‘Scuse me, while I kiss the sky
Once in a while I like to write about something that just totally captivates me. This captivation can vary from admiration to curiosity; abhorrence to outrage; and can even be generated from the greatest of fears imaginable to me. In this case, it involves marvel and fear – my fear of extreme heights.
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, also known as the Burj Dubai, opened January 4, 2010 taking the world record by a landslide as the tallest building ever constructed. But that’s not the only thing about this mammoth architectural undertaking that breaks a record.
Current records include:
- Tallest skyscraper to top of spire: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously Taipei 101 – 509.2 m/1,671 ft)
- Tallest structure ever built: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously Warsaw radio mast – 646.38 m/2,121 ft)
- Tallest extant structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously KVLY-TV mast – 628.8 m/2,063 ft)
- Tallest freestanding structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously CN Tower – 553.3 m/1,815 ft)
- Building with most floors: 160 (previously Willis Tower – 108)
- World’s highest elevator installation, situated inside a rod at the very top of the building
- World’s fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) or 18 m/s (59 ft/s) (previously Taipei 101 – 16.83 m/s)
- Highest vertical concrete pumping (for a building): 606 m (1,988 ft) (previously Taipei 101 – 449.2 m/1,474 ft)
- Highest vertical concrete pumping (for any construction): 606 m (1,988 ft)
- The first world’s tallest structure in history to include residential space
- Highest outdoor observation deck in the world (124th floor) at 442 m (1,450 ft)
- World’s highest installation of an aluminium and glass façade, at a height of 512 m (1,680 ft)
- World’s highest swimming pool (76th floor)
- World’s highest nightclub (144th floor)
- World’s highest place of worship (158th floor)
- And, most recently – the structure is now home to the newest record of the highest ever recorded base jumping.
September 21, 2004 began the construction on this massive megastructure, with the architecture and engineering assigned to the firm of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill of Chicago IL. When the idea was first conceptualized it was unknown just how high a skyscraper could be built. In fact, the Burj, which is the arabic word for Tower, reaches such unforeseen heights that a new word was coined to describe its magnitude – ‘Superscraper’. I’ve substituted this with the word Megastructure, it just sounds more fitting.
The final height of the Burj is equivalent to the previous record-holding Taipei 101 Tower in Taiwan with the Eiffel Tower on top of it. A whopping 828 meters, 2717 feet, 160 stories, HIGH. That’s over half a mile high. Already-seasoned visitors to the tower have reported that the best views come from in between 70-80 stories, since it’s near impossible to make out what is on the ground from the top of the structure.
The tower is designed to sway as much as 5.5-6 feet in the worst weather conditions. Not surprisingly, this figure has become controversial – with other experts saying it could be as much as a 10 foot sway. This gives me chills and a visual that’s all my own. You see, to me – this is the stuff nightmares are made of. Which, if you read this blog often, you already know I have some real doozies.
I’ve followed the progress of this monster for years, and the completion of such a feat is something I never could have envisioned. A few people I know say they would love to cruise to the top of this bad boy. I wish I could say the same, but unfortunately I wouldn’t even make it halfway! This thing is way massive, and oddly enough I have a kind of sick respect for the fellas that recently base-jumped off of it. The platform from which they launched from wasn’t even at the top – and it still beat the record by a sizable margin, if that tells you anything.
I cannot imagine living in the city where this colossal cloud-buster resides. To even see it in my peripheral vision would probably give me vertigo. 🙂
Of course, I’m only detailing the facts here that are of interest to me. So here’s a couple good websites to check out extra notable stats and current info on the Burj….
Wikipedia
Burj Dubai Official Site
Lucid Delusions
More dreams last night. But bad ones, bad bad. I’ll detail the worst one.
A good friend of mine’s husband was accidentally ran over by a car. My daughter had driven the car that took him down. She didn’t know she’d hit anyone and freaked out when she was told. The guy, to which I’ll give a fictitious name of Steve, had a few people standing over him. Those people were traumatized by what Steve looked like, and quickly moved away from him.
Steve was left all alone laying on what had now turned into a dirt road in my dream. Not even thinking about it, I ran up to him and knelt down beside him. It quickly hit me what was so traumatizing about his appearance. The entire left side of his head was missing. He was obviously in shock and I realized he would be expiring soon. He was still attempting to get up and was speaking in words that couldn’t be understood. I did my best at making his last few moments as calm as possible, holding him and cradling his head in my arms – and the blood, my God all that blood. It didn’t matter to me though, what was of utmost importance was him having someone there with him during those last few moments of his life.
