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This week has been a killer – we've had so many documents to get out that I've been working late each night after the kids go to bed, usually until after 11pm.  Today I'm leaving at 2pm and I am doing NO WORK this weekend.  I may have to play catchup next week, but I need a break.

Here's a few photos I caught on a trip somewhere a while back:

If it's not broken, don't fix it.  If it is broken, don't fix it, just put a note on it so people know it's broken:

I made sure everyone was out of the bathroom before I starting snapping photos with my phone…

And in the same building:

But what does a white light mean?

Automatic Closing Fire Door

I’d love to see this in action…

And now, in lieu of the expected Friday I'm in Love track, here's a song that at first appears to relate to the title of this post, but on further inspection, actually has nothing to do with how I'm feeling now:

Thank God It’s Monday

NOFX

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I don't normally share work info on here, but this is all positive stuff, so I figure it won't hurt.  This article/video is about one of the projects that is currently keeping me and others at my company employed. 

However, I should point out that I have never called someone (or been called) a "Nuggeteer". 

(Watch the video for more information than is in the article).

From WDIO:

Despite a major slowdown in the world economy, the need to finish a giant project on the Iron Range continues.

Work at the Mesabi Nugget site in Hoyt Lakes is still full steam ahead.

300-400 local contractors are working right now, and more are expected to be hired when the days get longer.

In fact, management is meeting with more vendors all of this week, to finalize more work.

About 30 people are on staff, and call themselves "Nuggeteers." 30 more will need to be hired for operations, in particular millwrights and electricians.

The iron nugget project is expected to be online, during the third quarter.

"It's a strategic move for Steel Dynamics. They want to control the raw material they use to make steel," said Operations Manager Steve Rutherford.

The project is costing at least $235 million dollars.

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Philip Jose Farmer

From PJStar:

Science fiction author Philip Jose Farmer died this morning at his home. He was 91.

The Peoria-based writer had written more than 75 books and was awarded the top honors in his field. That includes the Grand Master Award for Science Fiction in 2001, an award also given to noted authors such as Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein.

I "discovered" Philip Jose Farmer when my I was a kid – my father owned or gave me a copy of the first book of his Riverworld series To Your Scattered Bodies Go, and I remember really enjoying it, even though there was no way I was mature enough at that time to comprehend much more than the main plot of the book.  Any novel whose scope is so great that it includes all 36,006,009,637 people ever born on earth (from to origin members of homo sapiens through the early 21st century) is sure to make a lasting impression that stays with you.  My father told me that he read all of the Riverworld series and some of the other Farmer novels, and I planned to follow suit. 

Somewhere along the way I couldn't find any more books by Philip Jose Farmer at the library and forgot about searching for them until my interest was rekindled this month when I began to re-read the Riverworld series all over again (as you'll see from my GoodReads profile, if you're following me there).  Although the series does have some minor issues, it's as awe-inspiring now as the first time I read the novels.  Maybe even more so as I'm catching philosophical, theological, and historical references that totally blew by me when I was younger.

The world has lost a great author today, and is a little bit darker for it.  Farmer was one of those great authors whose works I could read over and over again.  There's a lot of his novels I haven't yet read, but now each one that I pick up will remind me of the passing of a writer who had such a strong influence in developing my love for reading in general, and sci-fi in particular.

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Taken

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Led Zeppelin’s followup to “Stairway” never made the charts

• No, I'm not dead (yet). 
• Yes, I'm still super-busy.
• No, I would not eat green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am.
• Yes, vacation pictures from Mexico are still coming soon.
• No, I didn't end up buying the Luchadore mask I was eyeing at the tourist trap in Playa Del Carmen (sorry, Mook).
• Yes, I went running again today for the first time in almost a month.
• No, it was not pleasant.
• Yes, I feel better now for having done it.
• No, I've never seen anything cuter than my girls, thank you very much.

Cuddle Time

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I'm still stuck in Duluth, but I'm flying back tonight.  Feeling down (and cold) and I can't wait to get home.  In the meantime, during my breaks here, I'm going through old photos I haven't yet uploaded to Flickr and just came across one that always brings a smile to my face:

Butterfly Bliss

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