Whether it’s mortar mix, stucco, grout, or concrete, cement holds your work together, all that marble, granite, glass block, and faience. Make sure you get all your masonry pieces together before you add water to the aggregate, and add it carefully. If you have to order ready-mix, the hauler will take care of the water proportions, but for smaller jobs, on-site mixing is necessary.
How to add water
Cement solidifies binders such as sand and gravel to form concrete. Whether you mix it in a tub or a wheelbarrow, always start with half as much water as you think you’ll need, as for any cementitious product. Drag the aggregate of sand, gravel and cement through the water, not the other way around. The best tool for this is a mortar hoe, one with holes in the blade.
For sanded grout, mortar mix and smaller quantities of concrete or stucco, a five-gallon bucket is suitable. Mix with your trowel or other tool you will be using. Again, use only half the water you expect to need and stir the mixture through the water. And mix it up very last thing in job prep.
Set up first
Get your footing pier plumb, leveled and steeled and your concrete vibrator nearby before you add water to the aggregate. Line up all your brick, blocks or pavers and get your strings taut before you dump the grey mud on the mortarboard. Have your tiles properly adhered and spaced before you mix up the white grout. Powdered colorant can be added to all of these.
Curing cementitious products
Cemented structures are highly durable. Concrete walls built by ancient Romans as far back as 54 BC have been unearthed in excavations for the building of contemporary London. To make your concrete birdbath last that long, pay attention to the water, but not only when mixing the aggregate. Concrete develops strength gradually as it cures. Wet burlap over the job for several days helps it along. The fabric allows for frequent wetting without altering the finished surface. To develop maximum strength, regular misting for up to three months helps the curing.
Cement is a product derived from heated minerals with small amounts of chemicals. It is a fine powder and is highly alkaline. Dust masks, gloves and frequent washing are mandatory. Once the product is mixed, it will still be very corrosive until it cures. Wash off all tools before it sets on them.
Your backbreaking labor with all that bending, stooping and lifting will result in a structure worthy of the patient effort you put in to do it right. ___________________________________
Its basic principle is amplification of force by leverage to lift something away from the pull of gravity. To do this, a crane extends its boom over the object to be raised and lowers a cable of wound steel, called a “wire rope.” The other end of the rope winds around a winch. The radial length of the winch drum supplies leverage as it rotates. The wire drum and its power plant are typically on the platform holding the operator’s cab. The great lever is the boom because it can be raised and lowered. The compound advantage is analogous to the compound effect of coordinated use of both arms and wrists in tennis and golf
Its History
In the days of wooden cranes in ancient Greece, the power to rotate the drum came from men or beasts. Through history, various other sources of power have served, but contemporary cranes use internal combustion engines, electric motors or hydraulics. Many types of cranes have been adapted since the Industrial Revolution, from motorized derricks and movable gantries to tower cranes, but bridge, trestle and culvert construction rarely involve these.
Uses
The business end of the rope holds a swivel – called a “headache ball.” The heavy ball jeeps the rope taut and attaches to a large steel hook, a versatile tool for a variety of attachments. A harness can attach to unload tons of material from a truck. Drop buckets can be hung to scoop up rocks and debris with a claw. Personnel carriers can be hung from the hook. A crane boom can hold a pile driver, a massive reciprocating hammer that drives various sorts of piles into the ground, sometimes at an angle, but usually vertically. Depending on the type of pile, the hook is sometimes used to pull the pile back out of the ground.
The hook can also hold a bucket, a huge box open at one end. The amount of muck and debris they can scoop up is measured in cubic yards. The open end with huge metal teeth at the bottom faces toward the operator. He lowers the heavy bucket into the mud, for instance. It sinks and fills. The engine revs as he raises the bucket and rotates to pour it out with a second rope on a different winch. This repetitive process can take days until reaching solid ground.
Sometimes test piles are driven. These are twenty-foot or longer steel plate I- or H-beams pounded down until they just won’t go anymore. In the case of foundation work this measurement is crucial because it determines what length to order the rest of the beams and how deep to sink them. At a recent basement construction at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, the pile driver hammered a 40-foot H-beam into the sand until it reached refusal at 32 feet. Then they knew what length piles to order.
Tubular piling can also be driven, as can sheet piling to form underwater caissons. If the pilings are temporary, as with sheet piling, a hole is burned through the top end. When the time comes for retrieval, the crane operator deftly swings his hook into the hole and begins to pull. It’s a step-by-step process. He raises the boom as high and as directly overhead as he get for maximum leverage. This is where a pontoon crane or a crane on a barge would be appropriate. Building bridges frequently involves going in the water.
