Over the Edge

Holy Cow!  I forgot all about our BlogSpot.  Priorities change!  Get the jobs done, keep the kids alive and fed, keep the wife happy, you know what I'm talking about. SMS is looking forward to another great summer season.  Thanks for being our customer, we do appreciate it.  Enclosed is a picture of a job I was on a long,long time ago.  Our crew was up in Aspen down rigging an armoire the size of a small car. Our job can be fun at times and being up in Aspen on cool mountain day makes it worthwhile. 

SMS is already staffing up for the summer.  We added two new techs in Colorado Springs and are sorting through applicants here in Denver.  Our new techs in Colorado Springs should work out well. Timothy has a solid background with the U.S. Navy as an operations specialist and some moving experience. Jacob has experience in welding, heavy equipment operation and moving and both will be a fine addition to our staff.

Mother Nature Always Has the Last At Bat

Thanks are in order for all of you that called, Emailed and expressed your concern for SMS during the recent flooding in our state.  All of our techs and our families are doing fine and our business was unnaffected.   While the majority of Coloradans  made out just fine, there where areas of our state that experienced severe flooding, loss of life and property.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to you.

One of our local customers forwarded some pictures of his business during the recent flooding.

Note the water level on the back up docks. A foot or two more and there facility would have been flooded.

Tourists and Colorado

This picture was taken in the West Elk Wilderness close to Gunnison Colorado. 

The summer is over and its time to get back to the important things in life like posting on a blog. 

Back to the picture.  The West Elk Wilderness is spectacular, especially with fall color.  During the drive over one of the mountain passes to get into West Elk you frequently see people stopping in the middle of road to snap a picture.  Sometimes they leave there car doors open, the kids are piling out and the dogs run loose.  At times it can be tough to get around them.  One of my passengers on this trip could not believe how inconsiderate these people where.  I have different take on it. 

The way I see it most some of these folks have never seen wilderness like this on such a grand scale. Maybe they are factory workers from back east who just retired and decided to travel, foreign tourists who are getting a first look at the scale of a national park, or just folks who recently moved here getting out of the big city for the first time.  I explained to my passenger that these people are not rude, or stupid, they are in awe, they are having an epiphany.  There brains are short circuiting. This is amazing, why would you not just stop dead in your tracks and whip out the camera.  Road be damned, this is amazing.  Nowadays I just think its cute and it makes me proud that the scenery in our state will inspire people to forget about life for a little while, park in the middle of  road and soak it in. 

Understanding and patience can go a long way in our business dealings.  If you understand what a customer is going through during the moving process its much easier to be forgiving for what we perceive as bad behaviour.  Knowing that the customer is usually not like this can help lower our stress level.  For the life of me though, I cannot understand why you could be stressed out about moving to Colorado.

Spiderman Found Alive and Well in Colorado!



Jeremy and Spidey




Jeremy and Spider Man.  Not sure of the value of Spider Man Statue, but, could not have been inexpensive based on the detailed costume design and life like appearance.  One year SMS was storing a lifelike cutout of Cosmo Kramer of the Seinfeld Tv series.  It was fun to have around and was quite the conversation piece when people saw it for the first time.  Alas, we eventually had to ship that out.  When it comes to artwork, beauty is truly in the eyes of the beholder. 



Testing the Fit

After we test fit Spidey the guys will line the crate with cardboard, foam and inserts to secure it in place.

Spidey arrived at his new home safely and ready to go. 

Electron Microscopes and Ruska's Prototype

Wow, I think this was SMS's second Electron Microscope.  You just don't run into these often.
The biggest obstacle to handling these is the sheer weight of the unit and fact that most of the weight is located on top tube, about 700 pounds of lead.  This unit although old, about 30 years, it still  maintains its value, up to $150,000.  The pallet was engineered to handle the bulk of the weight on one side. 

The prototype for the first one was back in 1931 and here is a picture of it. 

Ernst Ruska's Prototype

The design and size look close to the newer models.  Although contemporary microscopes are capable of two million-power magnification, as scientific instruments, they remain based upon Ruska's prototype. Ken and Peter and crew did a fine job being patient with busy engineers, logistics in and out of the building and timing the construction and delivery schedules for a demanding customer on seldom seen equipment.

Happy Easter!

Wow,  this winter just flew by.  Easter marks for us the beginning of spring, the busy season and yet another Easter party at the non palatial Ray estate.  We have traditionally have always had an open house on this upcoming special day. We pray for good weather.  There are no formal invitations, just stop by if you can.
The Bloody Marys flow like water.  One year one of our dear male friends donned my wife's faux rabbit fur coat and was teaching some of the ladies a dance in my living room to an artist formally known as prince song.  It can get a little out of hand sometimes and then you have to take into account the home depreciation with 20 or so little kids running around, none of which belong to me.   My kids are all grown up so to speak and above egg hunting.  Which leads me into my next segue.  

This week I was digging up a raspberry patch that had taken over a part of the back yard.  If it likes the area, it is more like a weed.  I was just finishing up and noticed a shiny blue patch in the dirt.  I dug it out and guess what, a plastic Easter egg from an Easter egg hunt past.  It must have been there for at least 10 years.  I am no paleontologist but, you could tell it had been sitting there getting covered up for quite some time.  I opened it and found a still shiny quarter.  We still hide eggs for other people kids, but I miss the hectic scrambling and have not forgotten the  excitement of my own kids finding those eggs and shiny quarters.  One of my kids saw what I was holding and he said, "cool, is that an Easter Egg"!?  I could tell by the look in his eyes that he had not forgotten either.  Happy Easter all.

The Quiet Man

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
--John Stewart Mill--
With that said one of the most common traits of wounded warriors is their tendency remain silent regarding thier experiences in war.  My father never talked openly about his experiences the south Pacific during World War II.  Most of what I learned was gleaned through talking to his freinds and relatives, letters, and an article in the Stars and Stripes. 

SMS hired Chris Friedrichsen over four years ago.  On his employment application he listed only that he has served in the military.  My guess was at that time that he was a rear echelon pencil pusher working in a supply depot.  Not so.  I received a call from the Veterans Administration trying to locate Chris regarding an appointment he had with them.  Sometimes the guys use our main number as a contact number as they working in the field all day.  It sparked my interest. 

I had a chance to sit down with Chris recently and after some brow beating got the real scuttle butt.

Chris served with United States Marine Corps, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines.  He was involved in two tours of Iraq, one in 2004 and then another in 2006.  On his second tour he was badly injured by an IED, Improvised Explosive Device during a combat operation in Ramadi Iraq in the Al Anbar Province that borders Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.  Chris's commendations include:
Purple Heart
Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Combat
Good Conduct Medal
Sea Service Ribbon with 4 stars
Combat Action Ribbon
Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal and Service Medal.

I can tell Chris still is effected by his injury physically.  He can't lift as much as some of the other guys around here.  On really cold days you can tell he is gets stiff.   One thing for sure you will never hear him complain.
He endeavors to persevere and for that, we are proud to have him around here at SMS.