IIDA Habitat for Humanity Day

This was the 5th Habitat for Humanity work day I've organized in recent years and was the toughest yet. It only lasted 3 hours but the back breaking work of busting up concrete was enough for all of us. Thanks to all who showed up! I'd like to say it was fun but lets face it...it was hard work!...but it was for a good cause and that's what counts.

-Andrea

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SABLMNDR

Ready to Ride!

Jack and Nancy in flying by...

At the top of Beal's Point. Major kudos to Dianne Williams who climbed the hill on her first ride on her new bike!

Well, I gotta tell ya. I was more than a little honored that Jack named a ride after me. I'm just glad that last year didn't kill me and that I could actually participate this year. The Second Annual Brian Lefholz Memorial Near Death Ride (SABLMNDR) started the same as the last one did...on the hottest day of the year! With temps rising fast into the triple digits we took off down the trail to climb Beals Point first. The group included Crazy Jack Paddon and Nancy, Jim and Diane Williams, Terry, Mark and Robi. It was a fun ride for the short time I was with the group. You see, This year I was smart and headed back early. Jack, well, Jack was Jack and pedaled 100 miles! Really glad I headed back early because knowing me and knowing Jack we would have kept riding until one of us fell off the bike from exhaustion. Not to bad for a 50 something...good job!

-Brian L.

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Congrats to Bill!

Bill Larson of Point 2 Structural Engineers and Blazing Saddles Team Member just completed the Davis Double. What an effort to complete 200 miles in Saturday’s heat!! I did 100 miles on the American River Bike trail and thought I was going to die…guess I’m just a wimp. Congratulations and thanks for the ‘Blazing Saddles’ miles!

- Jack

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Sierra Adoption Garage Sale

The sale of the century!!!
Cashier Kim

Go ahead...you deserve a break!

Lots, and Lots, and Lots of clothes

Furniture anyone?

Major kudos to Kim Settle, Amber and Andrea for organizing the Sierra Adoption charity garage sale. While many of us got a good reason to clean out our garages, they did an incredible amount of work to pull this off. They all put in above and beyond to make this successful.

And thanks to Paul and Trish who both came out today too to unload/display/sell/load...in the 100 degree heat.

And thanks to Tom for bringing out the jumbo pop up tent for some shade.

And thanks to Joe for helping us set up in the morning and letting us borrow his tarps.

And a BIG thanks to Jodie who stuck with us all day and was one heck of a saleswoman!

And thanks to Terry & Linda Green and Brett & family… the LONE W+P folks to come out and BUY something!!!

And finally…..Thanks to everyone who contributed merchandise to our (sierra adoption) garage sale! We couldn’t have raised $1600 without your loot! Please give our sincere thanks to friends, family members and business associates who contributed, or braved the heat to come & shop. It was HARD work (and damn HOT!)…. But overall, we managed to raise over $1600 for the children!!! WOO HOO!!!

- Andrea, Amber and Kim

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Tricycle Races Part Deux

Thanks to Eric D. for the grub and grilling
Our favorite former graphic designer Tye Brown returned as grand marshal of the event

Eric, Tye, Zach (tye's son and expert tricycle racer) and Jack

Jack with the pedal down

Terry spins out Robi to take the lead and the victory

Andrea, Sarah, and Amber were all smiles before the race

In the finale...Sarah takes on the boys and wins going away!

Eric soaked with a cooler of ice water after finishing last...

It was a great day at the track. For the second straight year WP held it's annual Tricycle races on the famed blacktop of the parking lot. Eric and I fired up the grill for hot dogs and sausage links ready for the eager participants at noon. Tye Brown showed up to Grand Marshal the event direct from the rolling hills of Indiana. We set up a course of little orange cones which turned out to be more for decoration than actual marking of the course. A series of 3 person heats lead to the finale, and what a finale it was. Sarah lined up on the inside of Terry and Paul. She broke late form the line but it didn't matter...Terry and Paul took each other out at the far turn and Sarah accelerated by and took the checkered flag. Way to go Sarah! It was another great 1/2 day Friday activity. Thanks to everyone who came out and had a little fun!

- Eric and Brian

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Bike Month Competition Heats Up

We all know Mark is competitive. A quiet type by nature but throw a competition and chance of winning into the mix and he comes alive. The following is a word for word message Mark called in, while riding (hence the 'breathing').

