Jimmy Harmon

We started saw cutting yesterday and were on a roll when we noticed the blades start slipping again. I looked at the belt, which I had not changed yet, and noticed that it was getting pretty worn down. Since we had another one, I thought it was a good idea to go ahead and change it out.

When I took the blades off, a tiny pin dropped out. One of the pins had already broke off. The pins are designed to help hold the blades together in unison. Work had to come to a halt while I looked around for the piece to replace it. I found it from RSC in Decatur, Alabama. I should be able to get it this morning between 9 and 10 am.

I still hold to my belief that the Cut N Break saw is great. It’s done more than its fair share of work and it’s saved me more money than I paid for the saw. That makes it a good purchase.

My wife and I have been married 13 years as of today! We have 2 very beautiful daughters and I can honestly say it’s been the best 13 years of my life! I couldn’t imagine life without here. Not only is she my rock and foundation, she’s literally the one that keeps me on the straight and narrow. She’s such a good woman, I wish I could share her with the world… but I’m too greedy for that. I want her all to myself!

We’re currently sitting in a hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee. She and the kids came more than halfway to meet with me for 2 days. I think she said it took her 6 hours to get here. It took me around 4 at the most. Like I said, she’s a good woman!

She doesn’t read jimmyharmon.com, but I’ll say Happy Anniversary anyway! We didn’t really get each other anything this year. I guess we’d rather just spend time together than worry about presents and such. Not that we don’t ever get one another something on anniversaries, we just didn’t this year because we’ve been away from each other and hadn’t really thought about it. We’ll make it up next year I’m sure!

We went to McDonalds for breakfast and then went straight to the Children’s Museum of Memphis. I think we all not only learned something there, but I’m quite sure we all had a great time! Amber even got to eat a chocolate covered cricket!

From there we went to the Memphis Fireman’s Museum. It was actually pretty cool! I saw some things there that were from the early 1900’s and some of the hero’s who helped bring things to where they are today.

We ended the day by going to one of my favorite restaurants, Joe’s Crab Shack! I swear, I could eat there every other day if I could! It’s just a little too expensive for that. The kids love the crab too, so it makes for an expensive meal.

We ended the day at the pool where we relaxed and watched the kids swim. Denise and I usually get into the hot tub, but you can’t really stay in too long. It starts to make you a little dizzy… we’re dizzy enough already! It was a great family day!

I’m finally here in Memphis with my family! So far we’ve gone out to eat at Logans Roadhouse, which was really, really good, and then we let the kids go swimming for a couple of hours.

I’m not sure what we’re doing today, but whatever we do, I’ll be happy as long as I get to be with my family while we do it! It was great getting hugs from everyone… makes you feel like a real person again.

I’d like to visit Sun Studios while we’re here. That’s where the million dollar quartet sang together. Johnny Cash, Elvis, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Lots of history in this town. We may go to the Memphis zoo, but I’ll be happy doing whatever the kids want.

When I first got to the room yesterday, they had my birthday presents sitting on the bed. I’d actually got so excited about seeing my family, I forgot about them bringing me anything for my birthday. It was pretty cool. I got a new rain suit which I very much needed, a back brace for saw cutting and a good pair of boots to do my saw cutting in.

The last thing they got me was something I mentioned I wanted sometime back. It’s one of those little robots you use to clean out your gutters with. I can hardly wait to get home so I can use it. It’s from iRobot. It should be fun to say the least.

Although we’ve completed 2 of 3 phases at the distribution center and we’re starting on the final phase today fully caught up and ahead of schedule, I feel as if I shouldn’t be going to see my family this weekend. I’m meeting them in Memphis, Tennessee this afternoon.

At any rate, the reason I feel as if I shouldn’t go, even though everything is well taken care of, is simply the general contractors ability to make me feel like crap through other individuals! I know, it actually sounds insane. Well, it is!

Never having done or seen an actual dock leveler before this job started, I didn’t know what to do or what to expect. Come to find out it’s actually a pretty simple process. Cut out the concrete, install the frame and pour concrete around it. Sounds simple, right? It really is.

Even though it’s a simple process for me, it seems like we just haven’t done it right. Why? Glad you asked. The first time we poured, we poured extremely dry. While not a mistake, it caused us to have to work harder after the fact by having to fill in little (and sometimes big) holes when we removed our forms. Looking back on it, I don’t think the General Contractor really saw what the concrete looked like when we took the forms off the first time. When everything was all said and done, it actually looked very good. There were just a couple of things we needed to do to make it perfect. After everything was done, the contractor said it looked good.

On our second pour, we did everything the same way with the exception of pouring the concrete a little more wet. We thought it turned out better than the first time. Lee (My guy) was told they looked worse than the first ones. In my opinion, they turned out GREAT!

