Archive for January 12th, 2008

Gaining construction skills

Saturday, January 12th, 2008

In my last job I was shipped all over the country to a wide variety of work sites. Construction sites, power plants, chemical plants, and paper mills were among some of the places where I ended up working. In almost every single destination I was required to go through some type of training program for safety or other work site related information. I got to a point where I could almost teach the classes myself.

Sometimes it seems that working construction is the only way to get experience in the construction industry. There aren’t any degrees really in construction. I know there’s architecture, but that’s kind of different.

A site called CSkills offers many classes in their curriculum that pertain directly to construction and that industry. There are training sessions in safety that are very valuable. The cards that are issued for completing the training are widely accepted at many work sites.

If you’re business is construction, this is where you can learn more and jump start your career.

Phoenix freeways

Saturday, January 12th, 2008

I will never understand the planning and construction of freeways here in Phoenix.

Every single new freeway starts off with three lanes in each direction. Immediately after it’s opened the freeway is clogged every rush hour with thousands of cars going down the blacktop. Inevitably, the state decides that the freeway is congested (duh!) and that it needs to be widened. They then spend years widening the freeway to four lanes plus an HOV lane in each direction.

Come on, people! Get your heads out of wherever you stick them and build the freeways with five lanes to begin with.  We’re the fastest growing place on the continent. If you build it, they will drive on it.

New inexpensive glasses

Saturday, January 12th, 2008

A few years ago I finally realized that I needed glasses. Not a strong prescription, but enough to see down to the end of the street. At first the only place to get glasses where I was covered only had super expensive frames. I’m glad I found this Great Discovery: www.ZenniOptical.com. This is definitely the place where I will start my search for new lenses and frames the next time I need glasses.

Star Wars: Jedi Unleashed

Saturday, January 12th, 2008

Another Star Wars related board game that my friends and I had some fun with a few years ago is Star Wars: Jedi Unleashed. The game recreates the end of “Attack of the Clones” when dozens of Jedi land in the Geonosian arena and battle droids and Jango Fett. Don’t expect a lot of strategy or subtlety in this game. It is a race to see who can incur the most carnage.

Each player controls one or more Jedi that are scattered throughout the arena. For every droid or Geonosian that a Jedi kills they get one point for the end of the game. Count Dooku and Jango Fett are also on the board and are worth more points at the end of the game for the player that hunts them down. On your turn you can move and fight with one of your Jedi characters and then move and fight with any of the enemy characters on the board. These enemy characters are used to attack the other Jedi players. It really wouldn’t be proper for the Jedi to be attacking their own kind, of course. That’s more of an Episode III plot line.

Dice are used to determine hits and misses and also to move the Yoda icon closer. You see, the game ends when Yoda arrives with his army of clone troopers. This would always lead to Yoda being the most despised character in the game. Roll your dice and then, “Aww, Yoda.”

The part of the game that makes it a little more interesting is the Reek. This giant bull-like creature from the movie is a big part of the fun. If your Jedi can successfully attack the Reek and land on it, any enemy that the Reek tramples as it migrates throughout the board is a point for the rider. Since the Reek moves randomly with its own dice on every players’ turn, the slaughter can quickly earn you many points.

It’s a pretty fun game for a little while, but not the deepest or most challenging game out there. Star Wars: Jedi Unleashed is fun for Star Wars fans who want to recreate a scene from the movie and roll dice to cause carnage.