Closet Extremist

The Dangers of Work.

So, I've finally returned from the wilds of Virginia, and I'm looking forward to starting another job here in glorious Knox-Vegas. (Sleeping in my own Bed! Can you say WOOT!?) I'm working at a local High-School who is finally getting the elevator that they've been planning on since '02 or thereabouts. I thought that the principal was going to hug me when he saw the Company Logo on my shirt. I always Love it when the customer is stoked about getting a finished product.

When I arrived today, I removed the barricades from the hole, and found that the block masons had left one hell of a mess, and the contractor still needed to install a hoist beam for me. Ah well, I need to unload the equipment from the trailer anyway, so I'll just focus on that while the rest gets taken care of. No Biggie, as it were.

The building in question here, was constructed around 1969 or so, so the hoistway is an add-on to the side of the building. This wouldn't normally be any kind of big deal (and it really isn't with this one either) except for the strange architecture. There's a central area that has a stairwell, and three buildings that radiate out from it on right angles. All of these structures are two-stories, and are connected with a large roof-structure that creates a courtyard between them. My shaft sits underneath the courtyard roof, and is stubbed directly onto one of the side buildings. The challenge lies with how they cut out a ledge that runs along the upper section of the courtyard roof, and that it has been a pigeon roost for more years than anyone there can remember. Yes friends, not only is there sawdust, bricks, cinder blocks, steel chunks, and dust by the ton, I've got Pigeon Droppings in my elevator Hatch.

One of the guys from the shop had to bring me out a key to get into the storage trailer, and while he was there he asked me about the job. I advised him that things looked pretty-good "except for the Pigeon Crap." He quipped that he would have to get me an "MSDS" (Material Safety Data Sheet) for the Pigeon Dung that I could keep on the job. We all got a good chuckle over that one.

This evening, I was farting around on the old InterWebs, and decided to try a search for "Pigeon Droppings MSDS", and Lo and Behold I actually found one. I thought that working around asbestos was bad, but this "shit" could give me meningitis and frickin' Kill Me!

Sometimes folks, Ignorance really is bliss.

Posted by Johnny - Oh at April 9, 2007 08:17 PM | TrackBack