28 July 2019

28 July 2019

Today is another long publication of my journal entries. The reason that it has taken so long is because I am transitioning to iOS, and the iOS apps to access Google's blogger or blogspot are basically scams. I also had to verify that I am not missing any journal entries from my Android journal app. I am using the Day One app on iOS, which at least gives some functionality in the free subscription. I can post only one photograph per entry. It's odd how other apps give practically no functionality, and demand the trust to pay for full features. This is a comment on the Google blogger/blogspot scam apps.

Another reason that I have not been able to post my journal entries is because my companion teacher in Primary moved, so I had to teach for several weeks straight on my own. I am in Nursery now, so things have loosened up.

May 29, 2019 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

The owner's representative is putting pressure on Quality Control, since I have not published a general QC report for 2019. He is assuming that I have not been doing it, which is partially true. I wish that I could be full time as I have been appointed to per contract's requirement, but I am too busy with other things like getting all the structural inspections complete; tracking all of the welding errors, which was ridiculous; and various production tasks. I did not go on a QC walk for several weeks. The minimum of my QC walk was getting productivity pictures of each elevation of the building weekly, and I missed a few weeks of those. Many other things have taken "priority" over quality control because they are "hot" general contractor's demands.

May 30, 2019 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

I have to do 20 Weekly QC Reports by June 21. My CEO committed to this seemingly because I am going to a family reunion on the following day.

I am trying to restart my QC program. It is not that it is not functional, but I am still reengaging my work into the project since I returned from my vacation to Rome. Stone and the exterior envelope quality control is getting re-implemented.

May 31, 2019 at 10:47:40 PM PDT

Last week Hoffman Construction was ragging on us to get QC running. This week the superintendent got frustrated when we were explaining what we were doing for Quality Control, walking out on the meeting yesterday. The implementation of the Quality Control plan requires a lot of adapting & problem solving skills. I concluded my Quantity Take-off for the Alimak's removal on Monday. The tracking & practice of the Quality Control plan is similar to the welding inspections, but the work required is a bigger scope and area for each inspection of the weather proofing. Curtis with Hoffman told me the plan that we should be doing. I don't think that the foremen kept the QC plan because they did not feel the need.

June 2, 2019 at 12:40:20 AM PDT

On Thursday my iPhone SE came in. Xfinity mobile's minimum bill is $1.60 monthly. It costs 12 dollars per gigabyte of data. Jessica was skeptical, but she will join me. I need to enroll her by June 23 in order to get a $100 prepaid card, which will arrive in three months. One thing that it is annoying is that I can't receive voice mail; unless, I use data. The way that I got around that, since I have mobile data turned off, is to have my phone calls forwarded to my Google voice number, where I can access my voice mail by WiFi.

Figure 1: https://www.xfinity.com/mobile/support/article/how-to-use-call-forwarding

I have played Phase 10, the card game, several times, but I/we were determined to complete it tonight. We were Jessica, Jasmine, Jordan, and I. I passed each phase slowly at first, but I caught up, making it to the tenth phase before everyone. Jordan and Jessica caught up to me as I was working on it for about four phases. We had the most intense Phase 10 game tonight. I finished the 10th phase first; then, Jordan completed Phase 10. The determination of the tie breaker, who got the least points, is debatable, since we did not count points cumulatively. Jordan ran out of cards first to end the round with Phase 10.

June 4, 2019 at 8:43:31 PM PDT

Hoffman rejected my shim removal documentation. QC is paralyzing sometimes especially when the foremen won't report the completion, document in an acceptable way, or attempt QC items.

I was frustrated by the rejection. How could I document that the shims beneath the Kingspan was removed? Make progress verification statements? I did hear occasionally about progress.

They started installing Sheetrock on the exterior walls while I was on vacation.

I was frustrated that I had not created verification documentation. I have a stack of paper of all of the documentation that I print and received. My project manager suggested that the crew might have returned my Field Deficiency Report. I murmured as I looked through a year's worth of my documentation, finding no report of them completing the task other than their word. I had an idea that the foremen's daily reports may have documentation to work with. I was lucky to find documented evidence of completion.

Hoffman is revising our QC documents, a late evening curve ball, making me stay late.

