Long Night

My patch and overlay project on the Seneca, Meridian, and Edwards bridges on WB Kellogg started on Tuesday night. First we have to setup the traffic control which could only be done from 9am to 6am. They had to put up signs, close the inside lanes first, because they had to remove stripe and place temporary tape. This wasn't too bad except that it started to rain at 3AM, so we basically called it a night since they couldn't stripe anymore. This supposedly pushed everything back a whole day, but in retrospect with as slow as the traffic control guys were moving, they needed the extra day.

Wednesday night, they were working like normal and getting ready to switch traffic over to the inside lane, because we'll be working on the outside lanes first. The contractor wanted change the placement of some of the channelizers, basically shortening the work zone. I made sense, but it wasn't on the plans and I didn't want to outright tell him no without looking at the standards to explain my reason, plus I don't really have the authority. So head back to the office, because I still had a couple hours before they switch traffic over.

Back at the office at around 10pm, I settle down by emptying my pockets and switched from boots to slippers like I usually do. Looking at the standards and doing some calculations, I decide it'll be easier to look at the plans that aren't printed front and back, so I go to my work truck to grab a different set. When tried to get back in the office, the door was locked. I remember purposely locking the door behind when I entered, so I wouldn't have to bother taking my keys out when I leave the office. So I'm locked out of the office, both my phones are on my desk and so are the keys to the office, work truck, and my bike. I'm also still in my slippers. I had no choice to by walk around to find a phone so I can call one of coworkers. The nearest business was McDonalds, half a mile away, but their lobby was closed, and since this wasn't really an emergency, I didn't bother them in the drive-thru. So next I go to the adult video store and they were no help there. So decide to walk to the nearest gas station which was a mile north. Sadly Valero was closed. I was close enough that I decided to walk back to the project. I was able to see the flashing lights of the workers from Kellogg and West. Half a mile later, I reach the truck and it was unmanned. They just the truck there to mark the end of the project. So ended up walking another 2 miles on Kellogg before seeing one of the workers. I probably walked 5-6 miles total by this point. It's now 11:45pm, and I call my coworker, who apparently had just gotten into bed. He unhappily picked me up from the project and let me in the office.

After this fun ordeal, the night went on like normal, except that it kept going. They switch over traffic at 4am, but they still had a lot more work to go. They had to switch over all the temporary side specific sign and place a lot more tape. I didn't leave the project until almost 9am, when I had my helpers come and relieve me. I haven't had a 15 hour work day since my days as an intern.

Tonight, we have to place the concrete safety barriers, a few more signs, and hopefully that's it. Maybe I can get to home around 1am, and maybe fall asleep, which could be hard since I woke up at 4:30pm today. Then tomorrow I'll be back on the day shift doing actual work to the bridges. Depending on how bad these bridges are, I might have to say goodbye to my weekends.

Asobi Seksu part 2

Last Friday I went to Kansas City so see Asobi Seksu again. This stop wasn't originally announced when I saw them in Denton. I glad it wasn't, because I probably would not have driven down there and gotten lots of nice furniture from Ikea. Asobi Seksu was playing at The Record Bar, a venue that I've never been to. It was really nice. Plenty of seating and decently priced drinks. I look forward to seeing A Camp play there next month. I went a couple of my friends and since The Record Bar website has approximate times of when all the acts start, we completely skipped the first two acts and got their just in time for Asobi Seksu. We stood closer to the bar in the back. I personally didn't want to be close the speakers. They played practically the same playlist except with the addition of Me and Mary which made me happy. I just realized that neither times did they play anything from their first album. The audience in KC was much better than in Denton. Maybe because Denton is close to Dallas and they get all kinds of great bands coming through and KC fans just hungry for someone good. I was disappointed at the lack of encore. There was decent cheering afterward, but they just walked off stage to the side where we could still see them and just ignored our pleas. I was going to buy another shirt, but they were out of all sizes except small, so I just bought Citrus, their 2nd album, since despite being a fan, I have yet to own their first two albums.

Tomorrow in Lawrence, the Sounds will be playing a show. I kind of want to go because they're Swedish and the likelihood of seeing them again is lower than US bands. But it's in the middle of the week and I'm not that big of a fan. Though it could be my last concert for a while. There's 3 concerts that I want to go to in June, but I'm unsure of my ability to attend because of my project starting then. If the project isn't too demanding. I plan on going to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, A Camp, and Metric. I'll actually find a sub a for me so I can go see Metric. I'm not a huge A Camp fan, but it's Nina Persson and probably the closest thing to the Cardigans I can get in the US. Part of me wants the project to be busy so I can make a lot of OT, but other part wants to go to these concerts.