People at Work #10 : : Cement Spreaders

There seem to be roadworks and civic building projects all over town right now. Our tree lined country road which takes us downtown is being improved, or so the sign says. Nine days out of ten nothing is happening except the flashing of the big signs at either end. The trouble is that on the tenth day there is one way traffic involving long delays and no turning around. The big flashing sign says "use alternate route" but it becomes so crowded that one might as well just sit until the flag person decides to turn  his sign from Stop to Slow….

The city is getting ready to "redesign" the downtown park by removing the street that bisects it and joining the park spaces on either side to create a square. Why this  had to involve cutting down several very tall redwoods eludes me,…something about creating more parking spaces but that would put them in the middle of the square. More likely it has something to do with getting the homeless people to move along. 

According to Chris, who was back today, standing in a little green space next to the train station, a park is public property, and he can't be asked to leave unless he is sleeping, in which case having his possessions near him would constitute "camping". He seems quite worried that he will have to move on…but where? I encouraged him again to get his name on a list for housing.

The final project involved pouring cement for the platform across from the train station. It was quite a large and impressive operation involving a giant truck/crane/nozzle apparatus, a cement truck, which is hidden behind the crane truck  and dozens of men with devices on very long poles to smooth the concrete as it was poured. The fellow in yellow was wielding the nozzle on the giant crane, directing the flow of concrete. There also seemed to be quite a few workers standing around watching,  perhaps waiting for the guys on hands and knees to finish.  

I would have thought there would be a pump involved to pump the concrete from the truck up through the crane thingy but the whole operation was surprisingly quiet. Concentration is involved to keep the cement moving  so that it doesn't harden prematurely. Although it was the largest project of the day, it was the only one that didn't delay me on my trek across town for a Pilates class and an Aztek Mocha.