After work I transferred my social media to my iPhone, buying one for Jessica.

June 5, 2019 at 8:18:14 PM PDT

Today is another paralyzing day at work. I need to be able to adapt and get things done.

The owner wants documentation, proving that the building is put together properly; specifically the stone installation. Hoffman wanted simply the turnover checklist form, which we did; then, the next day DayCPM asked for a most complicated way to track all of the documentation.

Construction requires that contributors to be flexible. One can't have a daily routine, where each day is predictable for years, months, or even weeks & days. Construction is not a habitual work. One must be able to adapt in a changing environment.

June 6, 2019 at 4:17:12 PM PDT

I'm a going on vacation in a couple weeks, and Hoffman wants me to be caught up on practically everything Quality Control related, yet issues distract me from working.

June 7, 2019 at 7:23:57 PM PDT

Trevor called me after work about 5 pm. I was trying to complete the sequence manual; then, my CEO got an email following up on the commitment to catch up on my Weekly QC reports. When I saw that I immediately posted 4 Weekly QC reports, which I have been saving.

June 8, 2019 at 10:36:53 PM PDT

We had a game night with Alex Meldrum, and Jasmine won both games. We played Unstable Unicorn, and I forgot the other game that we played. I don't like Unstable Unicorn because the win always comes out of nowhere, and it is usually the most conservative/quiet person.

Neither Jasmine, Jessica, Lucas, Jordan, or I ate dinner, so we accepted the challenge to eat the whole chicken meal at Fryer tuck from Alex Meldrum. He was been wanting to go for a long time, and he went a few times without us, recommending it to us. Jasmine did not feel like eating the fried chicken, so she did not contribute much. She ate one fry and two tablespoons of macaroni salad, having a pulled pork slider as her meal. Since I am recalling this from almost two months later, it will not be completely accurate. I remember a big basket with a full fried chicken cut into sections. The basket was also filled with thick fries. There was also a few sides; maybe beans and macaroni, I don't recall the other side, if there were. Jordan contributed the most, making sure that we finish the challenge, since Alex thought that we would not finish it, taking it as a challenge. I think that my contribution was second most percentage wise; although, all four of us put in a good effort. I ate a whole fried chicken at Thai Herbs in the Multnomah Village recently; therefore, I came in with a high standard. The flavor of the seasoning and how it was prepared sunk deep into the meat at Thai Herb; however, I can't say that that any purposeful flavor of the chef sunk into the meat of the Fryer Tuck's chicken. The chicken was well cooked, but that is about it. Our team's consensus was that the food tasted average.

June 9, 2019 at 5:25:52 PM PDT

Today is a Sabbath. I have a tradition of speaking to my parents. I like to ask my parents for stories from their week. My mother always has a fun story about her clients, and my dad always gives me an update about his business.

I got one substitute for when I go to the family reunion.

Stake conference was today. The memorable talk was odd because it related the gospel to the Hokey Pokey. You have to put your whole self in. It is okay to be partial in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, but eventually one has to embrace it completely to receive all the blessing of eternal life.

Ruby, one of my CTR 5 students, waved to me. Student interactions are highlights of my day; no matter how simple it is.

Ruby, leaning on Jessica

June 10, 2019 at 5:38:21 PM PDT

Mondays use to be chill at work. They finally feel normal again, since today was one. I finally published the completed QC Manual today. I ordered it myself with a  printer.

I started a bunch of QC Reports.

June 11, 2019 at 5:18:30 PM PDT

I composed 2 QC reports over 50 page long each today.

I did my first QC walk in months. Quality of construction was great, but installation aids were forgotten to be removed.

June 14, 2019 at 4:33:20 PM PDT

I noted that I decided to let go of the bread machine, which actually means that I gave permission to Jessica to purchase bread at the Grand Central Bakery. I used to bake bread without excuse no matter how late that it is in the night; however, the noise of the machine's gears skipping was so disruptive that I decided to make sure to start baking earlier in the day, not baking bread during the night.

I hosted an inspection with Eric, the city inspector. We have showed him the assembly of the Eclad system, and the top floor had it most easy to see because the floor is shorter than the rest, which is usually seventeen feet tall.

