"Daddy doesn't work there anymore."

When my daughter first heard that I wouldn't be working down the street from our home in Vancouver, she started crying.  She "wanted me to be close".  Our office moving 12 miles away was too much for her little heart to handle the first time we visited the new office location.

Back in January of this year, our company was acquired by a much larger one based outside of the state of Washington.  A lot of things are new to my co-workers and I these days including a new CEO, a new name, new logo and a large amount of new peers to work alongside.

However, the move was a surprise.  The new company wanted to grow the business here in the Pacific Northwest and were very successful.  We brought on all kinds of new talent to the point of having two people to a desk.  We needed a new space and planned to move somewhere nearby in Vancouver.

But over the course of all the summertime decision-making, plans shifted and our company chose to cross the Glen Jackson Bridge and locate a few exits south of Vancouver in our much bigger neighbor of Portland, Oregon.  The new place will--for the first time--give us our own break room, kitchen and office bikes.  Even the drafters get a separate department with its own door.

Of course, that all comes with a price.  I no longer will be able to run over to my children's school 2 miles away to drop off that important paper.  I won't be going home for lunch two or three times a week when things are slow.  Running out the door 10 minutes before I have to be there may never happen again.  Yesterday we passed the old office location here in town like we do so often in our daily lives and explained what the trucks were doing outside and that daddy doesn't work there anymore.

Instead I'll be in line with the others waiting to cross the bridge. I'll be (im)patiently weaving my way through all the other fathers who can't wait to get home to their little girls and make sure they know that daddy's gonna be there to read you that homework book.  And I'll be thankful for that 16 months of time where life was a little simpler and I got to keep it closer to home.

Goodbye, Vancouver

Hello, Portland

Portfolio test video

The past few weeks, I've been working on a video of the different projects I've worked on throughout my career. This video is for a new website I'm building for prospective employers. So it's really important that it looks good and I make a good impression so I can GET A JOB!

I need your help. Here's the final version. I would appreciate if you could voice your opinion on the polls (just to your right) after you watch.

I got a job!

After 20 consecutive weeks of unemployment, I have a job. It's not in the same (design) field that I've been working in for the past 10 years. Instead of drawing plans, I'll be reading them. Instead of instructing the guys in the field, I'll be one of them. Instead of making marks on paper, I'll be making marks on the ground. Instead of...

anyways, I think you get it.

I am just about to finish up my training to be a utility locator for Stake Center Locating. What is the job of a utility locator? My boss would say "to protect our customer's infrastructure." Since that means nothing to you, my job is to spray paint lines on the ground where there's underground phone cables.

A lot of you may have put up a fence or dug a well on your property and had to call 811 before digging in the ground. After a few days all the utilities sent someone to mark your lawn to show exactly where the underground gas/sewer/water/phone/electrical lines are, that way you didn't break through a water main and flood your neighbor's basement. Yeah, I'm one of those guys.

We work with Qwest, who does the phone and internet for a lot of the Seattle area. In case you need to know, my spray paint is orange.

So, please call before you dig. I would hate for you to be digging up a shrub and hit a fiber optic conduit that services up to 2,000,000 customers in your local area. It would inconvenience a whole lot of people and the telecom company would probably sue you $3.50 for each customer that lost service and is your misplaced shrub really worth all that? Also as an added benefit, if you call 811, it will give me some more work.

Thanks, Ron, for telling me about the job.

77 for 2011

I'm feeling a little homesick as we come to the end of 2010.  With some help from Anne-Marie, here's a list of 77 things I'll miss about living in Oregon:


Places

1.  The St. John's Bridge

     I think there's 10 or 11 bridges in Portland, but this is the most beautiful.

Photo - H Dragon (thks!)

2.  Crown Point

I asked Anne-Marie to marry me here!

3.  The viewpoint in OC off Brighton

     Not as cool as Crown Point, but still a neat place for OC.

4.  Willamette Falls

     The most amazing natural wonder in the Portland Metro area, too bad it's surrounded by gigantic paper mills.

5.  The White Stag sign

     Why do they keep changing this thing? White Stag, Made In Oregon, now Portland Oregon

Photo by Steve Morgan

6.  Tom McCall Waterfront Park

     Also known as "Luis Palau Kills Our Grass Every Summer" Park

7.  Portland Children's Museum

     Went to the Seattle Children's Museum. Nah! Gimme back the PCM.

8.  Historic Highway

     If you haven't been on this to see the waterfalls, make plans NOW!

9.  Pioneer Courthouse Square

     It's Portland's living room and they have a lot of crazy friends.

10. Highway 43

      I always loved driving under the trees on this state highway through West Linn and Lake Oswego.

