Wednesday, November 28, 2018

The Valley of Fear [Adaptation]

The Valley of Fear written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Adapted for motion picture by Luis Voltaire Castillo

Sherlock Holmes lived of course while Professor Moriarty met his end. But there are his associates who will avenge his death. Colonel Sebastian Moran the shooter and the man they call The Jackal Fred Porlock. We will toggle the present and the past to narrate the singular tale of John Douglas aka Jack McMunro. As you know cinematic license is the right of the writer to alter scenes that would make the story more compelling. I decided to start the movie with The Tragedy at Birlstone in which a Mr. Douglas was murdered and how Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson was entangled in this mystery. Chapters 1-6 of the present will be distributed as applicable and the past stays as it is.

Sequence

Present
1 - The Tragedy at Birlstone, Darkness, People of the Drama, The Dawning Light, The Solution

Past
2 - The Man
3 - The Bodymaster

Present
4 - The Warning, Holmes corresponds with Porlock on the cipher message
5 - Sherlock Holmes Discourses

Past
6 - Lodge 341, Vermissa
7 - The Valley of Fear. Guns rule the Wild West as analogous as Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp and Morgan Earp. Roses are laid to those who rest in peace.

Present
8 - People of the Drama
9 - The Dawning Light

Past
10 - The Darkest Hour
11 - Danger

Present
12 - The Empty House, Holmes traps the sniper Colonel Moran
13 - Porlock Gets His Due

Past
14. The Trapping of Birdy Edwards

Present
15. Epilogue


Tuesday, November 27, 2018

The Beat-Iran Project

Gilas Pilipinas Pool

PG LA Tenorio 5-9
G Jason Castro 5-10
G Paul Lee 6-0
PG Alex Cabagnot 6-0
SG Scottie Thompson 6-1
G Stanley Pringle* 6-1
SG Ricci Rivero 6-1
SG Marcio Lassiter 6-2
F Arwind Santos 6-4
SF Matthew Wright 6-4
PF Beau Belga 6-5
PG/SG/SF Gabe Norwood 6-6
PF Troy Rosario 6-7
PF Ian Sanggalang 6-7
PF JP Erram 6-8
PF/C Christian Standhardinger* 6-8
PF Japeth Aguilar 6-9
C June Mar Fajardo 6-10
C Kai Sotto 7-0
C Greg Slaughter 7-0

F Calvin Abueva 6-2
SF Allein Maliksi 6-4
SG Jordan Clarkson* 6-5
C Andray Blatche* 7-0
SF Anthony Semerad 6-4

Okay here is the Gilas pool and those hibernating. We are allowed only one naturalized player indicated by the asterisks. The reason i want to include Anthony Semerad in the pool is that he has the weight and speed to match up with Iran's NBA-size team. It would be a bummer if he is not eligible to play. Okay who shoots the best between our forwards on the practices will get the positions. I figure we can make Iran play defense with our shooters. Andray Blatche and Jordan Clarkson would beef up our line-up but we can take only one of them as the FIBA ruling says. 

Sunday, November 25, 2018

Project Engineer's Guide: Procurement

Fieldwork No. 26


Good Morning Class. We continue our column formwork installation today. We have a combination of wood, timber and pipe scaffolding. The wood bracing will push and pull the left side and the right side of the panel to get the alignment. The H-frame and the A-frame are pipe scaffolding systems. It resembles the letters H and A. They are anchored to ground by adjustable jacks - metal plates with threads to adjust verticality. To make the scaffolding stable drive timber anchors and pipe bracing with c-clamps. The pipe frames are joined vertically by pipe connectors. The scaffolding are attached with steel platforms and ladders.

Fieldwork No. 27


Good Morning Class. We poured concrete on 4 columns today. Concrete hardens in one hour so you pour concrete within that duration. The workers know when its pouring time that breaks will be irregular as the concrete pouring takes precedence. They eat after the batch of concrete is poured.

Let us talk about concrete pouring preparation. You inspect the columns with a flashlight to see if there are debris on the bottom. Fish it out. Pour grout on the surfaces. Grout is a mixture of water and cement and is poured so that it clogs the openings since grout hardens. You can also spray waterjet and blowers to remove debris. When the surface has moisture it minimizes water loss on the wet concrete that prevents honeycombs or hollow spaces inside.

Check the supports and braces - push, pull, kick them to make sure they are stable.

Fieldwork No. 28


Good Morning Class. We poured 4 concrete columns today. Concrete is designed for compressive forces okay so that is why we derive the shear diagram. Steel is designed for tensile forces okay that is why we derive the bending moment diagram. Concrete shears. Concrete does not bend. Steel bends. Steel does not shear by loads. That is why i am pondering my my stair design.