Once hooked to the pile, he gives the rope a little slack and then quickly revs up the winch until the rope is completely taut and the motor could stall. Then he gives a little more slack and repeats the process. In this way he eventually jerks the piling out of the ground. Then he can rotate the pile to the yard, where someone will be on hand to guide it into place and unhook it.
Cranes also make good overnight storage places. When picking up the tools at dark-thirty, hook the air compressor trailer to the rope and hoist it. Lock the cab and it’s safe for the night. _________________________________
[This is a reprint of an article from the April 2001 issue of ActiveVOICE,
newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco chapter. The original can be
found at http://www.stc-sf.org/newsletter/Apr01.pdf]
Interview Tactics You Should Know by Albert Goodwyn
At your next job interview, what ammunition will that person
on the other side of the desk fire at you? Carole H. Hall, technical writing
trainer, knows the caliber of many of those bullets and revealed them to
chapter members at the January 17th meeting. In her presentation, “16 Most
Popular Interview Questions,” she explained the traps interviewers typically
set for potential hires.
The first interviewer
is not the decision maker
One point Hall reiterated was that the first person who
interviews you usually is not the person who will be hiring you. Usually, the
first interviewer is the Human Resources person, who might not always know what
the job requires. Therefore, in a typical interview, the first questions are of
a generic nature and designed to discover how you learned about the employer,
what you know about the company, and why you need the job. When you are asked
“Are you a team player?” or “How would you handle difficult on-the-job
situations?” Use specific references from your previous managers. They are
invaluable. Say as little as possible The tactic Hall advises using is to
answer every question so as to finalize it. Overall, she recommends saying as
little as possible. Do not give a great amount of detail. Answer the questions
as narrowly as possible and focus on your own accomplishments. “Give a good
logical answer that is not open to interpretation,” Hall says.
The three C’s
Hall’s recommendation for interviews and also writing are
the Three C’s: Clarity, Conciseness, and Consistency. There always will be one
or more questions that ask for specific examples of what you have done in your
past work to solve problems. These examples include: “How do you handle difficult
people?” and “How have you used humor to ease a work-related problem?” Think
about the successes you have had and have good, concise, to-the-point answers
with personal details.
Answer a question with a question
Another tactic Hall recommends is to answer a question with
a question, e.g., “How do you fit in here?” The answer should be, “How could I
learn?” “Can I talk with some of your employees?” Another example is the
question, “What are your salary requirements?” The answer should be, “What is
your range?” For the question, “Are you willing to travel?” the answer must be
the question, “How far and how often?” You need to know if you might be going
to Sacramento or Hong Kong.
The most important question you must
prepare for is the “What are your strong points/weak points?” question. Have a
ready strong point to offer and deflect the other part of the question by
describing one problem you had at work (one only) and how you solved it.
One answer questions
There are certain questions that require only one answer
according to Hall. In the case of “Are you a team player?” the only answer is
yes. But do not hesitate to say that you are self-directed and can work alone. And
for that perennial parting shot, “Do you have any questions?” Hall advises to
have at least one question ready, e.g., “When will the hiring decision be
made?”
[This is a reprint of an article from the June 2001 issue of ActiveVOICE,
newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco chapter. The original can be
found athttp://www.stc-sf.org/newsletter/Jun01.pdf]
Shaping Effective Online Content by Albert Goodwyn
The content of your web site must
compel the visitors to use it and to come back to it. Content strategist Brenda Kienan says that every page must
present branding and usability. At our April 18th meeting, she
discussed how to bring the two together to make a site “sticky.”
Stickiness and brand awareness
Stickiness is what keeps users
returning to a site. The site, even the address, can stick in the brains of the
users, bringing you buyers, not just browsers. This is brand awareness.
Branding is creating a recognizable identity, such as Coca-Cola or Amazon.com.
The majority of buyers, whether in e-commerce or in the brick-and-mortar shops,
decide on the basis of brand familiarity. Effective branding differentiates
your product from the competitors and from preconceived ideas. When visitors
know that our site will consistently
fulfill their needs, they will usually go back there first, rather than browse
for alternatives. The content of your site creates the brand’s identity. Kienan
says that branding must be relentless. The brand message must be put forth
everywhere in the site, from top to bottom, in a consistent, aggressive way.
All sites use branding to succeed. Not-for-profit, editorial only, commodity
data, listings, information only, community info, and b2b sites all need to use
branding.
