HOAR Internship Day 4

     After four days, I have semi-adopted a morning routine. I arrive to work around 7:00, for the next 15 minutes I check my Outlook account for any new messages, catch up on espn.com and check my Gmail. This 15 minute window provides me with a little time to continue waking up and get myself ready for the workday.
     Today began with my above mentioned routine. Sometime around 8:00 Chuck came to Trevor and me and asked us to go join him in one of the conference rooms. There we would be on a conference call with Shawn Zeiger. We began to discuss the A-1 documents which are mainly the beginnings of the subcontractors contract. The issue Chuck and the other members of the Hotel Alessandra team had with the document was the length. It was far too wordy and had many repetitions.
     We went through the document section by section either omitting or changing the wording with the intent to condense the contract.
     The contract contains information regarding cleanup, material staging, rules and regulations and other information specific to a subcontractors scope of work. During the meeting Chuck had mentioned that there were certain thing contained in the document that was continually omitted after reviewing it with the subcontractors.
     After the meeting, I was tasked with comparing submittals we had received from our concrete subcontractor, TAS. I took the information on the materials they submitted for use on the project and compared it to the specification required from the architects and engineers. An example of the things submitted are concrete sealer, vapor barrier, concrete curing compound, etc.
     For the rest of the afternoon I continued to tinker around with the materials tracking log.

HOAR Internship Day 3

5.13.2015

After an eventful Tuesday of traveling to downtown Houston and attend a meeting, today I was able to stay in the office all day and get used to the cubicle life. Just to clarify, I'm not actually in a cubicle, Trevor and I sit on one side of the bullpen, our desks are next to each others with a desk perpendicularly separating us. I have been given an old-school laptop, desk phone and mouse. I also have a broken rolling file cabinet under my desk that I use as a trash bin.

My activities today consisted of: Updating the Submittal Log with dates
                                                     Creating a Materials tracking Log
                                                     Blogging about the first two days
                                                     Finishing up my Expense Reports and attaching my receipts
                                                     Reviewing the Core and Shell Plans for the Hotel Alessandra

All-in-all it was a pretty uneventful day. Although the list makes it seem like much of my time was occupied with work, I had substantial down time. The overall working situation is very different from last summer. My roles have done a complete 180.

HOAR Internship Day 2

Not much was accomplished from 7:00-10:30 this morning, I guess that is one of the disadvantages of being the intern, there isn't much to do during the first few days. However, at 10:45 I left for the jobsite for a staff meeting. The meeting didn't actually start until 12:00 but seeing that I have a terrible sense of direction and get lost easily I figured it best to leave with ample time to travel and find parking.

Even though the jobsite is less than 12 miles away from the office, it took me nearly 45 minutes to arrive. The traffic out here is crazy. Once I parked the car and got the demolition area it was about 11:15 and it dawned on me that I didn't know where the meeting was going to be held. Not to mention when I left the office, I forgot to write down either Chuck or David's phone numbers. I waited for about 15 minutes before calling Kayla. I asked her for Chuck and David's phone numbers. I shot them a text message and finally figured out where to go.

I got to the office before Chuck and David and met Shawn Zeiger the Superintendent. We chatted for a bit before the other two showed up. We then proceeded to the most important meeting of the day, lunch. By now it was about 12:15. We went to a place called Lucky Strike. My enjoyed the super unhealthy, artery clogging, heart attacking Bacon Cheeseburger. It was totally worth the years it shaved off my life. After lunch we went back to the jobsite office and discussed the project in detail. Well, I sat there and tried to take in as much information as I could while the others discussed the different important items of the project. This continued for another hour and a half. The meeting ended at 2:48. I stuck around and discussed my role till about 3:00, from then I headed back to the car and back to the office.

Of course, on my way back I had to stop and get an ice cold pop and some snacks. I pulled into a gas station to purchase a Dr. Pepper, Hot Tamales, and two packs of green Sour Punch Straws. they were to help wake me up and tied me over till 5:00.

HOAR Internship Day 1

     After arriving at the office a little before 8 am, I was met by Kayla Elston. She has been my contact with HOAR Construction for the past 8-9 months; it was nice to match a face to a voice. I met up with Max Llano and Trevor Meyers, the other new employees. Max is a fellow intern assigned to the Baybrook Mall Expansion job with Nathan Kolbaba. Max is currently attending Texas A&M. He is in pursuit of a Bachelors in Construction Science degree and will move onto a masters degree. Trevor currently graduated from Sam Houston State and was hired as a Project Engineer (PE).
   
     I have attached an itinerary given to us upon arriving at the office. It outlines the activities we did during our first day. I figure I'll cover the impressions and vibe I got from the rest of the day.

     Just before lunch I was introduced to some of the members of my team for the Hotel Alessandra Project and also my mentor for the summer. The team members I met are Chuck McPherson (Project Manager) and David Stallman (Director). My mentor for the summer is Hollis Anderson, I was first introduced to him over the phone during my interview back sometime between September and October. All are way cool and real nice, they invited me to go to lunch with them; we went to Cheddars, I had the Philly Steak and Cheese :)

     At lunch, as I was sitting there listening to them talk to one another, I sensed something I hadn't all last year, friendship. Whether they are or are not friends wasn't too important, but he way they carried on created a safe and comfortable environment. One thing was said this morning during the Monday Meeting that created a lasting impression. Our VP of Operations here in the office is a guy by the name of Brady Johnson. He said, "this is something that had been on my heart and I cant not discuss it."

     The people are real here. They treat each other with respect, no matter the title or position. They have done a good job at creating an environment for success. I am looking forward to the time I have to spend with them this summer.
    
