An Extraordinary Time

To get to work everyday tower crane operators Eric Lindquist, Ray Arnett, and substitute Shawn Carlson must first climb a 600 foot vertical, orange ladder; the equivalent height of climbing straight up to the top of the Space Needle. Then they can start their workday building the future 42-story Washington Mutual Seattle Art Museum Tower located on First and Second avenues and Union and University streets.

Currently resembling a pencil along the city skyline, the east tower crane is 8 X 8 feet wide and 600 feet tall. Looking straight down they view the new building’s elevator core, columns, and decks of the steel-frame structure, whose peak is currently at the 34th floor. They use the crane to maneuver heavy objects and steel to workers down below.

Construction which began in 2004 is scheduled to be completed sometime in 2006. When it is completed the Washingtion Mutual Center will be tied as the 9th tallest building in Seattle.

The building will be 576 feet above street level – 540 feet of which can be occupied. This is the maximum allowable building height under a cap enacted by the city in 1989. Mayor Greg Nickels is trying to change that to allow for buildings to rise to 700 feet.

Eric Lindquist, 38, Monroe, WA
Myself I climb 40 feet at a time. I climb 2 sections and then I stop. And look and inspect and breathe and climb 40 more. To me it’s no race. I have a lot of things on my mind. I have the day’s agenda ahead. So I’m in no hurry to run up there and get started.

I have lots of pride in it. I grew up in West Seattle and its cool to be a part of the city that you grew up in.

I love the atmosphere, the skyline, you know to me its like a revolving condominium. I can spin around and look in any direction I want. I have the best view in town.

… there’s a huge history behind this style of work. We use the same tools we’ve used for a hundred years. And the history behind these buildings is you know the guys who did that 40 years ago, and they know the guys who did that 50 years ago and its just huge history and to be a part of it for most of us there’s a lot of pride in it. You know hopefully one day 30 years from now somebody will look at our work the same way we look at the other buildings.

Ray Arnett, 48, live in Everett, WA,
It’s like sitting on the back of a fishing pole; swaying up and down. … we’ll be 700 feet when we’re topped out on it.

I just run the crane. Everybody on this job builds the building. We’re all in it together. If somebody gets hurt we all feel it.

Other people see us you know they think we’re rude people, we’re construction workers. They got to remember we’re the ones who risk our life to build the buildings that they’re working in. So you know, it takes a lot of pride for us.

Shawn Carlson, 38, Maple Valley, WA. (one of the substitutes)
My grandpa started building tunnels way back when and my Dad’s been a tower crane operator for the last 40 years. He’s retired for 4 years. When he retired I got to step into his footsteps and be a tower crane operator so he broke me in. Got me trained in the crane. Ever since I was 5 years old I went to work with Dad, it was a Saturday when no one else was around.

Plus my uncle was rigging for my Dad and now my cousin’s rigging for me when I work.

Dad was always proud of being there. That was his career so he was dedicated to the crane.

One question on everyone’s mind: Where do they go to the bathroom?
“The guys go potty in… Tide bottles,” Carlson said, “or bleach bottles or … Tidy Cat (containers).”

Minimum Age Jobs    Fremont      June 18, 2005

At the turn of the 20^th century, 2 million children in the United States worked in factories, mines, farms and on the streets, according to the book Working Children” by Carol Saller.  They could be seen making fabric, selling newspapers, shining shoes, picking cotton or canning fish, to name just a few jobs.

 

Today, child labor laws mandate that you must typically be at least 14 years old to do a maximum of three hours of light work a day.  Ironically, if you’re younger than that and you want to make some money, you must start your own business.  This often involves tackling such tasks as baby-sitting, mowing lawns, organizing a car wash, selling lemonade from a stand, or walking dogs.

 

Then again, you could pursue your dreams.  Just ask 13-year-olds James Squires and Joe Samsel of Seattle.

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James:  Maybe 4 or 5 weeks ago it was Sunday …..  and we were like hey! We have buckets everywhere, Let’s go play some.  And it started out kind of slow, but once we got the bass pedal into it, it was really nice, and the people all around were really good to us and stuff. And then it kind of escalated from there. And now we’re playing here (at the Fremont Fair)  and its really fun.  And the kind of music we play, its kind of like Stomp.

Joe:  At first we were really nervous.

James: He was.

Joe:  I was like flipped out and I was like man! ‘Cuz James is a way better drummer than me. 

James:  We play at the Sunday Fremont market from about 1:30 to 3.  We don’t really have an exact time – we get there when we get there.  But it’s really fun.

James:  The money!  Good.

Joe: Very good

James:  It’s a lot of money.  We really don’t have anything to spend it on except for candy. We go to like the 76 up the street and just, like, buy food. That’s all we do.  Or the bus….  We made  $50 in 20 minutes, a couple weeks ago.  ….  (Today) that looks like about $20.  We’ve only been playing for about 20 minutes.

James:  We’re called Rain because when we first started, it was pouring down rain on us. 

Ballet in Seattle began in 1966, with the Pacific Northwest Ballet Association, which announced its hope to create a permanent, professional company. In 1972, the Pacific Northwest Dance Association emerged, and in March 1975, its dancers appeared in Seattle Opera’s production of “Manon.” Kent Stowell and Francia Russell took over as artistic directors in 1977, and in 1978, the association’s name changed to Pacific Northwest Ballet. The company grew in size and stature over the years, and today it has 43 dancers and a ballet school with more than 900 students.

After 28 years, Stowell and Russell are retiring. Principal dancer Noelani Pantastico, 25, was among those who participated in a tribute to the couple at McCaw Hall on Sunday night.

