If You Die First, We're Splitting Up Your Gear

I've spent the past week doing a job with my advisor's consulting company; we're working for a building material manufacturer in Georgia, outside of the Athens area. Our work involves installing hundreds of sensors in walls and roofs, and wiring them back to a data collection system in a test hut: this picture shows how I'm often rigged up for it.

As for the title of the post, it comes from one of those goofy paramilitary catalogs that I've gotten in the past--there's a T-shirt with a fully kitted out soldier (night vision gear, etc), with that as the caption. Enh. Military humor.

Anyway, in case you're curious, the chest carrier I'm wearing is a Tool Chest Radio Chest Harness, made by Conterra--it's meant as a radio and tool harness for ski patrol or paramedic types. It works very well--I used to wear a tool belt on jobs like this, but decided this was the way to go if I was crawling through crawl spaces or attics. It holds all my basic tools (pliers, cutters, tape measure, markers, utility knife, screwdrivers, electrical tape, earplugs), and stuff doesn't fall out if I shift position. It's pretty practical. Plus, if I toss a shirt over it and take a break to get something from the Seven-11, the clerk probably thinks, "Oh shit... is the FBI doing rolling stakeouts around here again?"

I also have a load of other items tied on with lanyards (hammer, cable stapler, cordless drill), and I'm wearing a climbing harness. This last piece was for safety--I was installing sensors up near the roof ridge, about 20+ feet up, and I really don't like heights.

Also, due to working in a corporate environment here (the client's site), we have to wear full safety gear--steel toe boots, and safety glasses. I have a pair of side shield prescription safety glasses--pretty close to black frame ultra-ugly Army-issue BCDs (a.k.a. "Birth Control Device Glasses"--I think you can figure that one out). I have a ready answer if anyone comments on them--"Oh, the BCDs? Hey--they work really well... I haven't gotten laid once while wearing them."

It's been a fun trip--really long days, but the crew I'm working with is great to hang out with, and Athens, GA is a very fun college town/cultural pocket. We went to an excellent brewpub that Bo Lawler recommended (Copper Creek Brewing Company), and some really nice restaurants (Basil Press, East West Bistro, Last Resort Grill). But rural Georgia outside of town.... yikes. Reminds me of the T-shirt that says "I See Red People". Bush bumper stickers, and a very high per-capita church count. It was all very amusing for my Canadian cohorts--they could chortle and say, "Hey--they're your countrymen." Grr. Well, I get to head back to Canada tomorrow.