Hey Eric it’s mark (breathing)
Hey, I’m riding (breathing) in this morning
I had to run some errands so, (breathing) I’m not in yet
And so, (breathing) I haven’t logged my miles
So (breathing) don’t do the (breathing) summary (breathing) thing for the end of the week
If you could (breathing) till I get there and log in my miles (breathing)
So I can get every (breathing) possible (breathing) mile (breathing) in versus Andrea
Talk to you later :) (breathing) bye.

Funny thing is, while Mark was riding to beat Andrea...Jack leapfrogged the both of them to take over first place.

- Eric D. and Brian L.

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May is Bike Month - Week 2

Well as you prepare for the 2nd annual death ride and recover from the 2nd Annual Trike Races I will leave you this week with the following:
With a valiant effort by Mark Posnick to take over the number one spot Mr. Paddon takes the number one spot with Andrea falling to third for our second full week of rides.
I will say that for the husband wife teams Mark and Robi are leading the pack with the Paddon crew a not so distant second.

What’s that you say? Chris Jaggers is riding for someone else this year? No, say it isn’t true!

Some other spousal teams include
The Navarros
The Williams
The Walshes
The Greens
The Gheorghius….Oh wait that is just Dorel and himself.

Stay tuned for the exciting events coming up this week.

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quote of the week

"Fashion is Architecture: it is a matter of proportions" Coco Chanel
"Architects are pretty much high-class whores. WE can turn down projects the way they can turn down some clients, but we've got to say yes to someone if we want to stay in business." Philip Johnson

"A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines." Frank Lloyd Wright

"I think Ms. (Marilyn) Monroe's architecture is extremely good architecture." Frank Lloyd Wright

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Art in The Garden

The food was good, drinks better, and the art was stellar as usual. The riders were completly soaked but braved downpours and cold temps to kick of May is Bike Month in artistic style.

Jim

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The Progression of RFI's

When I started this job, if a question came up on a project, the contractor called, we discussed a solution, and he did it.

Then came RFI's. If a question came up on a project, the contractor called, we discussed a solution, he faxed a RFI, I wrote the solution on the fax and faxed it back... and he did it.

Now we have this system, if a question came up on a project, the contractor called, we discussed a solution, he sends a FAX to the general, he copies that, generates another form, and another form, sends all three to my email box (that's three documents of any number of pages) I have a totally messed up email box, and since none of the documents have the same name, I have to print out everything, figure out which form to respond to, go to it respond, print out the response, the contractor gets the response and he does it.

I love progress.

From a contractor friend of Eric D.

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DTL Grand Opening

Last Wednesday a small group of WPers attended the grand opening of DTL. From someone who had nothing to do with the project or knew anything about DTL it was a fantastic experience. DTL is a world wide leader in CNC machining technology. The COO of DTL gave the tour I was on and raved about the design. It far exceeded any expectations they had coming into the project. It's a large project, 75,000 +/- sf with many different uses but they all come together in a well planned cohesive design. With a industrial modern thread running through the entire design, each space is given a unique and cool vibe. Congrats to the main team of Naaz, Amber and Brett for another great design.

-Brian L.

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New Chair from Kohler

I'm not going to say who's office this is but a certain someone in the office is turning 60 this year...

- ???

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Bike Pillow

Since it is May is Bike Month and bike fever is in the air...why not a bike pillow from CB2?

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weekly funnies

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Tour de Lincoln

Beautiful Lincoln Countryside
Terry was so amped to ride I thought he'd burn out before he even started

Robert seen here with a smile but after 63 miles...no more smile


Jim with Tom in the background. Tom gets mad props for riding the 40 miles on a tank! Just after this photo was taken the three of us rode side by side on a narrow country lane singing the theme song to Bonanza...off key and out of tune but who cares, it was fun.

Team Blazing Saddles eating a much deserved lunch. The great thing about doing a long hard ride is that it gives you the freedom to eat whatever you want!

Jack and Nancy arrive to a seated ovation...we would have given a standing ovation but we were too tired.

What a team...We logged over 595 miles in a single day!

