Results tagged “#CLIRWater”

This report is reported to report the fact that the report for the newly reported reports has been reported to the person in charge of reporting these reports to another committee responsible for reporting the final report in the form of a physical report. The report should also report the fact that the word "report" has been reported more than what the reporting guidelines would recommend in a report, for the amount of reports with metadata, that is. Lastly, it is reported that the grammar might make no sense whatsoever, reportedly.

This week I continued working on the metadata for the collections from the A.K. Smiley Public Library. The items I uploaded this week were mainly telegrams, telegraphs and a handful of letters. They were sent between James T. Taylor, the chief engineer at the Bear Valley Irrigation Company and the Spreckels Bro's Commercial Company.

The subject that was mainly exchanged was the shipment of a specific type of cement known as the 'Willingham' cement at the rate of $3.55. Usually cement prices are measured per ton, but in the materials I worked on, it was not mentioned clearly on what metric basis they were measured in. In 2018, the price of a ton of cement was approximately $125.00. Also, I was unable to find any solid information on what the 'Willingham' cement was. The shipping of the cement was done using railroads. Thus, in the telegrams or telegraphs, the number of cars of cement being shipped was stated, which was usually followed by a reply confirming the arrival of materials. When the term 'cars' were mentioned, it referred to the railway cars.

One unique letter that caught my eye was a reference letter for a Mr. Marcus A. Byron for a job at the Bear Valley Irrigation Company. Having come near my graduation and as I will be moving into the zone of job hunting where reference letters are a key factor, this letter rather reminded me to change gears and pick up some speed on my career front.

There always comes a time when one has to say goodbye to their colleagues and this task may prove to be a difficult one. This week, several thoughts were going through my mind as I was deciding what to blog about on my last day as a CLIR CCEPS fellow. But now, when the actual moment has arrived, I can't think of anything except two words, 'Thank you!' I can't tell you how enriching my last year has been here at CLIR CCEPS. My mentor, Tanya, has been a great source of motivation and support. There are several fellows who have supported me to complete my tasks in a successful manner (You know who are!) and I am grateful to them. I always worked harder because of their support. My entire journey has not only been the most enriching but also fun-filled. I am going to miss the days spent here and I will utilize what I have learned in my future endeavors.

Once again, thank you all!

For the past few weeks, I have been updating and renaming files for Frankish Letters Book 5. Most of the letters I worked on were written in 1887. This made me wonder how Mr. Frankish would celebrate Memorial Day. After some research, I discovered that until 1890, Memorial Day was celebrated in all the states of the North. It was only after World War I, that the holiday changed to honor the memory of all Americans who died in any war - not only Civil.

I could definitely make use of software that is well equipped to decipher Mr. Frankish's handwriting. In the meantime, Tanya has been a great help in deciphering them. Thanks Tanya!

This was my last week before I take a break for my final exams. I continued to work on the metadata for the collections from the A.K. Smiley Public Library. The items that I uploaded this week mostly consisted of letters, telegrams and receipts. The main subjects that were under discussion through the various formats of written communication were of payments that had to be made to certain parties, negotiation of rates for supply of goods, shipments of goods and water supply for irrigation. I also had the opportunity to photograph and edit a few oversize items. Using the Hasselblad camera after nearly 6 months was exciting. I also had the opportunity to look at the new Phase One camera that will be used henceforth for photographing oversize items. I hope I get an opportunity to work on the Phase One camera after I come back from my finals week.

Working with the camera can be physically and emotionally draining. You may wonder what can help to ease the process. Here are a few tips that may make your trips to the camera room a little easier. First, coffee can help. Drinking a few cups before the photo shoots may give you anxiety but will help you stay alert. Second, be prepared to spend a few hours in the camera room. It will take a few tries before you get that perfect shot. Nothing will ever be perfect; but after a few hours, you will get close to what you want. Third, bring power bars as you may need to skip lunch or grab a late one - a very late one. Finally, bring a friend who actually knows everything about using a camera.

Have you ever struggled to fold laundry, vacuum or clean ovens? If yes, you may have something in common with Mr. Charles Frankish. In 1891, Mr. Frankish was searching for someone to do household work. Someone who would be very quick and very clean. In a letter to L. A. Fawn, he wrote, "...Now don't send anyone unless he is very good as I won't pay anything to one who is no good." 

Got final papers,

While looking for an item to post on the social media page, I discovered an interesting newspaper article from the California Water Documents collection on the building of the 'Colorado Aqueduct'. The article talks about the speeding of the work related to building of the aqueduct by certain citizen groups and the engineers. The idea of the aqueduct was conceived by William Mulholland but the construction was headed by Frank E. Weymouth, the Metropolitan Water District chief engineer. This aqueduct was one of the largest projects that existed in California during the Great Depression. This project had given employment to more than 10,000 people in a year. It was one of the primary sources of drinking water for Southern California.
While I was doing research on the Colorado Aqueduct, I was directed to the page of the 'Los Angeles Aqueduct' that was the basis for the movie 'Chinatown' (1974), directed by Roman Polanski. The movie talks about the murder of the chief engineer who refuses to build an aqueduct, which was set on the background of the water wars that existed in California. There were a lot of controversies surrounding the 'Los Angeles Aqueduct' as it had completely sabotaged the agricultural land that existed in Owen's Valley. 'Chinatown' (1974) being one of my favorite movies and screenplays, I was highly intrigued on finding an item on similar grounds.

Previously I raved about scanning a book. Most books are relatively easy to scan. Nevertheless, caution is required as one should not apply pressure to books in order to flatten them for image capture as it may break the spine of the book. Still, a brittle piece of paper needs more care. The texts may be obscured by persistent folds which need to be flattened by weights. Items that are oversized need special attention and may instead need to be photographed. Overall, scanning seems to be an art in its own right.

Open the lid up 
Paper in, now paper out 
Light on, now light off 
Switch up, switch up 
Tell me what folder you're on now
Zoom in, now zoom out 
Type up, now type more 
Print up, print up 
Tell me what box you're on now

We regret to inform you, the five people that somehow bother to read any of this, that the publication of this post is delayed until our censor return. Due to the writer/employee/student/prankster's extremely high level of immaturity, we have to review each submission carefully multiple times to weed out any potentially offensive language and innuendo hidden in various pop culture references and dank memes. As a token of our sincere apology, please click on this message and bask in the vast, white, empty space of nothingness right below the text. (Note: glue paste is provided at the physical location of the library.)