beat that.
      I would also like to say Happy Birthday to a dear friend of Raina and mine, Sara Quiroz.  We miss you and hope you had a wonderful day.

This Day In History: 1964
American boxer Cassius Clay shocks the boxing world by defeating heavyweight champ Sonny Liston in a seventh-round technical knockout.  Clay had predicted victory, boasting that would "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." 

Born This Day: 1906
Domingo Ortega (No Relation, at least I think)
1990 - Sara Quiroz

"In any contest between power and patience, bet on patience."
- W.B. Prescott

That is one mean beard.  Maybe I should grow out my hair too.