    

#14

                For my final blog post I would like to talk about my beginnings in the  Construction Management program here at BYU.

                My journey to decide my major was long and arduous. I started my collegiate career thinking I would like to become a doctor. My father-in-law is a very successful general surgeon and his influence steered me in that direction. Once I realized that the sciences were not my strong point, I changed to studying accounting. I have always really enjoyed math and I thought that would translate to the accounting field. I was wrong. After speaking with my brother-in-law, a CPA, I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to be an accountant.

                At that point, I received my Associates in Arts degree and had been accepted to BYU. When I got here I changed my major to Civil Engineering. I thoroughly enjoyed my courses and my professors. But one math test single handedly pushed me away. I remember studying 20+ hours for a Calculus 2 test. As I walked out of the testing center and saw that I had received a failing grade I decided to switch to Construction Management. 

#13

I don’t profess to be a computer genius; I’m simply an aficionado. Currently I own a 15” MacBook Pro. I bought it with a 750 GB hard drive and 16 GB of RAM. For those who don’t understand what that means, RAM is the computers ability to process commands, it is the operating speed. Last summer, I bought a kit that enabled me to swap my optic drive out for a solid-state drive. Now days, computer manufacturers are implementing SSD (Solid State Drives) in their recent line of computers. The difference between an SSD and an HD is that an SSD has no internal moving parts while an HD has an internal disk that spins, allowing the information to be read. In my opinion, SSD are way more effective and run more efficient. My computer runs faster and cooler than before. I would recommend everyone to invest in an SSD.

#12

Today I would like to indulge my readers and tell them of one of my favorite childhood memories.

            I grew up in a little town in central Arizona called, Cottonwood. I had the same group of friends from grade school all the way through high school. They were Jeff, Mike, Ryan and Ian. We were always getting into mischief. One day we all decided to dress up in Jeff’s camouflage and play some pranks on the neighborhood. We started by finding one of Jeff’s mom’s old purses. We taped a dollar bill on the inside and attached the purse to a fishing pole. I manned the pole on one side of a culvert on one side of the street while Jeff, Ryan and Ian ran the video camera on the opposite side. When people would stop to retrieve the purse, I would jump out of the bushes and yell, “Aye, got me a Marlin!” We pissed off several people but we could care less. To this day, that memory is vivid in my mind.

#11

            I love soda pop! I know that it is very unhealthy for me in the quantities that I consume it, but I don’t care. It tastes so good. My favorite by far is Dr. Pepper. That wasn’t always the case though. I started out sipping on Sprite and Orange Soda. I guess my parents didn’t want me to be hyped up on caffeine at such a young age. At the time, it was the best. Sprite was my favorite. I can remember visiting my grandparent’s home in the town next to ours. For every meal, my grandpa would have a can of Coca Cola. So naturally, when I graduated from Sprite and Orange soda, the next step was Coke. To this day I still enjoy an ice cold Coke every once in a while. However, once I became introduced to the sweetest, most delicious nectar of all, I was hooked. That would of course be, Dr. Pepper.

#10

   Ever since I was a little boy, I have loved baseball. I love how baseball season is right around the corner. I don't necessarily have a favorite team, I like following certain players. Growing up in Arizona inherently makes me pull for the Diamondbacks. 

   Here is a list of some of my favorite players, their teams and their positions.

• Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, P
• Mike Trout, Angels, OF
• Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks, 1B
• Hunter Pence, Giants, OF
• Buster Posey, Giants, C
• Andrew McCutcheon, Pirates, OF
• Madison Bumgarner, Giants, P
• Troy Tulowitski, Rockies, SS

   When I played organized baseball I played right field, third base, first base, and pitcher. My favorite position to play was pitcher. I loved being involved in every play. Now days, I really enjoy playing outfield. I mostly play slow pitch softball. I remember one tournament I played in down in Casa Grande, AZ that went from 8:00pm till 4:00am. We ended up taking third place but at that point I didn't care. I was so tired and I just wanted to go home.  

#9

            Last post I decided to give a brief explanation on one of my favorite past time activities, Cornhole. A couple weeks ago I accepted the challenge from my wife to make our family a couple boards of our own. At first I was hesitant; I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist. I first thought I would look into purchasing a set but when I start Googling the prices I was flabbergasted. The price for a plain set of boards was upwards of $100. I said that if I was going to spend that kind of money I would build my own.

            To start myself off, I created a list of things I was going to either need or buy. The list looked something like this:

·      Palm sander

·      Wood filler

·      Paint

·      Tape

·      Brushes

·      (4) 2x4’s

·      ½” plywood

·      Tape measure

·      Skill saw

·      Safety glasses

·      5/8” screw

·      2” screw

·      Pencil

·      Polyurethane

After acquiring everything from my list I began to measure and cut and saw and before I knew it, I had made my family a couple really nice Cornhole boards. It was a really fun experience and I learned a lot from tackling it myself. We look forward to many summer evenings barbecuing and tossing some beanbags.

#8

            

            If you ever want to invest in some fun entertainment, Cornhole would be a great game to sink some money into. According the Wikipedia, the history of Cornhole is mostly unknown. However, some speculate that the game was first played in the 14^th century in Germany.

            The game consists of two boards measuring 2’x 4’. A hole is cut out in the middle of each board precisely 6” down from the top. The hole is to be 6” in diameter. There are also eight bags measuring 6”x 6”. Each bag is filled with about 16 ounces of dried corn kernels.

            In order to play the game, the boards need to be placed 27’ apart measuring front end to front end and directly across from one another. Teams are to be divided evenly and should be limited to around3-4 per team for optimum diversion. The goal of the game to toss your beanbag onto the other board with the intent to make it in the hole.