It isn't very often we are pressed by deadlines in our shop. But last week the big snow storm shut the shop down for a couple of days. This week Monday was a holiday which meant the crew was off another day. The next truck has been scheduled to leave for NEB's in Ontario next Monday. That can't be altered. That means a whole lot of painting needs to be finished by then. The whole crew was busy painting today and made great time. The heat was turned up nice and cozy and plenty of big fans moved the air around over the pieces to help the paint cure in a hurry. The shop is a lot more colourful than a few days previous! It's my bet the job will get done with a few minutes to spare. :)
The highs and the lows
Grant is a big, tall guy and one of our newest hires. When we need something high done Grant is our man. He's new to this business but has such a great attitude. He cheerfully tackles every job we hand him with enthusiasm, even if he's never done anything like it before. I was busy working at some design at my desk in the office today and when I went out into the shop I was surprised to see Grant laying full out on the shop floor. He assured me he had slept well last night and wasn't napping. His excuse for being there was that the only way he could comfortably reach the work he was given was to lay on the concrete floor. That's dedication!
And another one and another one...
In our shop we don't often do multiples of anything, concentrating instead on custom one-offs for the most part. But occasionally when we do a larger project there are certain elements that repeat. In the case of NEB's Fun World there are more than a hundred signs to do and because the first phase is a fifty-two lane bowling alley many of them are very similar. We still hand paint each sign to create a unique piece each time. Many of the crew have worked on the signs over the last while but Jenessa has done the bulk of the fine detailed painting. The fifty-two number plates are done. There are thirty-five name shields in all. Six of them still require final paint and then another eleven shields still remain to start after that. Of the ten giant pennies there are just a few touchups left before they are declared finished. I suspect Jenessa will be more than a little bit glad when they are finally done!