Fieldwork No. 29


Good Morning Class. We had no work on Nov. 30 as we observe holidays. Last Saturday we poured concrete on two columns. After we have finished the first lift of the columns we pour concrete on the wall footing.

We now canvass the materials we are going to use. We cover the grade slab with Polyethylene Sheet. It is necessary so we minimize water loss and wastage of concrete as we pour into a gravel bedding.

Fieldwork No. 30


Good Morning Class. We installed column formwork today. I procured Concrete Hollow Blocks (CHB) so blocklaying follows after the wall footing is poured. Note that the shear wall indicated will have a special formwork. These blocks are 1000 psi or less but the mortar (palaman) to fill the hollows should be 2000 psi. That would be cement sand gravel ratio of 1:3:6. Our mortar would be 1 part cement and 9 parts sand (3+6). It is not load bearing meaning they are not designed to resist the forces. The suspended slab, the beam, the column and the footing bears the loads. The grade slab 3000psi is independent but it is designed for shear. Say when you drop a heavy equipment or tool, the floor slab should not break.

Saturday, November 24, 2018

The China Solution

We've been gullible but now we know better. China has built illegal structures on Philippine territories and occupied them. They bully the fishermen and the media. The Philippines will take back its territories. That said all transactions that endanger Philippine sovereignty will be declared null and void. That is an executive command.

We will disengage from the co-exploration of the West Philippine Sea because that gives China access to Philippine waters. We have a prior agreement with Israel anyway. I propose a trade embargo to China to dissuade them.

In the future the Philippines will safe guard its coastlines with patrol boats and ships.

With regards to Filipinos of Chinese descent they are Filipino citizens.

Friday, November 23, 2018

Fantasy Sports

Hello guys. I am here to help you in fantasy basketball because it is the start of the NBA season. I already graduated from this game so I will share you my playing technique. I know there are people who have like fifteen trophies or more but I have won two titles in one year so it is up to you to hear my advice. I'd say the draft day more or less defines your season especially leagues with minimal trade activity. But stranger things have happened like injuries, benching, coaching adjustments and such so all is not lost.

My style is I do not care much about the categories that are up to chance meaning Field Goal %, Free Throw % and Turnovers when picking the players cause on a good day, bad shooting guys can shoot on a high clip. In a standard league, there are 9 categories including the three above so I focus my team on the remaining cats - Points, 3Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals and Blocks. I named my team once the Bricks N Dimes, cause like I said I do not care much for percentages so I picked awful shooters who are multi-faceted; and dimes cause I like the assist category.

I also put premium on the hard to get statistics like steals and blocks. Because normally managers tend to pick the high scoring players so I think in reverse cause there are versatile players who fill up the stat sheets.

The chart below is a helpful tool cause you estimate how much stats your players will produce. I forget where I get this. For the uninitiated its a chart of how many games the teams will play in weekly matchups and from this you derive how many games your players play. Like you feel confident when your top players play 4 times a week. That kind of thing.



High risk, high reward
High risk, low reward
Low risk, high reward
Low risk, low reward

These are the principal concepts floated around by fellow managers in dealing for players. You watch some scouting and prepare for Excel files. I won two championships the same year - one in Rotisserie or Roto and one in Head to Head.

Basically I have same lineup for the two teams. In roto you must know that there are maximum 82 games for every position so planning is more important. I trailed half the tournament but I know I was doing fine cause others they were maxing their games while I pick my games carefully. So after the midway season of the NBA, I get the lead and never relinquished it.

The Head to Head League is a contrast, because there is a playoff here unlike the roto league. I have to survive three 5-4 series matchups to win the crown. During the finals, I even congratulated my opponent because the score stands 5-4 and I was ahead barely by one assist in the last category. He gets another assist, I lose cause he has the higher seeding meaning I lose the tiebreak. And his only remaining active player is a point guard throwing dimes. So the halftime of the game, I gave up and congratulated my opponent. Holy shit! The player gets benched in the second half. I won. My opponent writes a rant on busersports about a Cautionary Tale.

My team is the Mach3 Nomads.




Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Project Engineers' Guide: Construction Methodology

Fieldwork No. 21


Good Morning Class. We have installed 4 column formwork today. The method of construction of aligning the formwork is to fix one side first. We install scaffolding to brace and support this panel. We install the opposite panel next and the third side. We then brace the steel bars to align with the formwork. The concrete cover is 25mm on all sides. We will also embed dowels (abang) to connect the horizontal bars of the CHB wall.

