Clubhouse Grille (*** NO LIV DISCUSSIONS ***) (*** NO POLITICS/RELIGION ***)

[BIG STU]

41 minutes ago, Nard_S said:

I worked at a place for 7 years that had 70% of employees that could not speak English at all. They always had at least 3 to 4 individuals on hand who were fluently bilingual. Place simply could not operate without them. Has to be the same in construction.

I ran a shop for a short while for a construction company in Upstate SC. My best helper was a Mexican who could not speak English. He was the best help I ever had period. Now I theorized he may have been a mechanic in Mexico because you could point and gesture and he knew what to do of he could see me do something one time and he could do it.

Now down here when I was turning wrenches on concrete trucks I was the field tech most of the time. I had to go on job sites. One Mexican here runs and owns a concrete finishing company. Now he has spent most of his life in the USA and speaks English well. We were on a job site one day and some of his guys were saying something in Spanish I could not understand. I asked him what they were talking about? He told me he had no more idea than I did. He told me those guys were from Guatemala and spoke a different dialect.

[dashanks]

3 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

I ran a shop for a short while for a construction company in Upstate SC. My best helper was a Mexican who could not speak English. He was the best help I ever had period. Now I theorized he may have been a mechanic in Mexico because you could point and gesture and he knew what to do of he could see me do something one time and he could do it.

Now down here when I was turning wrenches on concrete trucks I was the field tech most of the time. I had to go on job sites. One Mexican here runs and owns a concrete finishing company. Now he has spent most of his life in the USA and speaks English well. We were on a job site one day and some of his guys were saying something in Spanish I could not understand. I asked him what they were talking about? He told me he had no more idea than I did. He told me those guys were from Guatemala and spoke a different dialect.

That's interesting.  I would think he still got the gist of it.

[nitram]

1 hour ago, Nard_S said:

I worked at a place for 7 years that had 70% of employees that could not speak English at all. They always had at least 3 to 4 individuals on hand who were fluently bilingual. Place simply could not operate without them. Has to be the same in construction.

 

You're not wrong except in construction it's more like 80%

[dashanks]

8 minutes ago, nitram said:

 

You're not wrong except in construction it's more like 80%

Probably was the same way 100 years ago.   Different languages.

[Jim53]

5 hours ago, bladehunter said:

I have more questions than I can shake a stick at with this thing. most I can’t post here 🤣

 

1.  Why did the tugs cut them loose before the bridge ?  The ship had a tug escort until it almost got to the bridge. They completed the big turn to get it out of port.  
 

2.  What’s up with the full throttle appearing exhaust plume as it veers into the piling ? How does a dead engine do that ?  
 

3. why on earth do we accept these terrible infrastructure standards?  The bridge and the ship were mere feet from a collision everytime it passed under anyway.  It’s not like it clears it at high tide by a mile.  
 

4.  Why did they manage to stop the traffic in time but not get the construction dudes off 

 

5. how or why does one fall that far into the water , live , and refuse to go to the hospital ( as one survivor did). I want to see this guy.  He’s a bad dude.  ( yes I feel bad for all who died. That’s why i mention  them specifically seeming to be expendable ) 

 

I can’t answer many of these questions here and not cause a ruckus.  So I won’t. But these things are just observations of the day so far.  

As someone in the bridge building business from the equipment side, there are at least 1,800 bridges in florida alone way past there useful life. It is in the many, many thousands nation wide. 

I would venture a guess a bridge like that would cost over a billion dollars to replace now. But it is so political in nature only some place get the federal money needed to offset some of that cost.

As a former boat captain, approaching any bridge or inlet is a tense affair, you just never know (even with local experience) just how the currents are acting that day and a mechanical failure is always possible and Mr. Murphy generally waits for the worst possible time to plug a fuel filter or blow a hydraulic line. It had to have happened fast or they would have dropped anchors, but if they were already too close it would have just caused the ship to swing around hard if the anchors even had time to grab.