I composed documentation for Eric Dyer, a CSI superintendent. He asked for stone elevations. The last printing of the shop drawings did not require addition work from management for the field to understand where the stone goes; however, the documentation is not given conveniently. I composed a page to have a level or two of stone at a time.

I responded to SRG's field reports. Most of the items were bogus and non-issue. Hoffman likes to blame us for most everything. I don't like being the black sheep.

June 15, 2019 at 9:38:16 PM PDT

I coached and shadowed an ordinance worker, who was learning how to work at the veil. I did very well actually. People recognized this, and other people's feedback to the worker was a repeat of what I said. I recall that I also coached Jordan Grimes at the initiatory too.

June 16, 2019 at 2:11:58 PM PDT

Today I had a good lesson for my CTR 5 class. The children never acted attentive as one would hope, but I had moments, when I teach doctrine. The children express their learning during their coloring time. I am afraid that coloring has became a routine rather than a tool to teach. Routine is good, but making each moment a teaching moment is great.

June 17, 2019 at 4:19:56 PM PDT

I am up to March in composing my QC Reports. I started from before the beginning of the year just a few weeks ago.

Jessica cooked for the first time. I don't recall what she made for the first time. She started cooking more regularly without stubborn reluctance. Her dishes currently are baked potatoes and rice & peas, which I taught; however, it is not eaten the Jamaican way. It is served in a burrito. Jessica likes to cut vegetables, serving it with cheese, salsa, and avocado. Table seasoning is on the table too.

June 18, 2019 at 9:52:47 PM PDT

Today is a Day for Girls, where the Relief Society make reusable pads for girls in nations in which having a period interrupts life insomuch that it is debilitating.

I was asked to help watch the children. I was a little disappointed because the adults were not the leader. We led, but we did not determine the environment of the nursery as the youth chose to watch a movie. We barely engaged the children. One child was not comforted, and a couple children needed to be taken home. Another child was super easy to take care of. He dropped his snack on the ground, and I grabbed it quickly, retrieving some apple sauce as well for him. That was the extent of my contribution.

We watched Emperor's New Groove. It is a story of character development, which makes it good; however, I question. Is a movie great just because they follow a path that it practically guarantees success? The character changes, which is evidence of a good film; however, the main character is so shallow. Just because a man "god" becomes down to earth; it does not mean that it is a great movie. The comedy is good, and the story is original. I like that no one dies, but it seems pointless.

June 21, 2019 at 4:21:16 PM PDT

I caught up somehow on my Weekly QC Reports; although, it sounded like I still have to do three months yesterday. The reports got simpler over time, since it was falling apart. I left on Friday from work for my family on-time, only having a few reports left, which would be easy to overlook. No one even complained about quality control while I was gone for the week.

I pulled an all-nighter, since the earliest arrival to PDX is 1:30 AM with TriMet. No one is willing to drive us early in the morning to the airport.

June 22, 2019 at 10:16:38 AM PDT

The "Hop" app for Trimet works very well with Apple Pay, and I thought that it was exclusive to iOS. It is nothing special. It is just NFC technology; although, Apple marketed as if they had the deal with Trimet alone, when anyone can do the same tap and board with an Android phone.

I broke my phone screen already, when I got it only a few weeks ago. I did it at the airport. The fix cost more than the phone. I left a review on ebay to the product that I purchased today (the 3rd of August), saying that I received my iPhone SE with Touch ID failing, and the home button barely works. This next part is not part of the feedback. I dropped my phone, cycling to work, and it almost was ran over by a car. The screen was fine, and it got a lot of scratching on the metal structure, holding the screen and hardware. The one thing that broke was that part of the hardware, making the phone stubborn to not turn the screen off when I have the phone to my face during phone calls. I learned to hold the phone facing outward rather than toward my face. The people, fixing my phone, was a little worried that they broke that part of the hardware during their quality control part, but they didn't. It was me.

On the first day of the family reunion, we/I hung out at Trevor's new place. We met him at work, eating at PDQ, a chicken fast food restaurant chain. I say we/I because Jessica left with mom and dad to grandpa and grandma's house, and I stayed the night with Trevor.