Eats
11. Nicholas's Restaurant (Eastside)
      Most affordable local restaurant and best Lebanese food in town (sorry Ya Hala)

12. Trufflehunter (Gresham)
      Hooj sanwhiches

13. Super Torta (OC)
      This place is a dive. And--as you would expect--it's very good

Thanks Tom A. at Yelp for the pic

14. Francis (Alberta) and Downtown Greek Cusina (uhhhh...Downtown?)
      A newcomer and a Portland landmark both disappeared off the scene before we could even move.

15. Amadeus (Milwaukie)
      This oooold house in Milwaukie is almost creepy, but the Austrian restaurant and atmosphere it creates is downright magical.

16. La Carreta (Ross Island Bridge)
      'Nother Mexican place. Get the fajitas for two.

17. His Bakery (OC)
      Ohhhh the scones!  And ham and cheese croissants!  I mean Puyallup's Pioneer Bakery is good, but...

18. Five Guys Burgers & Fries (everywhere but here)
      OK. This is a national chain, but the closest one is 30 minutes away from Puyallup. No fair.

19. Camp 18 (Highway 26, near the coast)

     








20. Enjoni Cafe (NE)
      Best East African restaurant in Portland. Order anything.

Oregonizations, etc.

21. Clackamas Community College

      Got my degree here. (Associates of Science, Drafting Technology [Architectural Option], in case you were wondering.  Too bad the drafting program folded in 2009.)

22. Al's Garden Center

...has the greatest floral hanging baskets.

23. The Dig

      Most of my wardrobe is from here. It's kind of a re-sale shop, but everything's 5 bucks.

24. Clackamas Town Center

      We went on our first date here. I'll miss driving by all those places we went. 

25. Portland Community College

      A-M's AM.

26. Dove Adoptions

      After eliminating 99 other adoption agencies, we chose this one in Banks, Oregon and are glad we did.

27. Portland Trail Blazers

      Just thinking about the local team makes my knees hurt.

28. Cutsforth Thriftway

      I actually worked here for 6 months. Best grocery store in Canby and perhaps the world!

29. University of Oregon Ducks

       It took us moving out of state for them to get to the National Championship.

30. Oregon State University Beavers

      The Cougs crimson and gray will never compare to the orange and black of OSU.      

Cities/Districts/Neighborhoods

31. Aurora

       ...for the antique shops

32. Tualatin

       ...for the memories

OC!///Photo: MarkPritchard

33. McMinnville

      ...for my childhood

34. Oregon City

      ...for young life

35. Canby

      ...for the fields

36. Downtown Gresham

      ...for being one of a kind

37. Silverton

      ...for being from another era

38. NE Portland/NoPo

      ...for her people

39. The Pearl

      ...for the shops

40. Clackamas

      ...for a hundred romantic evenings

41. West Linn/Lake Oswego

      ...for never letting me live in your borders (else we'd have never left Oregon)

42. Montavilla

      ...for being funky

Ladd's Addition by Greg_E

43. Lloyd/Hollywood/Sullivan's Gulch District

44. Ladd's Addition and

45. Laurelhurst

      ...for the architecture

46. Downtown

      ...for being an urban area where I never thought I was going to get shot

47. 23rd

      ...for being there before The Pearl

48. Washington Park/West Hills

      ...for the trees

49. Bend/Sunriver

      ...for all the high desert vacations (we'll try to resist the call of Suncadia and come back to you)

50. Sellwood

      ...for being the smallest part of Portland

Local Yokels

51. 1190 KEX

52. KXL 750

      1190 and 750 are the standby news stations that everyone listens to on the way to work.

53. Bob Miller in the Morning

      He's been on the radio in Portland since I was an infant.

54. Now-defunct local celebrities that form something of a mini pop culture

      Scott Thomason, Tom Peterson and this guy:

55. The Portland Tribune
      "What about The Oregonian?" you ask.  Yeah, What about it?

56. John Canzano

      A local sports columnist that constantly makes news for his no-nonsense style.

57. Stumptown Coffee

      Don't really sell this just any place. And not here in WA.

58. Mr. Statue
      OK. So there's this guy that stands outside Pioneer Place and he's painted silver. It's cool. Really.

59. Bill Schonely

      The former Blazers play-by-play guy is still a big name in PDX, but not here (and I just missed the Dave Niehaus era in Seattle).

OregonLive file photo

60. OMSI

      Maybe this should have been put in the "Oregonizations" section. Of course, the Pacific Science Center is very cool, but no dome-screen IMAX. Bummer.


Random, etc.

61. Flying out of PDX

      SeaTac just won't be the same

62. Watching the Pioneer Courthouse Square Christmas Tree Lighting

      Without getting blown up.

