IT'S NOT CEMENT!

Hello Blogosphere! Yes, my time has again come to impart to you a smidgin of my vast dam knowledge (by mandate). First, I want to thank all of you for the tremendous support you have provided this blog - despite our outrageous views and friends. It continues to grow at a rapid rate, and will soon be rated in the top million (or so) read blogs.

If I might indulge myself - there is a little piece of engineering knowledge that all the world needs to know: CEMENT IS PART OF AN ENGINEERING SYSTEM CALLED CONCRETE! Cement is the material that binds the sand and gravel together. So the next time someone tells you they like your cement you can politely correct them, and let them know that what you have is concrete - something infinately stronger than plain old cement!

Now that I have scared off the non-die-hards I will let you in on my little concrete story. It has been a little over a month since canessessary gave me a job to do - put in an automatic plant feeding system for our bushes. Some people like to call these things "drip systems". Well a drip system works best if it has its own designated valve. I was able to free up a valve for our front yard plants, but was a little perplexed as to how to free up a valve in the back.

Leave it to the engineer to fix the problem! While Canessesary was off at breakfast with her mother, I realized that if I were to add an additional lane to our driveway I could free a valve in the back by abandoning the set of sprinklers that waters that part of our lawn.

I was excited by my genious, and quickly went to work digging out grass. The grass was heavy, but not as heavy as my heart was soon to be. Upon her return to our little castle, I was greeted by a look of disgust - which indicated to me that I had made a mistake. The next step was a quick solution to the problem I had created - I was told to put the grass back. That is easier said than done - and I still kind of liked my idea.

As you might suspect these are decisions that should be made as couple - mostly its a money issue. Well - since I started the project I had to finish it - and I didn't get to hire a professional. I have never really worked this much concrete...... Thankfully I had some great help from some buddies. This little picture explains how I was feeling - no it not a pose. BUT I did feel like a poser.

Concrete work is for concrete people. Dam work is for dam people - Personally I think things might have gone better if it were dam concrete - hmmmm, it might have been???