We will offset from Gridline 1 to align horizontally while vertically you use the plumb bob.


Give this dowel drawing to the Steelman and say give me 300mm and 35mm on the bend. I have never met a Steelman who cannot measure.

Fieldwork No. 22


Good Morning Class. Check the dowel size. It is 45mm on the bend. The dowel also serves as a spacer. My Japanese Supervisor taught me this method so as not to damage the formwork. I modified his L-shape into this U-shape so that the Vibrator can fit inside the column..

We will pour 4 columns today. 8 workers will do the concrete pouring while the Steelman and Helper fabricates. The scaffolding of good lumber will brace and support the column up to 2 meters. Another scaffolding on one side will be H-Frames with ladders and platforms. Make sure they are stable. One worker is the top, one at middle ground and one on level ground. One will operate the 2-Bagger Cement Mixer while 4 workers carry the buckets of wet concrete. Provide a ladder at the opposite end. Use the vibrator at 5 buckets interval. Poke the corners and sides with a 12mm dia meter steel bar.

I calculated one column will need 2 cement bags. In the ratio of 1:1.5:3 (4000 psi), the workers will use the cement sack as measuring tool. That would be 3 bags of sand and 6 bags of gravel.

Fieldwork No. 23


Good Morning Class. Yesterday we have poured concrete on 4 columns. We have installed 5 column formwork today. Tomorrow we pour concrete again. My Carpenter has learned the use of the Nail Gun. It is better than hammering. But the fabricated panels have bolts and nuts so they can be detached easily. We would remove the formwork after 5 days. It can be a hassle when the concrete has hardened.

Tools and equipment are necessary to make the work more accurate and faster. The Flatbed Truck can transport materials such as cement, sand, gravel, steel bars, tools, equipment and manpower.

When you order Ready-Mix Concrete from the Batching Plant, consider the location and terrain the Cement Truck has to travel. Its capacity is 6 cubic meters but since it is heavy we order less 5, 4 and 3. Say you blocked out for 10 cubic meters. That would be two truck loads of RMC. Estimate how long you gonna pour the first truck load of 5 meters and advise the Batching Plant the interval they gonna send the second truck load.

Fieldwork No. 24


Good Morning Class. We poured concrete in 4 columns today. Now and then i will use construction terms whether in English or Filipino and explain it later okay. Block Out means the area prepared for concrete pouring. When you install formwork you block out the structural member. Say our beam or slab is blocked out at this point.

Fieldwork No. 25


Good Morning Class. We installed 3 column formwork today. The steps in installing these panels are aligning one side then the opposite side then the third side. Tie the dowels at the specified height of the CHB horizontal bars to reinforce tension or pull. When the concrete has hardened you carve (sinsil) the dowel from the casted column.

The formwork will warp and will be dented upon removal that is why the Carpenter will repair it. When installing warped formwork you have to brace the left and the right side of the panel, where it is warped, to make it square.

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Katawan by Hagibis [Song Lyrics English Translation]

Katawan by Hagibis


La la la la la la la la la-hoooo (2x)

Lingon agad 'pag may babaeng dumaan (Turn our heads when a woman passes by)
Lalo na 'pag maganda ang katawan (Especially when her body is fine)
At saka, nakakalokong tingnan (And crazy beautiful)

Kaming lahat ay binata pa naman (We are all bachelors)
Wala kaming mga asawa't nobya (We have no wives and girlfriends)
Hindi pa rin naman kami pumapalya (We're still not breaking down)

[Chorus]

Mahilig kami sa magaganda (We love beautiful women)
Katawan na aming nakikita (Bodies we see)
Lalo na yung kaakit-akit pa  (Especially those who are charming)

La la la la la la la la la-hoooo (2x)

Lumalabas ang aming pagkalalake (Our machismo shows)
Pag meroong magagandang mga babae (When beautiful women are around)
Lalo 'pag mga katawan ay gumigiling (Especially those twerking like Miley)

Kaming lahat ay binata pa naman (We are all bachelors)
Wala kaming mga asawa't nobya (No wives and girlfriends)
Hindi pa rin naman kami pumapalya (We're still not breaking down)

[Chorus]

Katawan katawan katawan katawan ohhh katawan (2x) (Body body body body ohhh body) (2x)

La la la la la la la la la-hoooo (2x) 

Katawan ingatan ang inyong katawan (10x) (Body mind your body) (10x)

[Chorus]

Katawan katawan katawan katawan ohhh katawan (5x) (Body body body body ohhh body) (5x)

Katawan ingatan ang inyong katawan (4x until end of song) (Body mind your body) (4x until end of song)

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Project Engineers' Guide: Scheduling

Fieldwork No. 16


Good Morning Class. I am preparing the construction schedule for the project.