63. Driving to Canby whenever we wanted to see Phil

      I guess this would have changed anyhow.

64. Going to the Clackamas County Fair and Rodeo with Ben and Jen

      And all those years we were too cheap to get reserved seating...

65. Driving over Santiam Pass to get to Central Oregon

Pic by J. Stephen Conn

66. Having someone else pump my gas!

67. Getting pumpkins and apple cider donuts each fall at Fir Point Farms in Canby

68. Living four blocks away from Mike and Kara

69. Scoping out the craziness that is Sleighbells of Sherwood

70. Our annual tradition of going to the Oregon Symphony's Gospel Christmas

Near & Dear

71. Oregon District Senior Bible Quizzing

      Bible Quizzing is a program that encourages teams of young people from different cities to memorize a specific book of the Bible. The teams face each other one weekend a month in a tournament. With Anne-Marie assisting, I was the head of the 15-18 year old division for five years and I miss all those guys a lot.

72. Apostolic Worship Center

      I never attended this church (down the road from us in Gresham), but I made so many friends in their congregation.  It's obvious that kindness and character run rampant at Ted Graves church.

73. Ross Hoevet Family Dentistry

      Anne-Marie worked 10 years here.  The Dr. and staff became like friends and neighbors that you wouldn't mind hanging out with just because.

74. Western Wood Structures, Inc.

      I worked here for almost 10 years.  Paul, Jim, Steve and co. nearly made work like a vacation. Nearly.  It's amazing how many times in a day I mention Western Wood.

75. The house on Boynton

      I lived here for 15 years.  I brought my new wife home to this house.  My kids, too.  Never really cared for the floor plan, but sentiment overrides all that.

Driving away for the last time

  

76. All the folks

      You know who you are.  Friends and family were by far the hardest thing to leave.

77. Oregon City United Pentecostal Church

      Pastor Gary Gleason and too many folks to name impacted our lives forever.  Thank you so much for your investment in our family.

I guess that about does it.  There are probably a bunch of things we forgot.  Oregon will always be in our heart.  Here's to 2011 and an amazing year in Washington!

Farewell to WWSI and thank you

Here is the letter that I wrote to my employer, Western Wood Structures, this morning:

Dear WWSI,

As you know, today is my last day of employment at Western Wood. It has been 9 ½ years since I detailed my first job (Bi-Mart in Medford, in case you were wondering), and I’ve probably done a couple of hundred since. Today that all comes to a close in preparation for our family’s move to the Tacoma, Washington area next week.

I’ve been involved in all kinds of projects during my time at WWSI and along with them came good experiences and bad experiences. I’m sure some days I inspired fist pumping and other days fist shaking. But now that it’s pretty much in the history books, I can say the good experiences have far outweighed the bad.

Along with all of the bridges, trusses and beams, our family has had many ups and downs during my time here. Personal tragedy, loss of family members and illness are on the downside. Getting married, buying our first house, adopting two kids from across the globe and, now, preparing for ministry opportunities are among the things on the upside. Looking back today and knowing all we learned from it, we probably wouldn’t change a thing.

I want to thank all of the salesmen for every disappointing walk down the hall to get some badly-needed help on a behind-schedule job, only to find that Eli wasn’t at work yet again because he was in the hospital with his sick wife. I’m sure this happened numerous times, but you didn’t complain. I hope I made it up to you in some other way.

To the field and shop guys: Yes, I probably did mess it up, but I can tell you how to fix it.

Lisa, Zendra and Arlen have managed my safety, wellness, salary, projects and mistakes for years. You may now officially relinquish those responsibilities. Except you, Zendra, in case I decide to go with that COBRA thing.

I also want to thank Steve Turner for his kindness and for guiding the company through tough times. I hope to see great things in the future.

Thanks to Paul, Jim and everyone in Engineering. Josh will get my desk so he can have room to prepare for that big test. (I guess that’s more than fair, seeing that Brent has left us for whatever that thing is he does.) Working with everyone in the department has been an awesome experience that’s taught me so much. Now if I could just find the seat cut of a sloped/tipped rafter like Jim, or draw a dome like Gary, or find that one Simpson hanger at the skylight like Yumiko…

I guess I’ve said enough. If you need to reach me in the future, you can reach me by e-mail at my personal e-mail address or talk to Zendra. Once again, thank you all and blessings on the days to come.

Eli

P.S. Once I get to the South Sound, Jamie, I’ll go down the street every now and then to make sure Lower Burnett Bridge is still standing.

---

Eli Garcia, No-Longer Engineering Technician
Western Wood Structures, Inc.

