Batch

I talked to a former co-worker today that was recently (40 days ago) injured in a case where a newer Manitex crane blew out all of the bolts holding it to the rotation turret. He was installing a channel letter extended about 70' out and roughly 40' above the ground when he heard a single pop. He woke up to find himself in a basket that had been crushed against the wall. He had multiple facial injuries. Including 5 broken bones in his cheeks and a broken nose.His lip was split wide open from outside and in and requires quite a few stitches. He broke his nose. He had several impacted or blown vertebrae. He has a torn shoulder ligament and also the same problem in his leg. All of that from the bucket slamming into the wall from less than much more than a foot away. He came to very shortly after the accident and he was able to get down a straight ladder that was up to get him out of the bucket. I grew up on Skyhook and Radocy booms. Litterally, I learned how to drive in a truck with a 100' Skyhook mounted to it. LOL Given the well over $100,000.00 in mechanical repairs required to upkeep the last Skyhoist made by Phoenix and this last failure. If you see me buying something it will probably be Elliot. The company I work for has gone with Wilkie for its last 3 trucks. 2 service ladders and one two man bucket 75' boom.

I was going to ask about this anyway. When the company buys LEDs it has done so most often lately from Sloan. We seem to have to always squeeze the wire linking the LEDs. The LEDs will be wired at some distance and spec-ed out at a closer distance. Why?

Some of those had me laughing out loud.

LOL, Actually, does anyone do any high angle work? If so what kind of techniques and equipment do you use? I have used a boatswain chair with block and tackle and used a Prusik knot as a stop and as descent control. I have studied and tried various ascenders and descenders. Also, I have used various seat harnesses under various circumstances. The company I work at now used a block and tackle system with 5/8" manila rope. But, they are now using a kernmantel static line at my request. They are using both 5/8" nylon 6 and 3/4" poly for fall arrest. What do you charge to swing? Double time or half time? Any minimum?

In South Florida you need a permit. You will have to schedule to meet the inspectors out at the site and will usually have a footer inspection on signs that require them and then a rough structural and rough electrical. Then when you call for a final you have to get the electrical finaled first before the Structural will sign off. All electrical signs have to be controlled by a time clock and your not going to get a final if it doesn't have one. A sign that is not connected to the grid would still be an electrical sign and requires and electrical permit. Even a non-illuminated sign would atleast require a structural permit. We have a zoning permit for each sign as well. But, we don't have to meet them at the site usually. Permit fees vary from city to city and county to county. Also how they let you pull the permit varies as well. For instance we installed location for one chain of restaurants that usually involved 14 window signs per location. In most municipalities we could pull one permit for all 14 window signs. But, some locations required a permit for each window signs. In some places they didn't even require permit.

Has anyone ever had there best customer killed by the government? Gus Boulis was killed by Jack Abramoff and his associates. He has a wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantinos_%22Gus%22_Boulis Here is an email I received today There was a Chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Prof noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back And stretching as if his back hurt.The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government.In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, ' Do you know how to catch wild pigs? 'The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke.' You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in The last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how To forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity. The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America . The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, free medical, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms - just a little at a time. One should always remember 'There is no such thing as a free Lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself. Also, if you see that all of this wonderful government 'help' is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America , you might want to send this on to your friends. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life then you will probably delete this email, but God help you when the gate slams shut!' A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.' ....... Thomas Jefferson

Well, quite honestly the words "To the best of my knowledge" do imply nothing of an real importance. I honestly mean to imply nothing of offense to you. I am just saying we are all limited to what we know. Until we learn otherwise. WCSG the LLC is not issued the license really. It is issued to the LLC company on behalf of the qualifier. It says so in the document and I will post the exact text if needed. Any state that requires a licensed contractor is not going to allow you to sub the work to an unlicensed entity. Hiring a licensed sign contractor to do the work that you contracted for does not exonerate you from violating the law when you engaged in contracting in a trade for which your state requires you to have a license to contract in. It doesn't matter if you perform the work or not. It is a license to contract! If you enter into a contract in that trade, you MUST be licensed. Whether a subcontractor or not. There a very specific laws pertaining to who is an employee and who is a subcontractor. The person who you hand the keys to your new Elliot is only an employee if you control his hours and dictate his schedule. He is insured and paid as an employee. Instead of asking us to provide proof. Call you STATE licensing board and ask. Post applicable links here. Or another thread if WCSG blows a gasket... ;)