 

That big sucker fully loaded would take miles to stop under the best conditions, just a tragedy waiting to happen with a old bridge and very little to no protection. Hard to imagine how many thousands of ships have made that passage with no issues.

Edited March 27 by Jim53

[Jim53]

9 hours ago, BIG STU said:

On a local newscast this AM. An engineer said our recently completed Ravnel Bridge in Charleston SC could have taken the same hit and survived. Ha Ha this Redneck Engineer ain't buying that line of pure BS

@BIG STU I supplied the equipment to drive the piles on that bridge and I would side with the Engineer that your bridge would be fine, as @Soloman1 has stated the ship would never get close to the actual piers. 

Well that is if Mr. Murphy did not set things up for a perfect hit but the barriers would more than likely make it a glancing blow never reaching the actual foundation. But never say never, anything is possible.

[Jim53]

@BIG STU that bridge is actually built on huge drill shafts, my Equipment drove the Caissons which were then drilled out and rebar installed then poured. I don't remember exactly but some of them were very deep.

 

[Nard_S]

17 minutes ago, nitram said:

 

You're not wrong except in construction it's more like 80%

This place had about 80 total, boss was Iranian, office entirely AA & Latino. Floor Latino, 1/2 dozen AA and 1/2 doz of WM plus two WF. Good place, the girls would buy fake SS, they paid the elderly fat one for that, and worked happily. They always did the same thing. Got their hair & nails done w/ 1st check, then had a cell with the 2nd. I still get invited to Xmas party, still friends with many of them.

[Jim53]

If the weather clears the new irons will get a test drive in the morning, my buddy made a 7:08 tee time. Not sure how that is going to work as it is still pretty dark then.

[braincramp52]

1 hour ago, Jim53 said:

If the weather clears the new irons will get a test drive in the morning, my buddy made a 7:08 tee time. Not sure how that is going to work as it is still pretty dark then.

I must have missed it, what did you get?

[Fellaheen51]

39 minutes ago, Jim53 said:

As someone in the bridge building business from the equipment side, there are at least 1,800 bridges in florida alone way past there useful life. It is in the many, many thousands nation wide. 

I would venture a guess a bridge like that would cost over a billion dollars to replace now. But it is so political in nature only some place get the federal money needed to offset some of that cost.

As a former boat captain, approaching any bridge or inlet is a tense affair, you just never know (even with local experience) just how the currents are acting that day and a mechanical failure is always possible and Mr. Murphy generally waits for the worst possible time to plug a fuel filter or blow a hydraulic line. It had to have happened fast or they would have dropped anchors, but if they were already too close it would have just caused the ship to swing around hard if the anchors even had time to grab.

 

That big sucker fully loaded would take miles to stop under the best conditions, just a tragedy waiting to happen with a old bridge and very little to no protection. Hard to imagine how many thousands of ships have made that passage with no issues.

 

As I've been reading about this tragic incident, been somewhat perplexed with the reports about what occurred.  Loss of propulsion.  Like engine failure (the ship only has one)?  If there was mechanical engine failure, the pilot would still have fore and aft thrusters systems to maintain some control of the vessel.  If there was enough time and responding  immediately.  Reports indicate 4 minutes from Mayday to impact.  Now the reporting is that there was "severe electrical problems" onboard the vessel while at port two days prior to departure.  An additional video clearly shows flicker lights and then total loss of electrical power prior to impact.  Thus no thrusters, maybe not even a rudder if it was a steer-by-wire system.  Perhaps there was gross negligence with rectifying these problems before departure.  

 

Further.  The ship was evidently departing from Curtis Bay.  Which would require coming to starboard by almost 90* to pass under the bridge span.   With some sleuthing, the primary span of the FSK bridge is 1200'.  The Dali's beam is 49'.  Plenty of room if the Pilot was setting a proper course while still under power.  Or were they cutting the turn a little tight, at tragically the wrong time?  How much experience did the Pilot have with ingress and egress from this port?  In the days to come, interested to see what the navigation course and speed was during departure.  

