Destroyer

Aw - the joys of construction. Although the definition of construction has absolutely nothing to do with this post. For some reason this process is still used in a lot of construction projects. This is called demolition.
We did not use any explosives, but we were still able to take this building and break it down into nothing. When I say 'we,' I do not mean me and the mouse in my pocket (although usually when I say 'we,' that is who I'm referring to). 'We' is Big Dog Demolition.
I was just sitting at my desk on Tuesday, doing my work (or maybe blogging) when a co-worker came in to get the video camera. I, being my curious self, asked what it was for. He told me they were taking down Bldg 7. YES!!!
So - of course - off I go to watch such a strange but awesome thing.
This machine made the building look as though it was made of paper. It tore right into the building, no problem at all. It took out walls, HVAC equipment, roofs, bricks, cement, couches, bathrooms, etc, etc, etc. It would stick it's teeth in the roof and then you would see all the shingles just ripple as they came off the rest of the roof. It was incredible to watch. The sound as it broke into the building was similar to biting into a crunchy taco or a cracker. But of course on a much louder scale.
Let me reiterate, this is not something done on every construction site. This is not something we even do very often, but it is something that I got to witness this week. It was pretty thrilling for some really strange reason. It made me want to climb into that machine and start hacking away at it. Obviously it would take more skill than I have to drive such a huge monster, but it would be a fun experience to do something like that.
I hope that someday, everyone gets to see such a thing. Almost makes you realize how fragile our roofs over our heads really are. It took probably weeks and weeks to build this 4 unit apartment building. (Especially because it was YEARS ago.) And then it only took about 40-60 minutes to tear it down. How long does it take a hurricane/tornado to destroy something? A matter of seconds. What does that mean to us? Guess we'd better be prepared for the worst.
A funny, yet almost sad story while watching this building getting torn apart - was the children in the yard also watching it. A co-worker said he wondered what the kids were thinking. Then one little guy came over to an apartment we were standing by. He tried the front door - it was locked. He started to ask a guy there (he spoke Spanish so I don't know exactly what he said) if his building was going to be destroyed next. The guy just smiled and told him no, to go play, he was fine. Kinda sad. The little guy didn't seem too upset about it, but the fact that his bldg might be destroyed before he moved out, that would be sad.
Same situation with a tornado. You come home to... rubble. What would that feel like? Or a fire, or a flood . . . . I cannot even imagine such a thing happening. I hope it never does either. I'm kind of attached to some of my possessions. I guess it would be good for it to happen to me so that I am no longer attached....
Anyway - this was awesome to watch. Strangely, quite exhilarating and fun!