The Silver Spade - Last Day of Operation

!±8± The Silver Spade - Last Day of Operation

The Silver Spade's last day of operation, April 9, 2006. At this point, she had an hour to live. She was digging her way out of the hole to be retired, with the possibility of becoming a museum, but it was discovered that the roller circle had broken again. A year or 2 before this, we were up on the dirt road late at night, talking with a welder who had stopped by, and he got an urgent call to go do some welding on the machine. They had welders on 24 hour call. At the end there was probably more fill metal than base metal. It was finally decided to cut her up on the spot. The machine was very quiet from this distance. Generally all you heard was the cooling fans on the cab roof, the crunch of the rocks being dug + dumped, and the double hoist cables slapping together, sounding like 2x4 lumber being stacked. When you drove by on 519 to see if they were operating, if she was stationary, you'd listen for the cooling fans. If they were running, this was a lunch or maintenance break, stick around. Note the rocks rolling down the pit wall, each is the size of a truck, weighing many tons.

The Silver Spade - Last Day of Operation

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Tools & Equipments Safety In Industrial Plants

!±8± Tools & Equipments Safety In Industrial Plants

Some basic causes involving tools, which lead to accidents, are:

· Defective tools like hammers, axes, screwdrivers, shovels, spades might be loose, cracked, broken. Workers can be injured if the handles loosen or break and tool head flies off.

· Using the wrong tool like using wrong kind and size of wrench. The wrench will slip if the opening is too large and fits loosely on the nut causing damage to it and injure the worker.

· Right tool, wrong method. On an adjustable wrench pressure should always be applied on fixed jaw and not on the moveable jaw. Never use a "cheater" on it. It is a length of pipe put over the wrench to increase leverage. It will cause mashed fingers or broken limbs.

· All tools should have proper maintenance. Handles and guards should be intact. Safety devices should be installed and checked regularly. Worn or deformed tools should be repaired or discarded.

· Electrical powered tools must be properly wired, insulated and grounded. All power tools like rotary blades; bits and wheels must not be cracked, out-of-round, excessively worn. Since some machines moving parts like powered saws and there is always risk of crushing or cutting of fingers and toes if not paid attention. Make sure pins and collars used on these machines are all intact.

· Pneumatic tools are operated by air pressure, some tools have arbors for mounting wheels, saw blades etc, always check to see these are securely mounted so that these cannot fly off to cause damage or injury. Always turn off and release air pressure before disconnecting air supply hose. Protect your eyes, hands and face while using these tools.

· Gasoline powered tools can cause fire and explosion hazards because of fuel flammable vapors. These tools should be refueled after they have been cooled down and in well-ventilated areas.

· Since some machines moving parts like powered saws and there is always risk of crushing or cutting of fingers and toes if not paid attention. Make sure pins and collars used on these machines are all intact.

Tools & Equipments Safety In Industrial Plants

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Teaching ESL with Playing Cards

!±8± Teaching ESL with Playing Cards

The standard pack of 52 cards is thought to have been invented in Persia. The back design usually looks like a Persian carpet.

Many English speakers do not realize that a club was a soldier's symbol for war. Act out the use of the club (bonk! bonk!). The spade or shovel is a symbol of the farmer, the economic foundation of feudal society (Act out the digging. A shovel is a sap-jil in Korean). The heart symbolizes romance or love and the diamonds symbolize wealth or commerce.

Some (very few parents or bosses) object to using cards in class but I always defend this stance by saying "We do not gamble and we do not play poker. We use the cards to motivate the children and help them learn English." After that I have had no problems.

I introduce the cards by asking:

How many are there? (52 or 13 x 4)

How many colors? (2)

How many kinds or sets (4)

First Class:

In the first class I just throw down random cards and the kids call out the kind. This is challenge enough for beginners. Korean kids typically drop the s off the ends of the words and pronounce with their Konglish saying heart-uh, spade-uh, di-a-mond, club-uh. So the first game or class is a lot about re-teaching pronunciation (hard going voice coaching).

Teach them to say diamonds, hearts, clubs and spades correctly. I don't introduce the word suit. Kinds or sets is enough for ESL learners.

Next teach that the cards make a pack or deck. You can also tell them a pack is like a backpack or a wolf pack. Tell them about shuffling or mixing (be-bim in Korean) the cards.

Finally have the kids call out the Ace 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jack Queen and King. This is easy. The Jack is a royal servant. Ace is generally not known. Most kids call it A. Teach them ace driver, ace shooter, ace golfer etc. Royal in Korean is roughly translated as yang-ban.

First Game:

The first real game I play with kids is SNAP where a kid has to say "snap" and slam down his hand on the cards as I deal them out on a pile.

They love the exciting anticipation of this game. To start just play the game and don't explain rules. When teacher shouts SNAP and slaps down his hand down on the first pair of cards the kids catch on fast.

This game is best played around a small table with the children standing. They will fight for space. If they speak Korean I kick them out for one round of cards. They find this funny.

Sometimes they kick me out for speaking Korean. They find this even funnier!

Second Game:

We sometimes play the Go Fish game with regular playing cards. It involves short dialogue like this: "Do you have an Ace? No, go fish." If readers do not know the Go Fish game then do a search on internet or ask another teacher. It is very useful.

Older Kids:

I do play poker or 21s (Blackjack) with older kids/adults but we use my token coins and these are returned to me at the end of the class (thus not gambling). Kids learn: betting, cheating, cheater, bluffing, bluffer, the kitty, close, fold or out, hit me, bust, I'm out, I'm the winner. All of this is common English, just like many sporting terms, and kids need it to fully understand the language.

Cards are a wonderful way to motivate students and teach English. They don't even think it as class work. The fascination with card games is that they involve mental math, chance, skill, social interaction and sometimes cheating or bluffing. They combine these things and have the appeal of interactive computer games. Young kids are amazed and shocked that teacher cheats sometimes. Hee hee, :o). You will be surprised at their indignation.

Teaching ESL with Playing Cards

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