Giving Shotcrete a shot

Answering Ben's call, I declined to pump for him, initially.  Ben was from out of town, he was looking for a concrete pump but he was doing some shotcrete work, which I informed him, we don't do.  Shotcrete is where you attach compressed air to the concrete pump hose and forcefully blow the concrete where you need it, it has a lot of applications like vertical walls and intricate concrete formations that require next-level freehand skills, but a lot can go wrong and it can be hard on the pump.  Ben was persistent and reassuring, he gently asked why I wasn't interested and he gently coaxed me into accepting the opportunity to actually try out shotcreting.  Words fail me but I'll say, I am extremely grateful for Ben's softspoken demeanor and his patience with me, and for blessing us with the opportunity to experience the thrill of taking on this new challenge.  

Trying to explain to people who are unfamiliar with pumping concrete what our work consists of feels like Rutger Hauer’s monologue when he plays the role of Roy Batty, a "replicant" in the old movie "Blade Runner."  With depth and power, he exhibits incredible emotions as he describes the things he's seen and experienced, it remains one of the best scenes of all times.    

But I feel the same as Hauer's character, having pumped concrete in a multitude of unique situations.  We've pumped for the DOT on bridges and under them.  We've pumped concrete two stories underground inside of chemical factories where the corrosion all around was terrifying.  We've pumped six foot deep by four foot wide lightning rod tower bases 50 feet up in the air atop of a blast wall inside of military ammunition factory.  We've pumped the bases for Zipline courses in a National Park with 1600 foot deep canyon carved throughout.  It is simply hard to explain the emotions and feelings of pumping concrete when you experience the exhilaration from the danger and stress and the challenges of a high pressure industry like pumping concrete.  The scope of our work, the far places we travel to, the toil & struggles we encounter, the chaos and risks are incomprehensible, to say the least.  

I have pumped up seven stories on hotel floors, I have been in military facilities where I have to have background checks. I’ve been in nuclear facilities where I had to do retinal scans at several checkpoints along the corridors and pass through security with conveyor belts for our belongings to be X-rayed and body scanning equipment like TSA at the airports with a devise that tested our skin and clothing for explosives, all just to get to into the facility to pump concrete.  All of this to say, there is not much left to impress me.  

I am indifferent as to your opinion of the skater subculture, but I insist that if you were to absorb the immense amount of craftsmanship that is required to create a skate park, you would be overwhelmed by the artisan quality and precision concrete finishing skills required to handshape the features at the skatepark.  Having been around concrete my entire life and as a second generation concrete tradesmen, it is very hard to impress me at this point. There isn’t much that I haven’t seen or done, and frankly, it takes something very unique to raise the type of excitement that I experienced working at this skate park. 

Watching Ben and his crew in action I was totally enraptured, enthralled, enchanted, caught up and transfixed in the moment, transported and getting lost in the moment was reminiscence of when I was in the second grade and an adult read to us from the "Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by CS Lewis, and I remember over 50 years later losing all sense of my soundings or my classmates and the entire room disappeared from my line of vision and magically I was inside the story, viewing only the story and losing my physical surrounding in an experience much like some sort of lucid dream.  The elegance of the artisan quality craftsmanship Ben and his crew possessed was like watching a master sculptor create a masterpiece, I was mesmerized the entire time by their work, it was amazing and the most interesting and exciting job we've been a part of in a very long time.  And on top of all of that, Ben was one of the most pleasant people I have worked for in a while, believe it or not there are some rough coldblooded ruthless ruffians out there pouring concrete who try to bully and push the pump guy around, not many but there are some tyrannical control freaks who like to use threats and are very demanding, complexly lacking any consideration, it comes with the territory.  

