Driving, Driving, Driving

An end  on a hydraulic cylinder broke on a large hydraulic excavator on the project today. The break was at the upper coupling pin housing, which is about three inches in diameter.

This isn't the first time this happened, and the problem is associated with crappy steel used for the initial fabrication. If I had to guess, forged steel was avoided, due to costs, and the manufacturer crossed their fingers, in the hope the warranty work would be minimal.

Anyway, the repair was warranted, so I had the exquisite opportunity to drive to Houston and watch it repaired.

Have you ever driven in Houston, Texas? If not, you should avoid it, unless necessary. There are enough drivers without the skills to drive in traffic to cause problems; maybe more than enough. People wandering in from the boonies are more than dangerous.

To add insult to injury, I've had enough experience driving in Houston; and I know enough about the freeway system to navigate with few problems. That's good for me, but leads to moments of anger, when people don't pay attention to the multiple signs that indicate in which lane a driver should exit. Their panic, last minute lane changes, and failing to accelerate into the merging traffic leads to all types of mayhem.

I escaped, before I lost my mind.