Who must be licensed as a contractor? Any business which contracts or offers to contract to build, alter, repair, add to, subtract from, improve, move, wreck or demolish any building, highway, road, railroad, excavation or other structure, development or improvement, or to do any part of the work must be a licensed contractor. http://www.builderszone.com/contractorlice...equirements.htm

In Arizona, all contractors who perform residential or commercial construction, remodeling or repair must be licensed. One exception, however, applies to work performed where the labor and materials total less than $750, there is no building permit required and the work is not a part of a larger project. I can't look for an exclusion as it probably doesn't exist. Since the folks that declare no need for licenses and insurance and such are only the obligation of legitimate companies and not the unlicensed sub set of unlicensed contractors. It would be best that the person implying this to be legal to show its legality...

Most states that require a license to pull permits do so because they want to ensure that the people entering into the contract do saw with no excuse as to ignorance of the law. That is why when you become a licensed contractor you are required to learn the applicable labor laws and OSHA and the NEC and properly insured and what not. In my state (Florida) we have many people who are certain that they can and do SUBcontract and the law says that they are guilty of a felony. A sub contractor is a licensed contractor who subs to another contractor. Now heres the clincher... If your right and those of us who are properly licensed are wrong. Post your info and let us report your data when we question the state you work in...LOL I bet not a single unlicensed taker. How many are insured?

Well, from my experience it is awfully difficult to maintain a clear topic in forum. I occasionally visit signweb and am happy that they finally got rid of their old forum software and upgraded to something usable. Still, the site on a hole has a lot of a-holes posting. Signs101 seems to be mostly well managed and helpful. But, seems to lean toward the graphics side of the industry. I like this site the most. But, the thread drift and clashing seem to occasionally be a bit much. The most important thing is keeping on topic with out resulting to gestapo tactics. In example a question about neon should not be an invitation for someone to promote LED technology or vice versa. This thread is a good example of a thread with a lot of information to try and stick with and some off topic posts as well. I would think a shorter initial post might illicit more responses. Such as just asking for people who don't post to explain what might help them to participate more. My answer would be that I am primarily interested in the functional electrical side. The NEC and UL discussions. Because these topics are not posted on daily. I do not visit nor post daily. I do post and respond when I see it as appropriate. But, people who have something to offer still only come to the forums because the forum has something to offer. Either a place to learn or a place filled with people who are willing to learn and discuss the topic being discussed. As stated earlier, I like this site the most out of the forums I visit and would like to see the posting activity increased. [sidebar{read only if you want to}] As for the age thing. I am 40 years old and easily the most technologically advanced sign person that I know. I skip the ipod or iphone for that matter for my HTC Kaiser Pocket PC as my phone(ATT TILT with a custom ROM loaded). I connect that to my hybrid tablet PC via Bluetooth to search the net and also have copies of the codes available for search on either device. I am active in many forums and post daily in several tech oriented forums. I have over 25 years in the trade and haven't failed an inspection in probably 15 years. That is as a working sign man in what is probably one of the most regulated areas in the country, South Florida. So I have something to offer and if someone asks a question I can help with I respond. I come here to learn though more than anything.[/sidebar]

I used to sub stuff to Five Star. They split up. I guess Barry is still doing something. I just don't know if it is still Five Star. But Tony and his fabricators went to Art Signs and he and his guys got a pretty sweet deal there from what I heard. I usually got 3 quotes per job minimum and I know I had Dwayne Klein quote us. I even want to say we used them for a couple. That was when I was with Ryan-Markland Signs. Then again I don't think anyone markets wholesale channel letters Like Dwayne Klein. Always been impressed with the ads.

I couldn't get in for awhile using Firefox. I think I could with IE. Either the one on my laptop of IE on my phone. I think I even tried Opera min and Opera Mobile and had no glory. I was blowing cookies out all over the place thinking it was me. LOL Works now in FF no problem.