We watched "Pokemon: I choose you." It is a great Pokemon movie. I would say that it is the greatest because it is a twist on his origin movie. The art is a higher quality than most Pokemon movies. The film expounds on the relationship of Pikachu and Ash; although, it is a little odd how they do it.

Trevor and I played some video games. I watched him play Sonic: the hedgehog like the old days. We also played Soul Calibur 6. My favorite characters are Maxi and Rafael. I almost won Trevor each time that I played, but his recent experience with the game determined the result of our matches.

After a late night Trevor let me sleep on his brand new bed, and he slept on the ground in the living room. I saw that the cords for his blinds were all tangled up, and I took it upon myself to untangle them. When I finished, I realized that the cords were probably purposely tangled because they were extraordinarily long.

June 23, 2019 at 11:10:25 PM PDT

I joined Trevor for his singles ward's sacrament, and the ward was really awkward. I like the maturity of family wards. We left after sacrament, and we left for my grandparents' house after Trevor packed, which was slower than expected, missing lunch with the family. Afterward we played Azul & Tokaido.

Azul is an interesting tile game. It is a combination of three mini games. The third is similar to Bingo, but one has complete control of where you place the tiles. The choice of the location of where you place the tiles on the bingo is determined by the two previous mini games. It is mentally engaging to sync all the mini games. Nothing is hidden, and control of the probability & situation to choose the placement of the tiles on the Bingo board is fun. I won the Azul games.

June 24, 2019 at 8:55:16 PM PDT

Today is Monday, and my mother told Trevor to take off Monday and Tuesday; however, we found out that most of our cousins are coming to Snowbird on Thursday. Trevor is a little disappointed to miss everyone.

Ezra is hanging out with us, since he is staying with my grandparents this summer.  Ezra wanted to swim with us, but the pool was full of children. We were advised by my grandma that the adult pool would be good for us. We went to the pool, going to the hot tub and the pool. After we worked out in the gym, and I was kind of the personal trainer for Jessica. She worked hard. We played a game, when we were in the pool to determine who would go first in a board game.

We played a game of Machi Koro, and I won Machi Koro. I am undefeated in Azul as we played another game.

June 25, 2019 at 3:45:53 PM PDT

We wanted to go hiking, and we went to lobby to ask for good opportunities. They said that all hiking trails are closed due to snow, but there is one hiking opportunity where we walk on a fire road to another path. We went to hike with Ezra. The lobby lady told me to go to a bridge approximately in the middle of the parking lot, which will lead to the fire road; however, grandpa told us where the bridge was from his knowledge. The trail lead us to a platform, out-looking the valley, which we did not intend to go to. We did not decide to look for the fire road, which we were directed to by the lobby ladies.

July 1, 2019 at 8:24:32 PM PDT

Yesterday I had a good CTR 5 lesson with more diverse activities like a puzzle & “hide and go seek the lost sheep.” We still had coloring at the end to keep routine, but the color sheet became a maze.

I napped to recover from last week’s lack of good rest; then, called my parents before eating dinner at the Ledesma home.

July 7, 2019 at 12:52:05 PM PDT

Having a lackluster last lesson with my CTR 5 class, I think that I may have passed my prime in teaching CTR 5 or at least the environment changed due to an unfortunate event. A student had her feelings hurt because another student did not want to do an activity with her. I giggled at his decision; then, she started to cry, never recovering until after church. We also had two extra students. The discussions never matured to a resolution, and I tried reading again which never was successful previously. I was practicing new teaching skills, pushing my luck; maybe.

I'm now going to serve in the nursery.

July 10, 2019 at 7:08:04 PM PDT

Trying to engage more in ministering, I have reached out to my stewardship two weeks in a row. One person answered me last week. I was sent to the answering machine twice today, attempting to call two brethren.

My first schedule is based on daily report data. I am composing a schedule for Hoffman to inform them of our intention of completing as much of the Kingspan installation as possible to dry in the Multnomah County Central Courthouse.

Jeff Nyleen, our estimator, gave me his estimating literature/wisdom. He said that he wrote it ten years ago with a few revisions over the years. It is digital.

Yesterday a foreman came in worried because the mullions were not reaching up to the stone chips. Searching our documentation, I could not find any resolution; however, when he came back after looking at the situation a second time, I looked at the old mullion highlight drawings for the ground floor up to level five. We discovered a note on the elevation, saying that they gave the fabricator the wrong information.