I'm sure a seasoned veteran pumper who's reading this will have a good chuckle over my novice ramblings, finding it humorous as I recount being initiated into the experience of shotcreting.  I just hope it rekindles the spark of joy of their introduction to doing shotcrete for their first time, after all we who pump concrete can become jaded, cynical, and critical as the years go by.  Surprisingly taking on this shotcrete job, which had always greatly intimated me previously, it completely boosted my self-confidence and encouraged me immensely, shockingly it felt like I was a kid taking the training wheels off, but instead of just riding a bicycle, now I was suddenly riding a 750cc motorcycle.  

I invite you to watch below, a couple videos from that job, and check out some pictures as well

Why would anyone want to "Make the world a better place"

Can we really make the world a better place, why do we think can, and what makes us think we should even try to make the world better?  Most graduations this month will include some young, bright-eyed rising-star who will boldly stand behind a podium emblazoned with their school’s seal, and with great passion, with an emotion filled plea, they will say what borders upon a cliché, “It’s up to our generation to go out from here today, and make the world a better place tomorrow...” 

Certainly, this desire to make the world a better place isn’t only for young.  I think many politicians (at least maybe early on in their careers) share these ambitions too.  Most people who are in a serving or caring industry certainly seem to want to make the world better for those they are caring for.  

But still, is it possible to make this world better?  Why do we think we can improve the world?

There’s a problem with many of our improvements, they usually are shortsighted, and, they create some collateral damage along the way.  When we tinker in one area, we usually disrupt another.  Often times, our mistakes are revealed only by those who follow us in a later generation, and their solutions to resolve our problems, well, they establish yet another set of difficulties for those who will follow them.

It’s kind of like solving problems with the H-Bomb, which was supposed to peacefully end World War 2, but look at what nuclear armament has done to us in the years since.  Is the world safer or more peaceful since the advent of nuclear weapons?

It’s not that we are inherently evil or bent on making mistakes, but we seem to perpetually generate more and more chaos as time goes on.  Progress, whatever that may look like in your eyes, is a moving target, and we seem to miss the target more than we hit it.

It’s one thing to want to make the world a better place, it’s another to realize or ignore our limitations.  Perhaps, our inability to recognize we are imperfect is hindering our path forward.  Imperfect people will hardly be able to create perfection, or achieve some sort of Utopia, yet, most public figures promise “results” are within reach.

I want to be optimistic and I want to see pain alleviated, poverty stricken down, hunger eradicated, health improved, and peace between all people to be reached.  Have you noticed though, with every effort and with each generation, we are left with more problems and greater strife?  

I think there’s a reason we long for a better world.  I think instinctively we all, religious, believers, atheists, and disbelievers alike, I think we know without being told we come from Eden.  I think it’s hardwired in our inner beings to know we weren’t created for this present world which is filled with hatred, evil, and death.  Just like no one has to tell the Monarch butterfly to migrate, no one has to tell us to search for a Promised Land.  

So what gets in the way of us reaching perfection?  We have personal agendas, we’re envious, we hold grudges, we have pride issues, we have a hard time cooperating with others, we are judgmental, suspicious, and we think we are smarter than we are.  But beyond that, we are in a fallen world that is infested with evil, we are in a realm that is under the sway of and held captive by the demonic.  As John writes in I JN 5:19, “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

We can’t afford to give up, yet we are facing impossible odds to overcome.  And on top of this, Scriptures seem to allude to the idea that things will go from bad to worse as time goes on.   So what should we do?  Hunker down and circle the wagons till the Cavalry rescues us?  Seclude ourselves from the world and hide in cloistered monasteries?  

I think we would be better served acknowledging where the real battle lies, as in what is revealed in Eph 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  And, we’d be better served not trying to face this spiritual battle on our own strength or by our own methods.  

Will this world be a better place someday?  Maybe not until Christ returns.  Can we create a little heaven here on earth in the meantime?  Jesus didn’t instruct us to riot, boycott, protest or fight, or debate everyone on Facebook... instead, He indicated we ought to pray something like, “Your will be done, your Kingdom come, on earth as it is...” and He said something about treating others as we’d like to be treated, and, He said to love our neighbors just like we love ourselves.  I’d say starting along these lines should give us a fighting chance.