The Rock Wall

On her way to the office from somewhere Monday, Kimball encountered major activity at the school construction site. She had her cell phone with her which she purchased specifically to take pictures. I would have felt under gunned with it, but she put it to good use taking photos of the crew installing the huge glass panes at the south end of the new gym.

Then she gave me an assignment: call Mark Koca to find out what was going on. I did the next morning and was told he was at a superintendents’ meeting at the Lake of the Ozarks. Be back Wednesday morning. So I asked for the Building and Grounds guy, Steve Molz.

Yep, Steve had been paying attention. So he gave me enough info for a cutline and then gave me a bonus. He told me the contractor had installed the elevator over the weekend.

I had actually hoped to get photos of that installation but probably couldn’t have. I would have been shafted, so to speak.

I remember well when I worked for the phone company in Birmingham and they moved us into the new 28-story headquarters building. There were two elevator systems – one stopped at every floor up to 16 if you wished. The other,  had two or four high speed units that didn’t start stopping until above 16 and proceeded on up from 17 to 28. I worked on the 21st floor.

I can’t tell you how many times I was on a crowded elevator headed for 21 or on the way down from the higher floors when the elevator decided to stop. One way, your feet almost came off the floor. The other way, you almost went to your knees. That agreed with my inclinations when I thought the elevator might fall. It didn’t.

So, I hope the High School students who ride the new elevator don’t have any scares. I am so glad they will have it to help them get to class on time, but I know I’m not as happy as they are.

– Brad True was excited about his good fortune on the golf course Tuesday. Mary had to come to my office to tell me about his eagle – She explained that is two under par. He and his twin brother, Denny, were paired with two players who carried better handicaps. Denny shot first on the dog-legged hole and went into the trees. Brad shot exactly where he would have diagramed it. His next shot went into the cup. Made him easier to deal with the rest of the day.

I’ve never hit a golf ball so that’s one level of frustration I’ve avoided. KL