It said that there was a $300,000 FINE. Not a settlement assigned to the family. OSHA requires that employers train and equip their employees to perform the work safely. So our common sense says that an employer who is duly licensed and aware of ALL laws and safe practices regarding his trade will be informed about OSHA's rules regarding PPE and lock out/tag out rules. Have you ever worked on ANYTHING hot? Ever done it in front of an employee or co-worker? If so then you should have also been wearing the proper hot work PPE. Of course I can't think of a single exception that allows a sign guy to work on an energized circuit. Hell, I don't even think that turning the required disconnect off meets OSHA LO/TO requirements. Anybody here ever use a piece of GTO to trouble shoot a neon circuit? Ever install a time clock in a hot panel? Why so you wouldn't inconvenience your customer by turning off the main for 20 minutes? Subtract $300,000 from your companies profits this year. What about the time you would lose consoling family and going to the funeral. Time is money!!! Hey and then what about all those bothersome OSHA inspections now that you are under scrutiny? All of your guys have hard hats on, ear protection, safety glasses, several pairs of gloves to protect against the different hazards we face daily, steel toe boots. All of your guys have been trained in fall prevention and issued fall protection. They know not to use a shock absorbing lanyard with that rope grab and that they need a specific lanyard that prevents them from being able to climb or fall out of the arial buckets and lifts, right? You see so many people using a shock absorbing lanyard there as well. Guess common sense ain't so common. Safety is a daunting task. We each have done a continue to do things that are unsafe. We have done it that way for years and nothing has ever happened to us. Still a guy dies and instead of blaming him for his death. We should be learning from his death and teaching those we teach the lessons we learn. The whole team should go home every day with a full count of toes, fingers and eyes. Every day all the time.

I don't actually know about Florida. I see where FPL says that if power lines interfere with a project that they must be de-energized and grounded or rerouted at the contractors expense. I can not find a price schedule or any more specific information. I have looked more than once over the years. I did have lines sleeved in the past. But, I have no knowledge of whether there was a charge or not.

We were working down in Florida City last Monday and it was a rainy day. We took lunch and heard that a bucket truck had been struck with lightning. They then said that the report of lightning was wrong and that the bucket truck had struck a power line. injuring 3 workers. Well it turned out that it was a former employee of the company I work for. He is in the hospital for awhile and entry and exit wounds from the current. He still claims that the crane was struck by lightning and that the lightning blew out the two tires on the crane and caused the crane to fall into the power lines. Though any one who looks at the photos will be able to see that even though the tires are blown out, the riigers are still supporting the boom. I believe from the photos that some person rotated the boom toward the power lines and probably realised their mistake and jerked the rotation back the other way causing the load line to swing into the lines. The load line was severed and flew to the sidewalk. The operator was probably ok. While the three workers who were on the ground (it had been raining pretty heavy) were given the worst of the shock. The operator probably rotated the crane away from the lines after the load line was severed. Which is what we are trained to do. Stay on the crane and move the equipment out of contact if possible. I have looked for any reports from OSHA or Florida Power and Light regarding this matter. But, as of yet have not found anything. One of my co-workers is good friends with the guy and went to see him in the hospital. I will see him Monday and get more info. There are pictures HERE. Let me know what you guys think. also if anyone sees a report with more specifics, better pictures or knows where and when OSHA usually posts there findings please let me know.

I don't use one. But, here is a comparison site that may help you decide on a company. http://www.savetz.com/fax/

I probably haven't bought a pair of those strippers in 15 years or more. I had a couple of pairs break and said screw that. I use a pair of Klein Needle nose with a stripper notch for GTO and to torque the lock rings tight in channel letters. I may grab a pair of Ideal and see if they have any use for me. I loved the ones I had till they blew up. LOL Also there is a 5 in 1 screw driver with a voltage detector built in. Same brand as the ones WCSG has.

FYI, Phoenix was bought out by Manitex in 2003.

Anyone use towable or trailer mounted lifts? I thought about these for awhile and even ran into a company that had sold all of their truck mounted equipment in favor of the towable lifts. They can be towed to job site by most vehicles. So if you have a truck down you can just use another truck. Many are designed to fit through doors and be used inside where counters, desks or displays might not allow the use of scissor lifts or even ladders. Some models even have jibs (though most lifting capacity for the entire platforms is restricted to 500lbs. Can be towed behind your crane to use in conjunction with it. Anyway I wondered if anyone here uses them?

Here is the rest of the story... http://www.snopes.com/photos/automobiles/barnfind.asp

Congratulations to you both!

geraldi, That would be great! She came back over last night and I was gonna try and get a little more squared up photo and trace it. But, we had some major thunderstorms till after dark. So it was no glory. batchell@gmail.com

I need to make vinyl for a friends car. It is a 2000Pontiac Grand Prix. Here is a photo of the rear of the vehicle that needs the vinyl. Anyone have any advice for the best way to go about this? the vinyl will be white and fill the inset of the copy for Pontiac.

The EIFS was 8 1/2" deep and the concrete was 10" deep. We could through bolt the bottom and we did so on all the mounts we could. The tops were mounted using a shield,furniture lag and a coupling nut with all thread....