After a slow day I was feeling useless, but I had the documentation handy, which was almost a year old. I don't know how it would have worked out without me. It would have definitely been more rocky.

A friend/Mason was rehired for our project, and he recognized me, but I did not. I did remember him, but I forgot his name. We would talk at the Apple project. He said hundreds of times. His name is Tim.

We hire and lay off so many people. It is hard to have close relationships. I quit putting people in my contacts, since everyone seems temporary. I grew close to most every mason at Apple, but after the many rounds of layoffs, I learned to just focus on my work. I am close to some long standing masons that I met at this project; but only a few.

I have time to write in my journal today because Jessica is joining the young women for this evening and girls' camp next week. I will be alone next week.

July 14, 2019 at 4:08:52 PM PDT

Jessica join Jordan & I's shift at the temple yesterday as an ordinance worker. At least 7 ordinance workers asked me about her.

We have been playing 'Say Anything' lately, and I won last night again. I did not win last week, but I beat Jordan one week, which seemed to be all that mattered. Everyone even thought that I won last week.

I am back in the Nursery same people; different children. It seems better being only 1 hour & with 'Come, follow me'. The children seem more intelligent from last time that I was in the nursery. They spoke & a girl even tried to comfort another boy, when his parent left.

I didn't play with the children much because I was caught up with Brother Kuhn. I have not served with him for several months. I was able to help during snack time. I met all of the new children. Their names are the following: Carter, August, Asher, & Lex. I forgot the two girls' names; usually there are more girls than boys.

July 16, 2019 at 8:30:27 PM PDT

Today is the first day of Jessica being gone to girls' camp. I set a goal, telling Jessica that the house will be in order, when she returns. I thought that it was ironic that on the first day that she was gone that I stayed late, working on a general mullion assembly ticket.

July 18, 2019 at 9:52:59 PM PDT

I was asked to complete a few elevations of stone, meaning put a snapshot of what stone to install on one for one piece of paper; one floor at a time. I was asked to do only a few, but I rather do all of them at once. I also think that KO told me to, when the foreman asked me to do only a few. I did most of the activity on a previous date. It was not told to make it a priority until now.

July 19, 2019 at 4:52:46 PM PDT

I finished the stone elevations, and the foreman said I shined today, making him happy. I had to copy and paste every floor on a separate page for each elevation.

Cleaning the house this week, since Jessica is at Girls' Camp, I had a goal to mop because Jessica likes to buy things and not use them. We bought a mop months ago, and I have to be the bold one to open and use things. Today is Friday night, and I had three goals: mop, take out trash & recycling, and organize.

Jordan Grimes was visiting because we go to the temple on Saturday morning shift. The navigation of my parking structure is not convenient. I mainly wanted his help with the navigation. My car is very long, having a terrible turning radius. When I got home from work, he wanted to go out to eat pizza, so we went to Lucky Labrador. After it was almost too late, but he encouraged me to do my goals, and I opened the mop. I believe that I mopped the place twice. Organized a corner of our studio apartment that was a little messy, and I took out the trash.

July 22, 2019 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

I taught my first Nursery lesson. I still need to learn how to let them feel comfortable to talk. My lesson was slightly modeled after the lesson that I observed last week. I had them listen to a primary song, which was too long.

July 23, 2019 at 5:17:32 AM PDT

Today I received the L14 Interior Punchlist, and there were a few good items to resolve. The field is bad following up on its completion. I did another Kingspan Daily Report.

I live with some really indecisive people, and I am happy to say that we finally planned the food & birthday for Jasmine and Jessica this weekend.

July 23, 2019 at 12:36:25 PM PDT

I completed my Weekly QC Report and Kingspan Infill Report.

I have been distracted by iOS widgets lately. I was not able to find many good helpful widgets. I just liked how convenient it is to access quick information. I would prefer to choose to access the information rather than have the information always in the status bar. I was trying to get the persistent clock at the top of the phone to go away. Pedometer, Copied, and Widget are the best free iOS apps that I have found to add to my library. I do not buy apps. I only do, when I have free App Store money.