Presentation
All sites have content; they contain
something, even if it is a message that the site is still under construction.
Content is more than just what the site offers: It is how the offerings are presented.
Content is what establishes the brand. It is built from packaging, which is the
look and textural implications of that look. A bottle of Coke on a shopping
site stimulates the tactile imagination. The layout, imagery, and verbal style
and tone contribute to a positive user experience that makes the site sticky.
Strategic thinking
The flashiest sites are not always the
most successful. Kienan advises site developers to think strategically. “Media
should only be there if it has a purpose for being there,” she states. Each
page should have on it only those elements that support the primary message of
the site. The layout should be visually scannable, with headlines and text
arranged like a newspaper. People do not like to scroll. “Nothing important
should be more than three clicks down,” says Kienan. Use the inverted pyramid
model: present the big picture first, then the details. Use only the information
that makes your point. Use links only if there is a possible question. The link
should have the answer.
Renewing content
Avoid what Kienan calls “evergreen” language,
that is, words that fix something in time or position: words—such as
“yesterday” and “next version”—and contact information. Use instead “deciduous”
language. Deciduous plants lose their leaves and renew them. Prune away what is
out of date.
About the speaker
Brenda Kienan is an e-commerce management
consultant who has written twelve books and has provided content and services
for CNET, E*Trade and others. She teaches a three-day course on Web content at Stanford University
and at San Francisco
State University.
Albert Goodwyn is a technical
writer in the Bay Area: albertgoodwyn@cs.com. ______________________________
[This is a reprint of an article from the October 2001 issue of
ActiveVOICE, newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San
Francisco chapter. The original can be found at http://www.stc-sf.org/newsletter/Oct01.pdf]
How to Market Yourself as a Technical Communicator: A Recruiter’s Perspective
by Albert Goodwyn
[This is a reprint of an article from the October 2001 issue of ActiveVOICE, newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco chapter. The original can be found at http://www.stc-sf.org/newsletter/Oct01.pdf]
A panel of four employment recruiters at our August 15th meeting offered advice and answered questions on job hunting for technical communicators in the current market. Jerry Franks, Senior Recruiter at Ansa Staffing, Jane Fetisoff, owner of Libra Associates, Andrew Davis, President of Synergistech Communications, and Charles Jo, Senior Business Developer at Lloyd-Ritter Consulting, provided helpful perspectives. Lu Rehling, past President of the San Francisco chapter, moderated the meeting, keeping a fast pace as she asked questions of the panel. Technical communicators attending the meeting also had opportunities to ask questions of the panel and to talk with the recruiters one-on-one.
Preparing for a job hunt
The most important thing about planning and researching a job hunt, the recruiters agreed, is self-assessing skills and preferences. About career training and education, Davis and Franks said to know the market and the expected hierarchy of pay. Fetisoff mentioned free job search resources, such as the 24 Experience Unlimited chapters offered by the Employment Development Department of the State of California.
Presenting yourself well
Most important to writing an effective résumé, the panel explained, is to be open, use specifics, give a feel for your personality, and have someone else read the résumé before you circulate it. Davis said that the ideal résumé would be presented online, where length is not an issue. “If it’s relevant, put it in,” he said. About how to present writing samples, Fetisoff said to present what you are most proud of and to submit only samples that match the job for which you are interviewing. Franks said not to present a portfolio with your résumé, but to bring it to your interviews. The panel had some common-sense pointers on how to interview for a position, such as, do not interrupt the interviewer, have answers ready about your experience, and ask if you have answered your interviewer’s questions.
“Know your audience,” Davis said, and be able to address their needs. Looking at the hirer’s website can provide youwith information that will prepare you. Jo suggested asking for the job right there, if the interview goes well.
Finding the right opportunities
With regard to current opportunities in technical writing, the panel was generally not encouraging. While Davis said that there are not many opportunities because the market is crowded with many experienced candidates, Fetisoff said that the market will support exact fits for specific jobs. The panel suggested that writers should ask themselves if they want a recruiter representing them. Davis said that a recruiter can help make your résumé more specific, but he stressed that many leads come from word-of-mouth referrals. Jo suggested choosing a recruiter who will look at all of you as a person. Franks recommended working with recruiters whom you know to be successfully placing candidates.
Closing remarks included the fact that salaries for technical writers are down by twenty-five percent from their recent peak. Fetisoff said to volunteer at a company you would like to work for. That can be a better entry than a temp-to-hire job.