Fieldwork No. 17


Good Morning Class. Let us review the using of the plumb bob. We offset the excavation lines from Gridline A. The footing is 0.70m x 0.70m and our gridlines are at the centerline so we measure 0.35 to the left and to the right of GL-A and hammer nails to it. Do the same for GL-1. Pull the nylon strings (batak) at these offsets from peg to peg so that it aligns straight. The lines must not touch each other or any obstacle. Where the lines intersect lower the plumb bob and hold it steady. The worker guides the plumb bob down to the surface of the lean concrete but not touching it. When the worker below is set, the worker calls the worker above to make sure the nylon string is still then marks the point with a pencil. Repeat the same method for the other points.


We poured 7 footings yesterday and 6 footings today. The workers remove the formwork of the footing we have casted yesterday. This documentation is necessary to monitor the manpower, tools and equipment, and the scheduling and delivery of materials. We can add the concrete volume later.

Fieldwork No. 18


Good Morning Class. The concrete pouring of the footing continues today. I am checking the plans at the moment. When there is a discrepancy in the plans the structural plans governs but you can submit queries to make sure. Our Query no. 1 is what is the height from the Finish Floor Line (FFL) up to the top of the beam? 3.70 meters. In this case we adjust the number of steps of the stairs to 16. NGL is the Natural Grade Line the level of the site when it was turned over into your management.

I have encountered many types of site conditions. There were grass, rocks and shrubbery and trees that you need payloaders, graders, bulldozers, excavators, bobcats and chain saws to move the earth. You need environmental certificate to cut the trees. There were swamps that you have to install vertical drains to dry them up before the equipment levels them. There were land fills where the minimum settling is six months. In these cases piles have to be driven to make good foundation.

When we were building The Lost World Hotel the reinforcement of the beams were closely spaced that the vibrator wouldn't fit inside. You need the vibrator so that the wet concrete would fill the mould, at the corners and in between steel bars. Mr. Loh Chee Tuck my supervisor called the Structural Engineer and he advised to tie the bars. So that is the purpose of bundled bars.


Fieldwork No. 19

Good Morning Class. We have poured six footings yesterday and 3 footings today. We employ a five and a half work load per week so as not to overwork the workers. Today is Saturday so the workers go home at 12 o'clock.

You must understand that when its work we work. Our priority is the concrete pouring so after they have poured our scheduled pouring for the day and there is still time you make them work. What are these activities? The removal of formwork the previous day, the fixing of formwork that is removing nails and such, backfill and compaction of soil, fabrication of rebars and formwork and so on.

We could crash the schedule by increasing resources - manpower, materials, tools and equipment but we can take our time. Right now I have 10 workers, 11 including me and that is enough at the moment. The skilled workers are multi-skilled so they have trowels to help the Mason who will focus on the finishing.

Fieldwork No. 20



Good Morning Class. We have finished our concrete pouring at the footings. The workers install the stirrups up to the yellow mark in the steel bar. That is the level of concrete we gonna pour at the columns. We call this the first lift at 2.44m. We also mark the corners of the column and use the chalkline (pitik) to mark the dimension lines. The tolerance should be limited to a minimum of 20mm.

After the stirrups are installed we install the formwork. We have four workers fabricating, me and three workers will mark the lines and elevations and three workers install the stirrups.

I figure we can install one column formwork today.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Project Engineers' Guide: Design

Fieldwork No. 11


While the men are working I am designing the spaces inside and outside the house. The bougainvillea walkway trellis leads to a patio at both ends. On the left side there is a cemented pavement where we dry the clothes. Right next to it is a shower room and a toilet where heavy-duty tiles separate it from the kitchen. I will show you later. Probably i will let my wife design the rest.

Okay part of being a Project Engineer is you should know how to estimate. 1 bag of cement weight 40 kg is also equivalent to a volume of 1 cubic feet. 1 bag of 50 kg cement is 1.25 cubic feet.

Concrete
Footing 
Volume = 0.70 x 0.70 x 0.25 x 25 numbers = 3.06 cubic meters
Dry Volume = 1.96 x 1.54 = 4.72 cubic meters

This 1.54 factor is given by the textbook. You can have tests to derive your factor.

