For some of my readers, this isn't a big deal, but since I have a slightly uncommon surname, it's kind of a big deal when I find my name somewhere I don't expect.
Our trip to Massachusetts last spring took us within a few miles of the street sign pictured above, so I considered it worth the effort to stop for a photo-op. Electronic mapping applications revealed this road that likely would have escaped us if our only navigational aid was a paper map.
I've seen roads named after important historical figures, or prominent personalities in a community, or simply named after one resident that happened to live on that road. I haven't yet discovered why the community of Fall River, Massachusetts chose this name for this road, but I haven't given up the investigation either. If any readers can share any insight, please comment below and I'll be in your debt!
A while back, I promised more photos and video of the pipeline project that visited our area in the fall of 2013. The Enbridge Flanagan South Project included about 600 miles of 36-inch diameter pipe intended to carry about 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day. After realizing what the project involved, I watched carefully each day so that I might witness the process of laying the pipe in the ground. Even though I've worked for Caterpillar for over 20 years, I had never witnessed the pipelaying process, and since it was available for viewing only a few miles from our house, I jumped at the chance.
This first video shows three of the four Caterpillar pipelayers on the job, and a couple of support machines that performed interesting, and very specialized jobs. The first hydraulic excavator visible, sandwiched between a couple of pipelayers, seems to be primarily occupied with moving the wooden piles that support the sections of pipe before they are lowered into the trench. As the pipelayers lift the pipe, the supporting piles of skids become unnecessary and are moved closer to the trench so the following pipelayers can more easily work around them. At the end of the video you can see another machine designed to gather the wood used in the piles and organize it for future use. That machine is featured more prominently in the fifth video.
This second video shows all four pipelayers working a little further down that same line with the support machines accompanying them as before.
In this third video, the pipelayers have moved on to a new section of pipe, so one can see how they slide their slings under the free end of the pipe and slowly move it horizontally closer to the trench where it will ultimately rest following the fourth pipelayer. Notice the excavator "cut in line" to situate itself between the second and third pipelayer.
The fourth video features the first two pipelayers most prominently as they lift this section of pipe off the skid piles and gradually swing it toward the trench. The excavator behind the second pipelayer can be witnessed clearing the path for the last two pipelayers, which are successfully bringing the pipe to rest in the trench.
The fifth video picks up where the last one left off affording us a better view of the last two pipelayers and the utility machine that follows them. Even though it's not manufactured by Caterpillar (nor do we make anything like this machine), it intrigued me for the many actions it performed in carrying out the single task of picking up the wood skids and organizing them. The Pisony SkidPro picks the skids off the ground, arranges them in neat stacks, and wraps steel bands around the whole bundle. The machine can carry several bundles before they must be unloaded, and although I didn't witness it, the grapple is then used to lift the bundles from the SkidPro and load them on a truck for transport to the next section of pipeline.
Since the pipeline has been operational well over a year now, it's amazing to think literally millions of barrels of oil have traveled through this pipeline in our neighborhood. Most of the clues of the pipeline's presence have vanished, while the benefits of improved oil movement from Illinois to Oklahoma continue to be felt in the oil industry around the world.
I can't claim to have invented a better mousetrap, but I'm pretty sure I've found a way to improve the effectiveness of even the cheapest traps. We first tried this idea about ten years ago when we discovered a mouse had found our candy stash. That mouse was particularly fond of chocolate, to the extent that he ate all the chocolate of a caramel filled chocolate drop and left the caramel!
Because we didn't have much experience with catching mice then, we baited a trap with peanut butter and hoped for the best. The next morning I found the trap still cocked but the peanut butter licked clean off the trigger. Since the mouse was obviously attracted to candy, we decided to bait the trap with some chocolate instead of peanut butter. It was also obvious that this mouse could be gentle enough with the bait to be able to steal it without disturbing the trigger. So we devised a plan to make it more difficult to get away with the bait without springing the trap: we glued an M&M candy to the trigger with hot craft glue. The results were most satisfying. Not only did we catch the mouse, but he left teeth marks on the candy to prove he was in the act of trying to wrestle it off the trap.
About ten years have passed since we last had the need to set a mouse trap out, but we found evidence this week that convinced us we had at least one unwanted guest. Unfortunately, we didn't have any M&M candies in the house, so we initially had to try a different strategy. Since M&Ms worked well before, perhaps a chocolate chip glued to the trap would work as well. We set two traps, baited identically, and found the next morning that the mouse had removed the chocolate chip and left the glue on the trigger undisturbed. I think the chocolate may have been too oily to adhere to the glue securely.
Still being without M&Ms, we turned back to peanut butter in desperation, but our experience was like that of before: the bait holder was licked clean by the next day while the traps sat cocked and ready. After finally acquiring the right candy, we were able to bait and set both traps like that pictured above.
To my satisfaction, the bait worked again! In fact, both traps contained victims after the first night. One only managed to lick the "m" off the candy before he tripped the trigger, while the other was able to break the candy shell, but gave his life in the effort.
By our experience, we were able to reuse the bait two times out of three, but even if one has to glue an new candy on the trap for each victim, that seems a small price to pay for a solution so effective. If you've had trouble with mice stealing your bait without getting caught, I encourage you to try this method!