The last time I went home for a couple of days, I got a call from the contractor telling me we weren’t on schedule and things weren’t getting done. I called Lee and he told me he had no idea what the guy was talking about. He even put someone else (Rick) on the phone and he told me the same thing. Nonetheless, I went home, packed up, gave everyone a kiss and drove all night just to get to the job and find out that everything was just fine! It’s an 8 hour drive!

So you can see why I have issues with leaving for the weekend. I miss my family like crazy, but I’m only going to be 4 hours away. If anything happens, I can be back pretty quick. I have confidence in Lee, so I’m not really that worried. I just hope Cybill can do without me for 48 hours while things ARE getting accomplished!

Today I turn 41 years old. It seems like a milestone to me. Why? Because when I was younger, I half expected to see my next birthday. I can remember when I tuned 20. I couldn’t believe I actually made it!

Things sure are alot different now. Not only do I expect to make it to my next birthday, I’m enjoying the challenges life brings at me. It seems the devil has tried everything he can to get me to fail, but God had and has another plan for me and my family.

I’d also like to thank my wife. Not only has she stood by me when times were tough, she continues to encourage me everyday when it comes to pursuing what I want most out of life… a happy family and a successful business. We’ve been self employed since 2002 and we’ve seen some very tough times. We’ve been through alot, but we’re alive, healthy and happy! As long as we keep God first in our lives, which we sometimes forget, we’ll continue to pursue the life we desire with one another.

One of the highlights from today? It snowed… One my birthday in the deep south it snowed! It came down very gently just about all day. Since snow is one of my favorite things in the world, it was something I’ll remember for a long time.

My wife ordered me a cake from Walmart (She’s so thoughtful). She’s in Northwest Arkansas and ordered it from the Walmart here in Alabama. I’ll try and remember to get a picture of it before we dig in!

I hope everyone has a great day and thanks for listening!

The guy who’s helping me in Cullman talked me into having his younger, 17 year old son, help us get this project done. So far he seems like a really nice kid. Hope it remains that way.

Today, we’ll pour concrete on the floor of the docks. Tomorrow we’ll set the metal plates in and hopefully have concrete poured either tomorrow or Wednesday. Then we’ll be done with phase 2 of 3. Yippee!

I still love the saw, but I do have a complaint.

It’s almost like a chainsaw when it comes to tightening the tension on the belt that drives the blades. As I was cutting, I noticed the blades coming to a screeching halt. I thought I had it fixed and tight, but every once in awhile, the blades seem to slow down. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a major problem, but I also think it might just be me pushing down a little too hard. It could also be me being paranoid.

Down in Alabama, we’re putting in new dock levelers. Before I was asked to do the job, I’m not sure I had even heard of a dock leveler. In fact, I didn’t really grasp the concept until I actually cut the concrete out, poured it back and saw everything come together.

In preparing to place a new dock leveler in concrete, we have to cut the concrete horizontally 97 inches, up on both side 12 1/2 inches and back into the concrete another 20 inches. Then we cut the back 97 inches again. Once the concrete gets cut out, we have what looks like a couch built right into the concrete. It’s actually a very cool process.

The question for me was “how can I cut 20 inches deep and 12 inches down?”

I found a saw online called the Cut N Break from Husqvarna. It claimed it could cut to a depth of 16 inches… with 8 inch blades! I did some research and all I could find was a video directly from Husqvarna showing the operator cutting a window hole out of a wall. It works with 2, 8 inch blades approximately 3/4 of an inch apart. You can cut to an initial depth of 2 1/2 inches and then you “break” and remove the center concrete. It’s VERY easy. Since there are two of us, I would start cutting 2 1/2 inches deep 97 inches horizontally and once done, I’d start cutting the next one. While I was cutting the next one, the other guy would start breaking off the concrete. Of course, it only takes about 2 minutes to break the concrete.

After comparing the electric version and he gas version, I went ahead a bought the gas version from a company called Tool Fetch, another company I’d never heard of who turned out to be excellent!

I’ll just go ahead and get to the meat of the story. The saw not only works, but it works better than I ever thought it would! It does in fact cut to a depth of 16 inches, and it does so with ease! I’ll admit that cutting horizontally isn’t as easy as cutting up and down, but it does the job rather nicely, and it’s pretty darn quick too. I hope to buy another one in the near future.

Talking to her on the phone now… well, video chat anyway. God I miss my family. I sure could use a hug from each of my kids and my wife! Talking on video chat just isn’t the same. It’s ok, but I sure could use the real thing!

It’s about time for bed, so I guess i”ll go to sleep and dream about where I’d really rather be.