Using the 1 : 2 1/2 : 5 ratio for 3000 psi:

1 + 2.5 + 5 = 8.5

Cement
4.72  x   1   =  0.56 cubic meters x  3.281^3  =  19.61  ~  25 bags of 40 kg cement
 8.5  

Sand
4.72  x   2.5   =  1.39 ~ 2.00 cubic meters
 8.5  

Gravel
4.72  x   5   =  2.78 ~ 4.00 cubic meters
 8.5  

Fieldwork No. 12


Good Morning Class. Today i am gonna teach you how to get organized with your calculations and estimates. I draw a straight line that separates the prime numbers and the two decimal places. To check your work put this on the MS Excel spreadsheet.

I usually start my design at the Roof Slab or the Suspended Slab. It behaves like a beam that you can treat it as one. The Shear and Moment Diagram shows that the force moves from bottom to top to down. 


For small houses you can design using graphs and tables but for more complicated designs you need further analysis.

As you can see in the diagram at the beams the maximum shear moves down up down so we splice top bars at the supports (L/4) while at the bottom bars we splice at midspan (L/2). 

At the columns you derive the loads from the beams, slabs and the occupancy loading provided by the National Structural Code of the Philippines (NSCP). We design the columns mainly in compression and buckling thus the slenderness ratio.

I provided 200 x 150 lintel beams for the opening at doors and windows.

We have poured the lean concrete at the footing yesterday so today we transfer the footing dimensions using the plumb bob.

Fieldwork No. 13


Good Morning Class. Today we transfer the footing dimensions down to the lean concrete of the trenches. We need at least 3 skilled workers here - one to hold the plumb bob, two workers below to pencil the coordinates. The carpenter holds the nylon string where the two nylon strings meet. Below the carpenter guides the plumb bob as near as the lean concrete surface but not touching it. When the plumb bob stops moving, the carpenter calls for the carpenter above if the nylon string is still correct. If okay mark the point with a pencil. Do this for all four corners. Using the chalkline (pitik) connect the four points. Do the same for the rest of the footings.

Check the fabrication of steel bars baskets 25 numbers. Measure the number of bars and spacing. The basket should not move. Instruct the carpenter to fabricate form works. Form lumber is used to mold the wet concrete into desired shape. The footing thickness is 0.25m or more or less 10 inches. We will install the steel bars and formworks on Monday because we need to fabricate the column main bars and tie it to the footing steel bar baskets.

Fieldwork No. 14


Good Morning Class. I've given the bar cutting/bending schedule for the column main bars 12mm dia while the stirrups are 10mm dia. I hired another Steelman to install the steel bars. The Carpenters work on the form works of the footing. The marked lines would still be visible but you can refresh the lines by the chalklines (pitik) or to those erased you re-establish the points using the plumb bob.  


As you can see in the diagrams the anchor of the column main bar rests on the footing basket. You make the basket by tying tie wires to make it immovable. The steel basket rests on the spacing blocks that we casted 25, 50, 75mm. The 75mm spacing blocks rest on the lean concrete. 

The foot of the column main bars are positioned diagonally. When the form works are installed the crew installs the column main bars and the stirrups and then fixed into position using our nylon strings and the verticality of the main bars using the plumb bob or better the theodolite. Calculate the distance of the edge of the column main bar to the Grid Line. Note the 50mm concrete cover on concrete structures under the ground.    

The vertical main bars will be supported by steel bars and good lumber to avoid swaying. 

Fieldwork No. 15


Good Morning Class. Here are our structural details. The anchor of the column main bar rests on the footing basket. You make the basket by tying tie wires to make it immovable. The steel basket rests on the spacing blocks that we casted 25, 50, 75mm. The 75mm spacing blocks rest on the lean concrete. 

Fabricating your form work is one investment you can make. In our case I will use 3/4" x 4' x 8' Hardiflex boards so we can use our formwork many times and its surface has a film that makes it somewhat waterproof and good moulding.


Thus I will order 7 Hardiflex boards for the 5 columns and will be re-used at the rest of the columns and beams. The Carpenter will cut it length wise and later on braced with good lumber.  


This is one set of formwork for the column as they cover the four sides. The braces will be connected by bolts and nuts. I prefer this system than using nails and screws so the bearing of the formwork will not be as disturbed after we have aligned its coordinates and verticality. Other formwork systems are the steel formworks which are plywood panels on steel frames. For bracing we can also the use of pipes and c-clamps, H-frames, A-frames, U-jacks and adjustable jacks.

While one Steelman and one Carpenter fabricate, the crew installs the steel bars at the footing. We pour concrete on the footings tomorrow.

Make sure the thickness of the footing is at least 250mm.