I use the Widget app to let me check a month calendar, battery percentage, and my analog clock. I think digital clocks are a little tacky. I like the Pedometer's app for telling me how many steps that I have had. I have struggled to find a good third party note taking app that does not hassle me with a paid subscription. I like "Copied" because it has more useful features than a regular note-taking app, logging the text that I have copied.

July 24, 2019 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

Jessica made Vegan Sour Cream. I have not tried it yet, but it is coconut milk based. (I actually tried it more than a week later.)

I published last week's QC report. I have been doing daily Kingspan infill reports to comfort the general contractor and help coordinate the task.

July 25, 2019 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

I worked of a QC report today.

One thing that I noticed about Jamaican people, especially girls, who were not raised in a safe family setting, is that they are not very open, and trying to converse with them is like pulling teeth, requiring a lot of effort to get a good answer. If people are not open, I find that they are a lot more vague and general, leaving me feel like I might as well be talking to a wall, imagining a conversation with generic assumptions.

Sischany is a convert of mine from my mission, and she could be a closed person; however, today was nice because they felt like having an open conversation, sharing what she does to be self-reliant. She even sent me a picture of the oranges that she sells. The conversation was simple, but it brought joy to me.

Today's Institute class was about taking care of the poor. The following are my notes of the class: Professional panhandling? Don't judge the poor. The Lord's way is to focus on the people. Don't worry about the means. God will not tell us an answer to all questions. God will warn you, if you are in the wrong. Be content with nothing. Be more willing help more. Priesthood power is given to women, when they are set apart for their callings.

July 26, 2019 at 6:51:44 PM PDT

A superintendent expressed an interest in working on the QC item in his pastime (maybe), so I printed out all the outstanding deficient QC items. He did some items. It was surprising that the general superintendent was more receptive to receive them than the one that expressed interest. We were able to get many items done.

Lucas and Jasmine were bored, so they invited us over. We stayed up late playing games. When someone is bored, it hits a pet peeve of mine. The expression of boredom means that the person does not have much depth in their life. Maybe it is an extroverted thing that I don't relate too. It is interesting that extroversion's definition as well as introversion has become more defined and widely known.

Extroverted people feel their energy draining, when they are alone, and introverted people recover their energy when they have personal time. Extroverted people gain energy when they are around people, and introverted people lose their energy when they are around people. I think that people are not set in their ways, and they can learn to balance these opposite natures, since everyone has a little of both; however, they will always have a dominant one in my opinion.

I learned a more specific origin of the energy of extroversion and introversion, editing this post on the 24^th of May 2020. It has to do with dopamine. Extroverted people get more dopamine from human interaction, and introverted people get more dopamine from personal hobbies or intellectual endeavors. Dopamine is the brains reward system for engaging in life. Some of these actions are healthy, and some are not.

There is so much to do in life, and, if people say or think that they have nothing to do, giving them a feeling of boredom, they should re-evaluate their priorities, purposes, and desires in life. I have said to people that say that they are bored that they are boring. I realize that it may be just an expression of extroverted people.

July 27, 2019 at 11:39:13 AM PDT

Serving in the Portland temple as an ordinance worker, I helped a friend officiate an endowment session for the first time. His name is Brother Gritton. The session went very smoothly until the very end, meaning at the very end; he messed up. I blame myself because I forgot to warn him of how to conclude it.

Jessica & Jasmine's birthday party is today; although, it is tomorrow. We played games at the Ledesma's, eating hot-dogs & playing "Say anything" with John. It was good times. We had a schedule, including eating at Blue Moon diner; then, we went to the Washington County Fair. I got a unique Thai hamburger at the diner.

The main thing that we did is watch a hypnotism show at the Washington County Fair. I have never seen hypnotism. I was never told what it was, being afraid that it might have to do with being possessed by spirits; however, people can only be hypnotized, if they choose to follow the words of the hypnotist and relax into different levels of consciousness. The hypnotist taught that there are many opportunities to use hypnotism as therapy to slowly guide your conscious thought and body to change its habits even cravings with guidance on the lower levels of consciousness, which is interesting.

There was reptile exhibit, which we looked at briefly, and there was an FAA pig auction, which was interesting as they sold per pound, ranging from ten to forty dollars. The pigs look like they were raised by high school students.