Leaning Tower of Fail

At 8AM this morning, two controlled explosions were detonated with the intention of bringing down two large boiler stacks at the old FMC Steam Plant in South Charleston, West Virginia. I arrived with my family around 7:30, camera in hand to find a small crowd had already gathered. The media was present as well. After all, it's newsworthy when things are blown up within city limits.



You can see a few on-lookers patiently waiting for the sirens that warn of the imminent blast. You can see their safety is assured by blast fences near the bases of the stacks, though only one of them is visible from this location.



So with baited breath, we await the initial blast. And when it came, you could see it, hear it, and most impressively feel it. The paper reported 40lbs of explosives. Which, as a former combat engineer with an awful lot of experience blowing things up, is a fairly small shot. But impressive nonetheless.



And then things start to fall. It was pretty neat. Here's a whole series of photos for your viewing pleasure.

















That was pretty neat! It all happened in a space of a few seconds. Except... um... hey, wasn't that one supposed to fall down too?



WHOOOOOOOOOOOPS!

After the dust clears... you can see a nice little pile of rubble and structural damage to the tower's base. But.... I'm thinking there should be more. See. I was a combat engineer. I've blown a lot of stuff up. And we had a mantra for calculating how much explosive we needed to use for a shot. This mantra was, "when in doubt, use more."



I immediately knew... EPIC FAIL. So, I was chuckling as all the viewers kind of stood there staring at the monolithic tower waiting for something else cool to happen. Like, maybe more explosives or maybe a strong gust of wind. Or maybe even one of the engineers to walk over in his hard-hat, purse up his lips, and give it a final poof and blow it on over. I verbalize this. "Epic. Fail."

The guy beside me in the crowd goes "huh?"

"Buddy, right now, lawyers are being called. Insurance companies are scrambling. Engineers are swearing. Epic. Fail." And I very briefly explain to him my background working with demolitions.

"You mean that's it?"

"Yup. Now we have six months of structural analysis and engineering to figure out how to deal with this. In the meantime, they've got a very dangerous situation with that tower. They won't be able to let anyone in or out of that area until they square this away."

"Ahahahah." And off he goes to relay my revelations to his family.

If you look closely at this image (sorry it's a little out of focus) you can see a green blob in the lower left corner. That's an engineer who actually walked up to the base of the Leaning Tower of Fail for a look-see. What cracked me up, was that he was dutifully wearing his hard-hat. As if that would protect him from several hundred tons of concrete if that thing dropped on his noggin.




So, my parting image, is that of the Leaning Tower of Fail with Union Carbide's building #82 providing a reference on the right side of the frame. Using that as a reference, you can see how the tower is slightly leaning off to the west. Whooooooops.



UPDATE!

The Leaning Tower of Fail has fallen! I saw it go down on the news. I guess they pushed it on over with a Dozer or something. The footage of it dropping didn't include an earth shattering kaboom (a~la Marvin Martian) so that's the assumption. Either a dozer did it, or someone went over and huffed and puffed.

Time Magazine is despicable.

I saw the image below. And it brought tears of anger and sadness to my eyes.



I fear that words cannot adequately express my anger at the sight of this magazine cover. What those men sacrificed on, and around Suribachi that day transcends politics and agendas. The nobility of their sacrifices merits the humility and eternal gratitude of a nation that enjoys the freedoms resulting from their blood.

That anyone would usurp their valor in the name of advertisement sales is an insult of the gravest order. Time magazine has made it be known that the blood of our country's finest amounts to nothing more than a sensational advertisement for a bogus geopolitical cause. They have announced to the globe that nothing is sacred, and no heroism is beyond the reach of depraved sensationalism.

The knowledge that fine Marines who fought and bled on that island have and will see the icon of their sacrifice bastardized in the name of some pet cause wounds me deeply. My brothers, I apologize to you for what my generation has allowed your country to become.

While the folks at time magazine will never understand the idea behind the phrase, rest assured that some of us do. Semper Fidelis.

Kimberly Annette Yanov

Kim,

Twenty years ago today,

Would I have imagined that I'd never hold you again?
Never gaze into your almond eyes?
Never run to you as my only refuge in my maelstrom?
Never chase you through the freshly mown grass?

Could I possibly have known that I'd think of you daily?
That I'd still feel the emptiness?
That I'd pray for the infrequent visits you pay me in my dreams?
That I'd still feel the burning scar left on my soul as your mother wailed in my arms?

Would I have ever imagined the damage loss can do?
That a major portion of my life would be shaped and twisted by pain?
That I'd spend years in a chemical haze running from it?
That I'd be so angry at the numbness which caused the precious memories fade?

Would I have ever invisioned the rage I'd feel at the world?
The rage at how unfair life and death can be?
The rage at forces that would take you from us all?
The rage at god for not allowing me to take your place?

Would I ever have conceived the ache that persists?
That I'd still drive lonely stretches of road conversing with your memory?
That I'd still see glimpses of your face in the crowd?
That I'd still be crushed when that glimpse crystalizes, and is not you?

Would I ever have believed that I've gone on this long?
That I could survive even one more day?
That I could defeat the temptation to pass through the barriers and join you?
That I could find comfort without numbness?

Would I ever have guessed that I'd still feel guilty?
Guilty for not being there when you left?
Guilty that it was you and not me, when you were so deserving of life, and I was not?
Guilty for not following you to the next world?

Would I ever have understood that I could feel love again?
And that it is real?
And that she would pull me from the storm?
And that she would return life to me?

Would I ever have accepted that I could be happy?
That I'd ever have a beautiful family?
That I'd wish I could introduce you to them as my dearest friend?
That my happiness would be tainted with guilt?

Twenty three years ago,
I swore I'd never let you go.
I have kept my promise.