 

Boats (that's what the GL mariners call the freighters) of 1000' in length with beams up to 105' routinely pass under the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron.  Where the river has strong currents, a starboard turn when unbound just before, and a width of 835'.  The Captains shoot the gap right down the middle.  

 

 

[Jim53]

21 minutes ago, braincramp52 said:

I must have missed it, what did you get?

Took a leap on the Callaway Ai smoke with recoil dart 105, just bored and hated the APEX pros. Loved the CB's but again was just bored. I honestly don't see them lasting, unless of course they are a lot better than I expect.  It didn't hurt I got them for free...so worth a try.

[Jim53]

6 minutes ago, Fellaheen51 said:

 

As I've been reading about this tragic incident, been somewhat perplexed with the reports about what occurred.  Loss of propulsion.  Like engine failure (the ship only has one)?  If there was mechanical engine failure, the pilot would still have fore and aft thrusters systems to maintain some control of the vessel.  If there was enough time and responding  immediately.  Reports indicate 4 minutes from Mayday to impact.  Now the reporting is that there was "severe electrical problems" onboard the vessel while at port two days prior to departure.  An additional video clearly shows flicker lights and then total loss of electrical power prior to impact.  Thus no thrusters, maybe not even a rudder if it was a steer-by-wire system.  Perhaps there was gross negligence with rectifying these problems before departure.  

 

Further.  The ship was evidently departing from Curtis Bay.  Which would require coming to starboard by almost 90* to pass under the bridge span.   With some sleuthing, the primary span of the FSK bridge is 1200'.  The Dali's beam is 49'.  Plenty of room if the Pilot was setting a proper course while still under power.  Or were they cutting the turn a little tight, at tragically the wrong time?  How much experience did the Pilot have with ingress and egress from this port?  In the days to come, interested to see what the navigation course and speed was during departure.  

 

Boats (that's what the GL mariners call the freighters) of 1000' in length with beams up to 105' routinely pass under the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron.  Where the river has strong currents, a starboard turn when unbound just before, and a width of 835'.  The Captains shoot the gap right down the middle.  

 

 

just guessing but everything is fly by wire for the most part, lose the generators and the engine you are totally screwed. No steering, no reverse, mother nature takes over and she has a cruel sense of humor.

[Double Mocha Man]

31 minutes ago, Jim53 said:

It didn't hurt I got them for free...so worth a try.

 

Jim, how did you get the Callaway Ai Smokes for free?

[Double Mocha Man]

38 minutes ago, Fellaheen51 said:

 

As I've been reading about this tragic incident, been somewhat perplexed with the reports about what occurred.  Loss of propulsion.  Like engine failure (the ship only has one)?  If there was mechanical engine failure, the pilot would still have fore and aft thrusters systems to maintain some control of the vessel.  If there was enough time and responding  immediately.  Reports indicate 4 minutes from Mayday to impact.  Now the reporting is that there was "severe electrical problems" onboard the vessel while at port two days prior to departure.  An additional video clearly shows flicker lights and then total loss of electrical power prior to impact.  Thus no thrusters, maybe not even a rudder if it was a steer-by-wire system.  Perhaps there was gross negligence with rectifying these problems before departure.  

 

Further.  The ship was evidently departing from Curtis Bay.  Which would require coming to starboard by almost 90* to pass under the bridge span.   With some sleuthing, the primary span of the FSK bridge is 1200'.  The Dali's beam is 49'.  Plenty of room if the Pilot was setting a proper course while still under power.  Or were they cutting the turn a little tight, at tragically the wrong time?  How much experience did the Pilot have with ingress and egress from this port?  In the days to come, interested to see what the navigation course and speed was during departure.  

