Dig This...

If I won a gazillion dollars in Lotto, I always planned on having a big sand pit.

I'd have big Cat D11 bulldozers, diggers, and lot's of explosives.

Actually we have one down the road.

It's called a quarry.

But Diggerland sounds like a cool idea.

I bet there are a few Dads who would have to be dragged away.

*thinks*
Now if we could get people to pay us to dig holes...

Sacrificial, On the hole ...

It is humbling to think that the tiny ant has shown us the way to deal with potholes.

All it takes is a spirit of sacrifice, a small but noble gesture for the common good.

"Army ants tired of potholes take one for the team, throwing their bodies into rough spots to make a smoother road for their sisters, British researchers have reported."

So when you see that truck load of pasta sauce heading for the supermarket, don't hesitate.

Hurl yourself into that hole.

It's for the good of society...

"I think every road user who has ever inwardly cursed as their vehicle bounced across a pothole – jarring every bone in their body – will identify with this story," said Franks."

Nap

 

This roller must have had a real hard day ...

Safety First.

My traffic controllers are here demonstrating the correct way to clean road cones.


Notice the personal protective equipment, including safety goggles.

Treasure

 

Cheap hub caps & wheel trims our speciality ....

The Sign Of Seven

I'm not too keen on these tagging, meme things.

I don't want to spam other bloggers with anything that makes us look closer at our meaningless lives.

But then Elizabeth did ask nicely, and she is an artist and everything....

So 7 random facts/habits....

(1) I have gutted fish in Iceland.

(2) I once shot a bear

(3) I'm not too fond of peanut butter.

(4) I was once a member of the crack Uruti (pop 126) Trivial Pursuit Team.

(5) I have been interveiwed by Kim Hill

(6) I have eaten cold noodles in the Auckland Central Police Cells.

(7) I have built my own house. They filmed The Last Samurai next door.


I'm not going to pick out any particular 7 people to pass this tag on too...

If you are reading this, ... consider yourself tagged.

Roadside

Click Pic for enlarged artyness


Sandstone Bank
Tongaporutu

A Public Service Announcement.

Click Pic To embigulate


You can't be too careful out there...

Perhaps I could run you home in my digger?

Lights... Action... Camera

Click Pic to Embigulate

The driver of this fuel tanker & trailer had an onboard electrical failure early this morning.

He also got a hell of a fright...

With no lights, and no power, he ended up off the road with the trailer blocking a lane.

The rig suffered minor damage, having ended up in a soft, muddy drain.

He did well. There is a bridge 100 metres ahead of him. It is very hard.

I couldn't use a flash, not wanting to be vapourised, and causing a few heart attacks at the site.

At 4am in the morning, there was virtually no traffic, and the recovery was straight forward.

The trailer was disconnected, and hauled away, then the tanker winched back onto the road.

So much for the Sunday sleep in....

"Cheese"

Now and then, after an accident, some smart character will blame "road conditions" as a cause.

True, sometimes a rogue pothole, or other problem may be to blame.

Usually though, it is the last excuse of an inattentive, or speeding driver.

You don't want to try it on our patch.

I usually take photo's of the road around an accident scene, mostly because I too, am interested in the cause.

Obviously it is also a good idea to have some record.

We also check the road for oil/diesel spills etc, as a matter of routine.

So when some insurance company suddenly tries to lay the blame for a truck accident a year or more ago,on our road.
(as has just happened)

They get a set of A4 glossy incriminating pics, skid marks and all, showing what happens when you drive into a corner at a lunatic speed.

I just wish I could see their faces when the photos are produced ...

Of course it pays to know what you are doing ....

Approved.

I find body painting rather boring.

But this has a bit of class.

When it comes to painting, I'm one of those people that ends up getting semi coated.

I use more paint when we are painting barriers than all the rest of the crew put together.

Never mind.

One day they will exhibit my overalls from my early impressionist period.

Don't think I'll saw an ear off however.

Toenail clippings, maybe ...

Pride Cometh ...

click pic to embigulate

Before a fall ...

Meanwhile ...

In the slow lane ...

Splat !

 

Chucking rocks off a bridge is great fun.

 

It's much better when you can heave them off with a loader.

 

Below a digger is carefully placing them under the scoured out banks of the stream.

For truly we roadworkers are multiskilled creatures...

A Bum Steer

Head Office is putting on the pressure.

We have been toiling away rearranging the potholes before winter really sets in.

I have been working with another crew for the last week, and yesterday my normal workmates tried to con me into going to a truck accident on State Highway 4.

It was getting cold, and no way did I feel like a late night, so I told them I was on vitally important pothole installation work, and wished them well.

There was a good chance of an early day...

NZ Herald
"One person has been hurt after a stock truck rolled, spilling cattle onto State Highway 4 in the Waikato.

Police said the truck crashed about 1.30pm, just south of Tikitiki Road near Kopaki, about 22km south of Te Kuiti.

The driver of the truck was unhurt and no other cars were involved.

However, one member of the public was hurt by one of the animals, which pushed him through a fence, police said.

Some cattle had been killed or injured.

The highway is blocked and diversions are in place at Pukerimu Road to the north and Aratoro to the south."


It seems that it was a Stock truck's trailer that went over, and one of our Ruapehu based workers was chased up a bank and pushed through a fence by a very pissed off Steer. He was bruised and battered but O.K.

Meanwhile I toiled on.

I passed them coming back, as I finally headed home.

In the dark, and very late ...

How Not To Enter A Tunnel ...

Click Pic To Biggify


Missed..

Rum, Sodomy, & The Lash

Audiobooks are a drivers friend.

If you have a long, lone, journey.Then there is nothing like having someone read a ripping yarn to you.

For a month or so, I have been destroying the French Navy, risking Yellowjack, and clawing my way off a lee shore.

I have been with Captain Aubrey.

Of course it is all very nautical.

This tends to confuse some of the crew when I announce on the R/T that "I'll just loose the topsails and lay along side..."

It's given me a few ideas to liven up the America's Cup though.

A few brass cannons and broadsides up the windward leg would definitely add a little interest and colour.

Boarding parties with cutlasses should be allowed in the pre-starts.

Bow & Stern Chasers would make the down wind leg must see viewing.

Not only would this bump up the TV ratings, but sponsorship from the big Rum Companies would be a given.

Anyway, I'm sure Jack Aubrey would be horrified to see French & Spanish boats out there, with no one shooting at them ...

Disappointment.

Sadly, I'm a bit knackered, what with Manly stuff and late night yacht racing and all...

Talk amoungst youselves ....

Mr Hammer

A jack hammer is a very manly thing.

It has always been so.

Today I was plying my manly arts outside the local garage, dripping with sweat and testosterone, and it occurred to me that this was almost certainly having an effect on the ladies at the pump.

I did the right thing, being sensitive too, and warned them not to be overcome and start spontaneously ovulating or something.

They went all coy, and every time I started they held their hands to their ears.

They did shout at me. Endearments I think.

I couldn't hear them. Earmuffs you see ....