Tag: construction

Libbey Park Volunteer

thebeigegirl
Photo Credit: http://www.conejovalleyguide.com/dosomethingblog/libbey-bowl-and-libbey-park-in-ojai.html

I went to the Libbey Park construction site in Ojai, CA, as a volunteer today.

From Ojai Valley School there were only five female volunteers, including myself.

Wearing dark green OVS T-shirts, the volunteers checked in and drank Gatorade, having no idea what to do.

Ally Su, one of the five girls, expected the volunteer work to be taking care of little kids.

However, what was waiting for her were a huge pile of mulch, shovels, and wheelbarrows.

Photo Credit: http://www.centralwisconsinhabitat.org/Thrivent%20Builds.htm

At first, we had fun.

Mr. Alvarez, our peacekeeper, came to us after parking the school van and took pictures of us shoveling, and we would make stupid poses and faces.

However, as the photographer left and we continued the work, it became more and more painful.

“I think we are going to get blisters on our hands,” Said Ally. Thirty minutes from then, I could see an already-popped blister on my palm.

After repeating filling and emptying the wheelbarrows for about an hour, we became all exhausted. Our faces had layers of dirt on them, and our hands had turned red.

We found ourselves the only ones working without gloves. We’ve been complaining about it the whole time, and I found out that we were actually the only ones who did not know that we could get them from the tool check-in center behind us.

We had pizza with lemonade for lunch, wanting to go back home. However, there came a truck with another pile of mulch. Sighing, we got back to work.

The teenage girls had become shoveling experts at some point. We shoveled so fast that we had to wait for other workers to make more space to pour the mulch.

“Stephanie [Shin] found her future job,” Said Ally Su.

After half an hour of eating and two hours of shoveling, we headed back home.

First, we drove to Ally’s house only to find it locked.

Then, we went to Starbucks and met another school van with Mrs. Cooper in it.

After we got our drinks, Mr. Alvarez dropped Ally off at her house, “shh-ing” when she tried to tell him the directions.

As soon as I got back on campus, I took a shower and found two things: dirty water coming off of my body and another blister on my thumb.

ROV: Underwater Robotics

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When I was four I modeled for a book.  You know those progressive, interactive books for kids?  I posed for the back cover of My Little Blue Robot.  My friend Max and I stood in a hot studio for a few hours playing with this little cardboard robot.  Each page of the book contains a piece and the idea is to put the robot together as you go through the book.

Ever since then I’ve been fond of these little mechanical things.  They’re fun, easy, and don’t (usually) talk back to you.  It’s nice.  And personally, I like to make things in my free time so robotics seemed like an interesting subject.

The summer of 2009, I took R.O.V. at CIMI.  The class description said we could build underwater robots and I decided to try it.  Having no idea what I was getting into, I entered the course completely out of my element and loved it.

R.O.V. stands for Remotely Operated Vehicle.  We made simple ones at Sea Camp and the controls were already wired and ready for us.   All we had to do was make the frame out of PVC pipe and zip tie it together.

I decided to make one for my 8th grade science project.  Not so much for the science part, but just because it was fun to build.  My dad and I measured and cut all the pipe, laid out the dimensions, and glued each piece together.

We gathered a mountain of materials; zip ties, PVC pipe, drills, film canisters, propellers, a control box, piano wire, electrical wire,toggle switches, batteries, glue, scissors, a car battery, wax, wire cutters, wire strippers, screw drivers, rubber bands, an old razor phone, plastic zip lock bags, and food (of course).

This was our work table:

WARNING: Active Construction Zone

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Tianjin: the Self-Sustainable City of the Future

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The environmentalist trend has struck China with a bang. No, Tainjin is not just recycling and sorting out its trash. Tianjin isn’t just implementing solar power in a few office rooms here and there. Tianjin isn’t just planting trees or building houses with sustainable bamboo hardwood. No. Tianjin is going all the way.

Tianjin is becoming China’s first ever eco-city, meaning entire communities will be self-sustainable. Surbana Urban Planning Group, the company that designed the 30 square kilometer eco-city, is revolved around environmentally friendly construction. Other projects by Urban Planning include construction in Shanghai, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

Urban Planning will be finished with the eco-city in an estimated 9 years. The new city is said to be ready in 2020 for a whopping 350,000 inhabitants to experience. The newest energy saving technologies will be used and residents will be able to choose from many landscapes, making commutes a thing of the past.