“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:7
Welcome back to the Turbine Traveler! I am excited to see you here and if you are returning back thank you so much. Over the past week or so I have noticed an uptick in likes, this has caused great joy for myself. Thank you to each and everyone who reads these posts it truly means the world to me.
Starting off with the week we were on standby again. This time we were in the middle of moving to another tower and the crane needed to be taken down and rebuilt at the next site. During that time a buddy and I decided it would be a good thing to go get a quick round of golf in. I haven’t golfed since January of this year and it was a very humbling experience.
Monday we started off with prepping the tower while the crane was getting boomed up. Got tag lines on and performed LOTO on crucial components. Once tag lines were on and the “spider” beam installed there wasn’t anything holding us from dropping this rotor safely to the ground. We rigged up and started the process of removing the last set of bolts. When the rotor was on its way down I had the next guy head down tower to help while I cleaned up everything up tower.
After I climbed down I started to help with securing the rotor to the stand and we called it day after that. A 16 hour day on Memorial Day is wild, but that is what the job called for.
Stepped out of my camper to do laundry on Tuesday and this little guy was there to greet me. This is a horned lizard and they are almost everywhere on the west side of Texas. Many people call them horned toads because they are built like a toad, from Iowa. I like to call them “horny toads.”
Wednesday came around and we as a team decided to get ahead of the ball and start to remove the blades of the rotor to prepare for the new blades coming in. We started taking off required hardware and while some of the guys were offloading trucks that had our stands for the blades. We just kept moving and at the end of the day we had all three blades off the hub and were ready for the new blades.
Now with wind turbine blades, they can be tricky to transport. With the size and hazards that transportation imposes, a certain number of policies and regulations are present that drivers must follow. One being only travel during daylight hours, since the size of the trailer is so long you need pilot drivers to help the trucker watch the load while driving down the road. Transportation of wind turbine blades requires a choreographic dance with federal, state, and local authorities, like permits must be obtained. So for the mean time we are waiting for them to arrive. Thursday came around and we were told maybe Friday. Thursday night we got a wicked storm and were informed that blades may not arrive until Saturday now. So as I write this section of the post it is currently 01:30 in the morning and I am passively watching a video on YouTube about Adobe’s Downfall.
So Saturday will probably be a very busy day and I usually schedule these posts to come out at 17:00 on Saturdays. With that being said this post will likely not contain anything about reinstalling the blades, that will be a section of next week’s post. Next week’s post will include reinstalling the blades to the hub, maybe even flying the rotor back up, and the post will include my trip to Washington D.C.
In my first post of “Heart & Happenings” I mentioned that I wanted to purchase either a motorcycle or a powered paraglider. I have done some more thinking and I think I may stick to the powered paraglider. Mostly because I do love flying and it can be an easy way for me to relax while I am on the road. That and it would be easier to transport since I can comfortably fit the glider and the paramotor in the bed of the truck while pulling a camper. So stay tuned for more information while I get more knowledge of the sport. Of course I have to think about risk assessment. I have thought about the big danger of flying which most people will call me crazy for, but I work in wind. I am up at heights almost everyday, yes I do respect the heights but I don’t allow that to control my actions when I can get a reward. The obvious one with wind being that I collect a pay check. With flying it is more of a hobby that I love, it relaxes me and I find joy in seeing the world from above. So if my family is reading this, yes I have done the appropriate amount of research and will approach the sport with great caution.
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
Leonardo Da Vinci
With my job I work 5 weeks on and 1 week off, that is my rotation very simple. So since I am coming up to my 1 week of R&R and it being on my birthday I figured I should plan something for this week off. Unfortunately I will have to travel back up to Iowa to get my new driver’s license and get a few packages that I had shipped back home. Once I am done there, which will likely be Tuesday, I plan on heading off from there to go to Washington D.C. I went back in 2023 and I didn’t get to see everything I wanted to, so I figured I can go back again and visit more sites.
Now if you have been checking out my Twitter page I posted this little guy. No real explanation as to why but he is just a turtle that I saw while golfing with friends. You can check out my X page below!
With that I am going to end the post here. Thank you to each and everyone of you who has taken the time to read my posts, it truly does mean the world to me. Check out the new sharing buttons below! Don’t hesitate to like, comment, or even subscribe to my posts which will send you a email every time I post on the Turbine Traveler website. Thank you again!
Stay Safe, God Bless!
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