 

Boats (that's what the GL mariners call the freighters) of 1000' in length with beams up to 105' routinely pass under the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron.  Where the river has strong currents, a starboard turn when unbound just before, and a width of 835'.  The Captains shoot the gap right down the middle.  

 

 

 

You ask a lot of good questions.  I hope none of those are overlooked in the investigation...

[Fellaheen51]

1 hour ago, Jim53 said:

@BIG STU that bridge is actually built on huge drill shafts, my Equipment drove the Caissons which were then drilled out and rebar installed then poured. I don't remember exactly but some of them were very deep.

 

 

Based on above, you and @Soloman1 (et. al.) may find this short read interesting.  The design engineering of the Mackinac Bridge.  The two main tower piers are 200' down and anchored in bedrock.  By using "The Gizmo".

 

https://www.mackinac.org/9118#:~:text=Each of the two cables,total diameter of 24.25 inches.

 

 

 

 

 

[bladehunter]

2 hours ago, Jim53 said:

As someone in the bridge building business from the equipment side, there are at least 1,800 bridges in florida alone way past there useful life. It is in the many, many thousands nation wide. 

I would venture a guess a bridge like that would cost over a billion dollars to replace now. But it is so political in nature only some place get the federal money needed to offset some of that cost.

As a former boat captain, approaching any bridge or inlet is a tense affair, you just never know (even with local experience) just how the currents are acting that day and a mechanical failure is always possible and Mr. Murphy generally waits for the worst possible time to plug a fuel filter or blow a hydraulic line. It had to have happened fast or they would have dropped anchors, but if they were already too close it would have just caused the ship to swing around hard if the anchors even had time to grab.

 

That big sucker fully loaded would take miles to stop under the best conditions, just a tragedy waiting to happen with a old bridge and very little to no protection. Hard to imagine how many thousands of ships have made that passage with no issues.

Always appreciate some g first hand knowledge.  Thanks for that.  
 

I know it’s true on the bridge front.  SC has the funny habit of paving and fixing the coastal roads and bridges first. I’m in the upstate.  And our roads have gone to crap.  Yet they claim we have a $200 mil surplus .  
 

we have a main 4 lane bridge in Inman SC that’s been closed down to 2 lanes ( one each side ) for 6-7 months. With no work done.  They snuck in and changed the weight limit after it had been funneled down for 2 months.  Now common sense tells me that means it has a bad issue somewhere.  Yet , we’re still driving over it.  It’s the main artery to get to anywhere.  I can’t figure out if the holdup is funds or if they. Ant figure out how to divert traffic while it’s closed. Because it’s going to be a nightmare to close it.    I’d say it was built around 1960 ish.  My father in law said it was wooden and 2 lanes in the mid  50s when he started driving.  It’s not wooden now .  But it is a sort of “ hump back “ bridge that goes over a train track.  

[TiScape]

45 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Jim, how did you get the Callaway Ai Smokes for free?

When you buy 10 sets of irons in a year you get the 11th set free 😊

[Double Mocha Man]

5 minutes ago, TiScape said:

When you buy 10 sets of irons in a year you get the 11th set free 😊

 

... better than a bag of notches... 

[braincramp52]

22 minutes ago, TiScape said:

When you buy 10 sets of irons in a year you get the 11th set free 😊

How do I not know that?

[braincramp52]

Watching 1986 masters. Love seeing pros hitting 165 yard 6 irons. 

[TiScape]

50 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

... better than a bag of notches... 

😆 yeah, notches suck! 

Edited March 28 by TiScape

[TiScape]

45 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

... better than a bag of notches... 

Nvr mind. With my luck that’s gonna be considered disguised profanity 😇

 

Edited March 28 by TiScape

[Soloman1]

thanks for the info, @Jim53.

 

so many things, or multiple, cascading things to look at. it’s all speculative now. but the time frame was short.

 

—-

 

speaking of golf, good day today. perfect weather and an old, former canadian tour guy joined our foursome.