Working Wonders With Wood BLOG

www.westernwoodstructures.com

Maybe I should be working at PIXAR

If you've been checking the blog for three years or longer, you might remember this picure:



It's a bridge model I worked on for several intense months. Now the bridge is in place, but a few weeks ago, we went back into the 3D model and did this:



(Non-nerds need not read on.) This is a very good example of how the design, animation and digital arts world in general has changed. Since we completed the model in '07, the industry has seen the proliferation of a free 3D drawing and animation program called SketchUp. Google bought this program a few years ago and offers it as a free download. Combine this with AutoCAD and you've got the ability to do a fly-around of any 3D model.

So, I'm not actually drawing up Buzz Lightyear and making him move around. And I'm not illustrating the crumple zones of an Audi. But the software can make anyone look cool.

Xiamen Bird Sanctuary Tower

Remember this post? We were attempting to build something like an existing observation tower, but had to start from scratch. Well, it's finished.

Compare the two and see how we did.

Existing

Ours

Waiting for the government

Yeah, we're still waiting for that mega-important fingerprint appointment at Homeland Security to come through.

Anne-Marie and I have been sick all week and just trying to lie low until we regain our strength. I've been going to work anyhow and was surprised to get back a box of Fudgsicles that I bought for our company barbecue that didn't get eaten.

Anne-Marie was glad to see the treat and said it was what her dad always got her when she was sick. Apparently, the enthusiasm wasn't as great at my place of work.

How could you NOT like Fudgsicles?

Another big project...

This time in Xiamen, China! We're excited about international trade opportunities opening up for us, beginning in '08 starting with the Bird Sanctuary Observation Tower.

The pic is of the first one, already in place. WWSI will be doing the second one, which is very similar.

Alpental Bridge

This weekend's roadtrip took us by one of my work projects from 2005. It's the Summit @ Snoqualmie's Alpental Bridge. It's nearly 300 feet long with 10 feet of clearance between hand rails. It's in a beautiful area of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest at the Alpental Ski Area.

Here's a few pics! Front view, down the back edge, and a view of the summit from the center.

Cascade Highlands Bridge

Take a look at a couple of pics from Cascade Highlands Bridge. This project, in Bend, Oregon, was just finished last week. Took a lotta extra energy to install, but after resolving the glitches, it really turned out nice. Couldn't ask for more beautiful surroundings, either!

Here at "my" desk at work...

For the last time. I'm getting ready for the short move one desk down after six and a half years. I am taking my co-worker Brent's desk as he gets promoted to the field engineering position.

My new space is a corner desk with a large bookshelf and board to post pictures.

Congrats to Brent for his promotion. Goodbye to my long-enjoyed home away from home.

Here's a pic of my desk right before we moved everything around:


You can make out the Blogger "Create Post" page open on my screen for this very post. Think of all the lunch breaks that I spent blogging from here...could almost get sentimental...

Live from Chehalis

Not much to report here...just got back from dinner in downtown Chehalis. We had a tour of the Cascade Structural Laminators plant today. I'll be back home in Portland after a quick 27-hole golf tournament tomorrow!

Pics T-B: the beam press, me in my complimentary headwear, a beam cinched to a radius

Business trip to Chehalis

Once every five years or so, I have the opportunity to go out of town for business. This time it's a plant tour and golf tournament at Cascade Structural Laminators in Chehalis, Washington, about two hours north. I'll see if I can find anything interesting to blog about.

New Project: Lower Burnett Bridge

Here is a greyscale rendering of the new project that I've been working on for the past few weeks. I finished the three-dimensional model yesterday and produced this .jpg. The Lower Burnett Bridge is a 400-foot span triple pinned-arch timber bridge that is sloped and curved. It will be built in the late summer in Buckley, Washington.

New projects from WWSI

When I started my career in the building construction industry ten years ago, I could never have dreamed of the size and the scope of some of the projects that I would be involved in.

My last six years' working with Western Wood Structures, Inc. has definitely broadened my horizons beyond just the hammer and nail, wall tilt-ups, and truss rolling of my former position in the industry.

Recently WWSI has been involved with quite a few large projects. One project that we just started putting up is the timber portion of The Cathedral of Christ the Light (which I didn't actually work on, but provided plenty of emotional support for my coworkers Jim and Gary as they did). The cathedral--which replaces the one that was mortally wounded in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake--will be surrounded by a timber shell that shoots eleven stories into the downtown Oakland skyline. You can see it in all its uniqueness in the first picture (courtesy of CCL).

Another recent project is Cascade Canyon Trail Bridge at the Oregon Zoo. This cable suspension bridge--which spans the black bear pit--may have been the most fun of any project that I've been involved in. One thing that is unique about this bridge is that you can actually see it for yourself at the Black Bear Ridge exhibit of the Oregon Zoo! Below are a few views of the original design.