Why this? Why now?

After my first post, I thought that I should explain why I needed to put this blog up. I decided that there were a few reasons for this. First, I had the opportunity to speak to the local Kiwanis club about my work in the Bicknell Center. While there, I got kinda emotional about my job and I realized how much I really care about theater and the arts in general. I discussed the tools that my student employees get when they work in the theater. Second, while at the same event, I also realized that most people don't know how much work goes on Behind the Curtain and I hope to share some of that with all my readers. Third, the night that I started this blog, we had hit a road block. I had, the day before, broken the fiber-optic connection between our audio board and our audio mixer, a repair I can't make on my own. Then, we worked on getting our chain hoists up to their home on the grid (60+ feet in the air, each chain hoist is pretty heavy, taking 2-3 people to move). I had managed to hook up an alternative method for communication between our board and the mixer and was looking forward to getting this project completed and out of the way. We had earlier manually carried a 1 ton chain hoist to the grid and were going to use it to lift the remainder of them to the pin rail (the area just below the grid). To my dismay, the 1 ton hoist refused to lower its chain. Rather than stress about it, I had my crew on the grid lower a rope and we lifted a 1/2 ton hoist chain to the grid, then used its own chain to hoist itself. We then used the 1/2 ton hoist to lift the remainder of the chain hoists to the pin rail. Finally, I could see the end in sight. We had received part of an order of pipe that would stay on the grid for future rigging. With getting this pipe of the stage floor, I would have the lifting portion of the job done, only a year after the building was complete...whatever. I lowered the chain and prepped the pipe for lifting...only for the hoist to fail.  My employees were happy because it meant that they could go home as we didn't have time to fix it before they had to leave. I on the other hand, saw it as a failure, another project that was incomplete. I had failed. So many things that need to be done, I finish one job and leave 2 more 'almost done.'  I was frustrated and needed a reminder of why I was doing this. This has helped me remember what it is I love about my work and why I do it. In the future, expect more posts about the past when I'm frustrated and posts about the present when I'm not. This may not always be the case, but generally, that's how it will probably go.

P.S. I think I know why the chain hoists were acting up and have a couple of possible solutions to fix the problem. Keep your eyes on the list below to see what I complete.