 

i never met the guy who was my team partner from the blind draw. uncle sol was in the money though. birdied another killer par 3 and a couple of skins. skins are tough with that crowd.

 

we were last group again and my blind draw partner left before we got in, thinking we didn’t have a chance since he posted an 85. gulp.

 

but someone in our two-man team played pretty good, so somehow we had a 69 better ball. 🙂 he can collect his triple digit winnings for second place next week.

golf was fun today. greens are pure and the old canadian pro said he was stealing my putter if i made any more putts.

 

 

Edited March 28 by Soloman1

[aenemated]

4 hours ago, braincramp52 said:

Watching 1986 masters. Love seeing pros hitting 165 yard 6 irons. 

 

Was watching that earlier today too. 

 

I noticed ... didn't Jack's tee shot on 16 wind up in pretty much the same place Tiger's did in 2019? 

[Jim53]

9 hours ago, TiScape said:

When you buy 10 sets of irons in a year you get the 11th set free 😊

 

8 hours ago, braincramp52 said:

How do I not know that?

Well not quite that exciting @TiScape I have been very good at not buying for a while. Only the Mizuno 923 tour and APEX in the last year.

Actually they added 50% trade in bonus, so the APEX set was worth $1,500 and the ai smokers only $1,400 and change. So they owe me a gift card.

It was more to try out the Recoil dart 105 stiff for future reference and when I went and held the ai smoke they are not bad looking and not very big sole and top line wise. 

Now I don't give a rip about the top line, but wide sole does not work for me.

 

Its a smart way for Callaway to keep customers, give a good trade and buy the loyalty. I do like Callaway more because I meet and golfed with a lot of the original zoo crew, it was fun to find out they are all just very regular people with jobs that happens to be in this stupid game.

Edited March 28 by Jim53

[BIG STU]

8 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

... better than a bag of notches... 

I guess that will be a new modern thing. Back in the day parents used to tell kids at Christmas "If you are bad Santa will bring you a bag of switches or a bag of coal" Now days I guess they can get a bag of notches

[BIG STU]

9 hours ago, bladehunter said:

Always appreciate some g first hand knowledge.  Thanks for that.  
 

I know it’s true on the bridge front.  SC has the funny habit of paving and fixing the coastal roads and bridges first. I’m in the upstate.  And our roads have gone to crap.  Yet they claim we have a $200 mil surplus .  
 

we have a main 4 lane bridge in Inman SC that’s been closed down to 2 lanes ( one each side ) for 6-7 months. With no work done.  They snuck in and changed the weight limit after it had been funneled down for 2 months.  Now common sense tells me that means it has a bad issue somewhere.  Yet , we’re still driving over it.  It’s the main artery to get to anywhere.  I can’t figure out if the holdup is funds or if they. Ant figure out how to divert traffic while it’s closed. Because it’s going to be a nightmare to close it.    I’d say it was built around 1960 ish.  My father in law said it was wooden and 2 lanes in the mid  50s when he started driving.  It’s not wooden now .  But it is a sort of “ hump back “ bridge that goes over a train track.  

Yep it seems these days that the coast gets priority On bridges and roads. Used to not be that way when textiles were going full blast. Now Tourism is the #1 industry in the state. In my county (Horry) a few years back they passed an additional penny sales tax for the roads. Not that is about to expire and they are wanting to vote to extend again. Most of that money went for roads and improvements at the beaches. The rural and inner parts of the county did not get squat really compared to the beaches. People in the rural areas are starting to raise a ruckus (rightfully so IMHO) and it may not pass this time. 

[Fellaheen51]

10 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

... better than a bag of notches... 

9 hours ago, TiScape said:

😆 yeah, notches suck! 

 

Gonna need a labeled bag to carry your bag of notches.  A hassle pulling the wrong bag of 'yo stuff out of your golf bag.  Big enough to carry your bag of screws as well.  

 

[Fellaheen51]

Well, this is one way to dispose of underperforming golf clubs.