D A D B L O G S
A dad blog by a geek dad with two geeky kids.
I was exploring the city the other day when I came across the construction site of a huge mall. The first thing that caught my attention was the scaffolding system. I saw two workers at a high point up above the face of the unfinished building. To my surprise, they seem to have been standing on a movable piece of wood plank that was set on nothing more than the parallel rungs of two thin, foldable, metal ladders running down the building. I knew the plank was movable because at some point, one worker removed it while he was hanging from the ladder and moved it up. Talk about Spidermen! I'm not an expert in large scale construction or even in scaffolding but the setup I saw was clearly unsafe. Shouldn't a proper scaffold system have locks to prevent the frame from collapsing? Shouldn't there be rails too to ensure that workers don't fall off? Lastly, shouldn't modern systems now be made of sturdy metal pipes that can withstand stress and weathering? International standard scaffolding companies are numerous enough online for construction companies not to know what safe and modern systems look like. Moreover, many of these companies rent out their equipment so that construction companies don't need to buy their own if this isn't a financially sound option. I think what I saw was in clear violation of workers' safety laws. It's a surprise that no one has yet met an accident at the work site. As I see it, if an accident does happen, both the contractor and the company that contracted could be held accountable for it. Like many other kids I would imagine, mine are extra excited over Christmas. As soon as September rolls in, they're all over me, asking to pull decorations down from the attic and you can be sure they've already got lists for Santa. It doesn't help that we often hang around this snack shop that also likes spreading the Christmas cheer early. If predispositions are truly passed on from parents to kids, I suppose they got that from me. I used to go all nuts over Christmas too long before it's actually there. Well, Christmas still is my favorite time of the year but I guess things change slightly when you're a working parent. As much as I'd love to think about the cool air, good food, decorations and gifts, there's work and bills calling. There's nothing like growing up to ruin the Christmas spirit, but I'm trying hard not to act like a troubled adult now. I want to give my kids the gift of the holiday spirit while they can savor it without worries. So yeah, I'll probably be repairing some wreaths this weekend. |
Hey there. My name is Jim. I'm a dad & I know some dad stuff & I like to write about them here. More about me.
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