Lately, at work, I've been tasked with equipping trench braces. They are based around hydraulic cylinders. Sizes range from little ones (pictured) to five or six feet long:
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| Pallet full of freshly tested cylinders. |
My favorite task is assembling the cylinder sets because
that requires a vice, which means I am at the tool bench inside the shop and
out of the sun, often with a radio nearby.
Here's the outside work area where we test freshly used braces, note damage with red spray paint, and drain the old hydraulic fluid:
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| Brace lab. |
I wish I'd brought a camera on Monday - the whole area was
covered in huge spider webs. During a lull in production, a co-worker of mine
was examining the webs. We're like, "Dang, everything is covered with spider webs," and he suddenly exclaims, "Hey! Fuck it! Let’s make it look like Spider
Man!" and started spray painting all the webs red. They were all around us and they looked really cool. Then we just went back to work and I was thinking, "What a fucking cool guy!"
But really though, what a cool fucking guy.
[Originally posted on Rebel Leady Boy, July 15,
2005]
The best Presto Magix kits included a large variety of characters, but there were some duds like Superman's Fortress of Solitude that didn't give you much to work with. The only way to entertain yourself with these duds was to make inappropriate half-assed creations like this one that I found in a box of old personal items some years ago.