Noelani Pantastico, 25, principal dancer
My life changed from being a 16 year old girl in a small town Carlisle, Pennsylvania to becoming this city kid in Washington, living in my own apartment at 17. This was when I got my apprenticeship. So my parents moved me out here in 97/98 season and they got me my own apartment, they shut me up and I had to live and cook for myself and take care of myself and when you’re used to living in a house with ..I have 5 other siblings, so it was a wake up call. It was scary, it was really frightening and I remember some really lonely nights. But the great thing was when you join a ballet company its your family, you know, I mean it took me a few years to definitely be liked by people and for people to get used to me. But Kent and Francia were like my Mom and Dad in a sense even though the relationship wasn’t exactly the same. You know, I looked up to them like parents you know and they were responsible for me in a sense.

I’m scared of Kent and Francia leaving. I’m very scared of that. But I’m also excited for Peter Bohl to come in.

A lot of the dancers are scared. They don’t know what to expect. We’re only on contract for as year. When we sign contracts in February they’re only for a year. So a lot of the dancers are scared that maybe , maybe I won’t get a job next year. You know where are we in a year. I think that’s the only thing. People are just scared of the future. And I think they have nothing to be worried about. Peter’s a smart man and the company’s going to go so far and the company’s already great so the only place we can go is up.

…we’re used to a mother and father figure in front of the room and now its just one person. And we don’t even know that person very well. We know his past and how famous he is and what a star he is in our eyes but then to work with him is scary and not know him is scary. ‘Where did Mom and Dad go?’ you know (laugh). But I think that Kent and Francia still will be around and I’m still going to write them and let them know whats going on in my life. They’re still going to be attending performances and giving me their 2 cents, I know they are (laugh)

Seattle’s public transportation first began with horse-drawn street cars in 1884.  Electric streetcars appearsed in 1889, and by the 1890’s, the city had 22 separate streetcar lines operated by private owners.  Today, Seattle and King County are served by more than 1,300 buses, and about 300,000 bus boardings occur each weekday.  Many Metro buses still follow routes established by those early streetcar and interurban lines.

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Nate Sullivan, 31, Seattle.   “Today was great. Cuz I like my job. 

My day was great cuz I have a good job.  I work right over there in that building over there.  I’m an IT and I’ve got a cool job.  Network administrator. 

There’s really not… There’s like the business professionals that ride the bus, there’s the people that ride the bus only in the free zone because they can’t afford to ride anywhere else..  I have to ride the bus because I don’t want to pay for parking.

Curtis Calder, age 33, Seattle   It was good.  An alright day at work.  Nothing too stressful.  I work down at Pike Place market I manage a store down there.  I love it. 

Because I don’t want to have a car in Seattle.  I don’t need one.  I live close enough to work and the bus is just fine.  Its about 10 minutes. I think it’s a much less stressful alternative  than to actual driving.  What I think of the people riding the bus with me is that we’re all in the same boat.  Just like neither of us want to compete with traffic.  You can get on the bus, sit down, relax, read, (get into your day or like on the way home) sort of like let work go and get ready for your home stuff.  I read.  I’m always reading on the bus. 

Katie McGowan, age 24, Wallingford   I had a great day today.  I’m leaving work today.. I took the LSAT yesterday so I’m no longer under stress.  I spent 3 months studying for it.  I’m just glad its over.  I’m a law librarian.

Kitty Wong, age 44, Queen Anne     My day was fantastic. Because I work at a great company with a great group of people.  I work as an interior designer for a large architectural firm.  … We can be very proud of the projects that we work on.  I’m commuting by bus, the #2 Express, the friendliest bus driver and very good prompt service….  I’m taking the bus because its convenient, it puts me in some of a schedule, and I can just sit on the back of the bus, read my book and not worry about driving home.  I meet my friend Rebecca on the bus spontaneously.  We also met on the bus stop so that was very nice.

Catherine Pottinger, age 72, Central Area   I had a very good day.  I’m going to a meeting.  Coalition of Labor Union Women meeting.  I get to see my friends, old friends.  I’m taking the bus from my home down to downtown and then I’ll take the bus to the Labor Temple.  I enjoy the other people who ride the bus with me.  Its nice to have other people around.  They’re friendly.  I take the bus everyday to get out.

David Rice, age 48, downtown Seattle  I live here in Seattle.  As you can see I’m disabled.  I should have got out more than…  It was a good day.  I got out and did a little shopping.  Everyone was all kind and considerate.  Even young teenagers they move away because they see me with a cane and see disabled. And they move out. 

I’m glad you asked that question because I was just telling a friend of mine the other day… Attitude.  That’s what I find alot of on this bus is attitudes.  You know especially with these teenagers and they got to hollering and screaming and they’re the ones that tend to be seen.  It all boils down to attitude and I think that’s the one thing I noticed on the bus.

I’m disabled for over 14 years and I don’t know how to drive.  This one guy, he and his wife like to sit around and people watch.  People watch.  And I’m like “I think I’ll go people watch (laugh) And I get on the bus and drive around and like right now that you mention it I’m kinda people watching but I’m gonna go get some scratch off tickets.

And its gets me out of the house because I live in a studio.  It’s a good experience on a day like today.  It was dry.  I wish I knew how many buses there were in town.  I’d like to say that we need more buses but if there was more buses then it (the streets) would get clogged up and all that.  Not a good idea.

Darryl Dashilla, age 18, Auburn  My day was pretty good.  I played a really good game that I like.  It was a video game.  I just played with some friends.

I don’t think about people around me on the bus at all.  I’m just looking at the window.  I ride the bus a lot.  Getting work and just getting everywhere.  Its my only transportation.  I don’t have a car.

Taihei Fukumoto, age 15, West Seattle  My day was good because I’m out of school now.  Now that I’m out of school. I just finished my freshman year in high school.  Its good I’m out of school because school is boring.  Today was good because I had a lot of stress off my shoulders and I can do what I want.