Meltdown In Miami

 In a weird way I was looking forward to the trip to Miami. Zahir did something odd, he let the firm's pilots fly us. We almost brought the full team together again. All but two from the London office and all seven engineers from the Amman office. The big boss chartered a helicopter so each member of the team could see the damage to the Champlain Towers South site. This was not done in morbid curiosity. Our boss believes we must learn from tragedy to prevent its return. He told me when he took me on as an intern he NEVER wanted to see a structural failure of a building his company designed.

 

 We circled the tower at a distance. It looked as if a giant knife cut the building in two. Then the loss hit me as I looked down at the debris pile. One of the young engineers saw what Z had missed, the tears rolling from my eyes. The big boss held my cheek explaining to the others, "This was his tribe. This must not happen to us, ever."

 

 All of our clients have given us free access to the sites. My adopted city is all about prevention now. I am on the boss's team we are reviewing the original designs (numbers and stress loads). Simply put reviewing EVERYTHING for overlooked built in failure points. 

 

 Zahir is heading on-site examinations team. That team has the bigger job. Column by column, load point by load point eyes on examination. They will look at post-build soil elevation and characteristic changes and other signs of potential distress. Where possible/necessary, they are even going to perform fiber-optic and ultrasound exams of the footings. 

 

 A total of seventeen of our buildings dot the Miami area skyline. They will be the safest on Earth.

 

 

 Christopher

On The Road With MeeMaw

 I had an emergency meeting with building officials in Berlin regarding change sheets for a housing project. The problem, Zahir is on another continent also for an emergency consult for the home office. I love twitchy clients... NOT. The big boss arranged a sign translator who had "a minor background" in personal security. 

 

 About two minutes into a prep-time meeting with him I learned his sign skills could have been generously labeled NOVICE level. I was MORE than a little angry. I was on the video conference with the Big Boss politely stating I do not need a bodyguard as much as I need an interpreter. Aunt Meg peeked in the office and suggested I take her mom. Turns out back in the day MeeMaw was an Army Nurse who served in Germany. She signs AND is fluent in "High" German. Not sure if the boss or I was more surprised with this. He tested her German skills and was impressed.

 Two days later, we said farewell to Meg and PawPaw. Then MeeMaw, Mr. Minder, and I headed off to Berlin. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about this trip it is my first REAL big time "solo" project for the firm. Everyone else is busy on other projects. Having MeeMaw along was oddly comforting. Three days of meetings and everything is back on track. Big Boss was very happy emailing me BEFORE I could send him my report. I guess people in Berlin were impressed.

 

 The business trip also afforded me the opportunity to make a side trip to Leipzig. My doctor has been urging me for fresh MRI and Cat scans of the tissue/nerve damage to my throat. I thought long and hard about ditching my minder and sprinting down to the medical center with MeeMaw. I EVEN BOOKED THE CAR! The thought of another round of pity the boy looks from Mr. Minder was NOT what I needed. I had the keys in my hand, and thought of how disappointed Zahir would be with me. No, the last thing I needed was a repeat of the incident in Kiev. I fessed up to Mr. Minder and handed him the keys. The look of relief on his face was priceless. He was so grateful he let me drive for a stretch on the A9 between Berlin and Leipzig. He handled the city portions. It was so "LIT" no speed limit! I got the BMW 118I over 200 KPH (about 125 MPH). The car was rated to go faster but I didn't feel comfortable too far beyond the two century mark.

 The tests went well and the doctor put me on a diet, medication, and exercise regiment to prepare me for the procedure. He has a partner with his practice who will perform a revision on the scar tissue on my neck. MeeMaw sat in with me and asked questions I NEVER would have thought of. Still I would have preferred if Z was there with me.

 

 Mr. Minder (Abasi) and I put MeeMaw on a jet back to the States. Boss gave her a huge bonus and asked if she would like to freelance from time to time. I am sure he was being polite. That said he has surprised me in the past.

 

 Back in London. One of my presurgical "exercises" is being silent as much as possible. For a guy who can only talk 30-50 minutes TOTAL per day, it is far more difficult than it "sounds." It is going to be a long month, then a long recovery.

Zahir comes home tomorrow, I am expecting passionately mad snuggles to make his boy feel better. 

Christopher