The early months of 2010

Well, what can I say? It seems every six to eight months, I end up starting a post just the way I’m starting this one. Absconding myself for not being a better blogger - for not documenting my life as often as I should. The funny thing about blogging is that I don’t even know how many people actually read my blog! I then follow up this self-reprimanding with some empty promise to blog more. The thing is, I think this is the best way to inform people about what is happening in my life – even those who are closest to me. As you may have read in previous posts, I’m working on the East coast, so I don’t get to see those whom I love and care for nearly as often as I’d like. I should provide a brief recap. (This picture is of the water treatment plant during a massive snow storm!)

I write this blog while flying above the ground at about 30,000 feet on a flight from Boston, MA to Phoenix, AZ. “Why is he flying from Boston to Phoenix?” you ask. Well, the reason is quite simple. I travel home one weekend in every three weeks, paid for by my company, The Conti Group (http://www.conticorp.com). It’s part of a very generous travel policy that has both its perks and its drawbacks. Yes, I get a great job that pays well and that I love, but I have to perform my job over 2,000 miles away from home. Let me start from the beginning, which will be somewhere close to February 2010.

My first real jobsite was in Howell, NJ from February until about the end of March of this year. At the time, we were building a water treatment plant on a site that had contaminated soil. The original owner of the property decided to allow anyone and everyone to dispose of anything and everything imaginable under the sun. This included a wide array of contaminants, chemicals, and other semi-volatile organic compounds. Conti was contracted to install extraction wells that would be connected to the water treatment plant that would also be built by Conti. By the time I arrived on the site, the plant was built for the most part. I mainly worked on submittals, documentation, project photos, and the like. For those who don’t know, submittals are documents that are prepared by a construction company to present to the client (the person who wants something built). They contain product specifications. The best example I can think of to help you understand what submittals are is that of doors. If you want a house built, what kind of doors do you want in it? Do you want wood or metal? If wood, do you want hollow (cheap) or solid wood (expensive)? If you want solid wood, what type? Do you want mahogany, oak, or pine? Do you want the doors painted? If so, what color? What kind of door handles, hinges, and doorstops do you want? With this example, you can see where details really come into play. A submittal will contain all of this information, including specific product names, with all applicable options. This data will be submitted for every door in the house (just think – your front door is a different door than you use for your room. What about the pantry door? What about closet and garage doors? Thus you can see how this can get very complicated, very quickly.

I realize all of this must bore people who aren’t avid construction fans (and I’m willing to bet that the few people who will actually read this blog have no interest in construction whatsoever). If you do though, I give you props. If you know me well, you know that I am adamant about the passions in my life, and construction is definitely one of them. Even if you don’t understand construction, you can understand why I love it so much. It was engrained in me by my father – although not purposely on his part. He’s a constructor, just like me. From the time I could work, I’ve worked for him on projects and grew to love it. Now, I get a true sense of accomplishment when I get to see something built that people will occupy and/or use. Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than to participate as part of a team on a construction project to see it through to completion.

Anyways, I will end this blog post here because I feel that it has carried on long enough. I realize that this project only takes us through to the beginning of April, and we have many months to cover from April until the present. The reason is because I was assigned to a new, bigger, and more complex project in April, and I’d rather dedicate an entire blog post to describe that project. Just as a little hint – my next project is what brought me to Massachusetts.