All in all this was a great event. Challenging riding but well worth the effort. The still green spring meadows and grasslands were beautiful, the sounds of rushing water in the creeks was refreshing on a warm day, and the smell of cow manure a constant...after all, it is Lincoln. Thanks to everyone who came out and put in some serious miles...it's always a great time when team WP takes gets together for a ride. Can't wait for next year!

Brian L.

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Tricycle Races Part Deux

Here are some details for the day:
- The track will be designed by World Class Track Designer B.Lefholzia as a slalom course.
- We are Q’ing Hot Dogs and Sausages. If Brett is lucky I may even Q a veggie dog or 2. These will be free of charge. All you have to do is show up and race. Generosity is abounding but bring your own drinks ‘cause contrary to our generosity, our wallets are not abounding. If you want something other than Dogs or Sausages you can bring it to throw on the BBQ.
- There will be defined races with a bracket to determine who is the 2009 Trike Champ!
- We need some Trikes from your house, Cigi is bringing hers (she has been putting a lot of miles on it recently but unfortunately The May is Bike Month people won’t allow tricycle miles. Please have them here so we can make sure they are operable (more or less).
- We are adding a trial event of Razor Races as well so if you have a Razor bring it on Wednesday too
- Yes Tye is really coming for this event and will be our Grand Marshall.

-Eric

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Make-A-Wish Rock & Bowl

Costume Contest winners Stevie Nicks, Amy Winehouse, and Slash

Brian doing his best John Travolta(Saturday Night Fever)/Bill Murry(King Pin)...what form!

Amber shaking a tail feather before bowling...but that didn't help the ball stay out of the gutter

Last Thursday Amber and I were invited to bowl with Don and Rick from CONNECT at MTA's Rock & Bowl. The event was organized to raise money make little Malia's wish...to go to Disney World! Everyone had a blast even though only a handful of people actually broke 100.

-Brian L.

Update: With your participation and contributions, we made almost $3600 towards Malia’s wish! 4-year old Malia lives in Elk Grove and she suffers from Sarcoma – Rhabdomyo, a malignant tumor located on the side of her cheek. Malia’s wish was to go to Disney World. She was so thrilled and excited to see all of you in your crazy costumes. She had a great time bowling and by 8:00 p.m. she was tired and ready for bed. Malia and her family are now headed to Disney Word the first week of June!

-Therese Kingsbury with MTA

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Call it Dedication

I was able to snap this picture of Jack Paddon in a meeting in full bicycling gear. Gotta love it.

-Brian L.

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quote of the week

...there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
Hamlet, William Shakespeare

The large print giveth and the small print taketh away.
Tom Waits

- Stephen

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Say it Ain't so Jack...

Efficacy was in the air…William McDonough made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. So I told my friend Bill that I would lend my considerable sustainable prestige for one day, and one day only. Dual Citizenship…pretty cool!! But I told Bill I would never ever consider working anywhere but the best firm in the universe...the great W+P!
Or was this whole episode simply a figment of AIA’s Deltek File imagination!

- Jack

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Andrea - expert at caulking, painting and smiling
Brian - dip brush in paint, put paint on wall, repeat 4,000 times

Robert - Used to have 10 fingers...
Tom - "thank goodness I had my tetanus shot"
Mary - Trim Paint Extraordinaire

Amber - Always smiling (and dancing to the songs in her head)

Maggie - learned painting from "The Karate Kid"...wax on, wax off

BBQ lunch (provided) totally hit the spot!

On the verge of needing to be demolished, this house now has new life.

Once 6' tall weeds covered the backyard...now, beautiful flowers

A very tired crew

On Sat. April 25th, a group of Williams + Paddon employees volunteered for Rebuilding Together. Unlike Habitat for Humanity, that repairs homes throughout the year - Rebuilding Together rebuilds 20 homes in ONE day. The neighborhood affected was Colonial Heights in South Sacramento. We showed up at 8 am - ready to work... and work we did! Robert Wallis & Tom Ventura tackled the front porch: building and roofing it by the end of the day. Amber Seevers, Brian Lefholz, Mary Shelnutt, her daughter Maggie and I all painted the exterior: trim, windows, the garage - you name it! The foreman Ryan and all the other Rebuilding Together volunteers were friendly and very appreciative. Even the owner of the house we were working on was there, giving us thanks. Overall, at the end of the day we could look back and see how much we accomplished. We look forward to the October 3rd Rebuilding Together day!

- Andrea

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