Flash-forward to another scene in the dream, where Steve was alive and walking around. He still was missing the large portion of his skull, though it had now healed. At least this provides a little consolation to an otherwise horrible Stephen King-flavored dream. I won’t even attempt to interpret this one.
Addendum:
Ironic as it may be, I just received this link in an email from my father-in-law, who doesn’t even know about my dream and does not read this blog. Dirt Roads
Christmas pasts
No, I didn’t spell it wrong, or mis-phrase it. The way it reads just makes more sense to me. Not Christmases, or Christmases past. But rather the many ‘pasts‘ that stick out in my mind whenever I think of Christmas.
Barringer. A brand new pair of shiny black patent leather lace-up boots from my uncle and aunt. Came all the way up to my knees, they did. I laced ’em up right there on the couch as soon as I unwrapped them, my family laughing while my uncle videotaped me. Back then, these videos landed on movie reels. That same year in ’73 I got a jewelry box slammed full of jewelry…. I felt like a princess with all that bling. A princess with mega bling and shiny black boots. I didn’t know it at the time, but the pattern of my taste in life was forming, even then.
Collingwood. Mom and Mammaw had both worked that Christmas eve. Still in her uniform, Mammaw was so exhausted that she laid down in the floor right underneath that Christmas tree. My uncle, Mom’s youngest brother, trotted in with many bags and a huge stuffed dog that was taller than me. That dog ended up being mine, it was too big to wrap. Every year he would go out on Christmas eve and to do his Christmas shopping, hauling the load in at the last minute for Mom and Mammaw to wrap up. That night, Mom laid down with me to get me to sleep so that Santa could come. She fell asleep with me, and Mammaw decided to let her sleep. Later that night, through the bedroom window, I saw my Mammaw and uncle dragging a new bike in for me – to Bon, from Santa. 🙂
Old Dowd. A box FULL of new books. Not any old box – I’m talking a box of epic proportions. There must’ve been 40-50 new books in that one box. The Little House on the Prairie collection, several Tom Sawyer adventures, Little Women, and so many more that I can’t remember. I recall sleeping with some of those books that night, the smell of fresh new books was intoxicating. It was an awesome gift that I enjoyed for many years, from my loving Mama.
Hartford. Ham and lots of goodies to eat. Great uncle J talking with no one listening. My first pair of designer jeans, Calvin Klein himself embroidered on the rear pocket. They were too small and had to be exchanged later, but it was official – I was now cool. Maybe not in my peers eyes, but definitely in my own! Archie, the family dog, gets to experience his once-a-year visit inside the house – much resembling the running of the bulls with the addition of a red Christmas bow stuck to his head.
Ever notice the memories of your childhood Christmas pasts usually involve the gifts you received? The ones that made the biggest impact on you often stick in your memory like glue.
Sloan. My Mother’s boyfriend. I wasn’t so sure about this guy…. didn’t think his intentions were quite up to par with what I knew she deserved. Besides, who did he think he was trying to horn in on our family time? I go my own way, where I want, when I want. Hell I just moved back in from being gone for almost a year, and this guy’s practically running the show. Then again, my Mammaw seems to like him. Mammaw’s a pretty good judge of character, and she’s rarely wrong. Hmm, he gave me a stereo for Christmas. This guy may not be all bad. I’ll just have to keep my eye on him.
Fort Mill. My precious little baby girl made out like a bandit, and I’m so glad. Christmas is different now, somehow… I can’t quite put my finger on why, but know enough to realize it involves the newest part of me – my baby daughter. So THIS is why they say that children make Christmas. I have a family of my own now, added to my existing family, plus my new extended family – that of my husbands. Wow, this holds promise of getting a bit hectic. But hey, that’s Christmas! Oh, and that boyfriend of Mom’s? He’s now my stepdaddy, and pawpaw to my baby girl. And a fine job he’s doing at both.
Abbey/Village Lake. Blessed Christmases. Always blessed, always getting way more than we deserve. It’s not necessarily gifts that stick out in my mind now, rather it’s the multitude of bounties our families bestow upon us during Christmas that seems to always catch us up. We all truly have an abundance, thanks given to our families and God. Okay, there is one time around this era where gifts really do stick out. That would be the Christmas when my husband accidentally threw all his gifts away.
Scarlet. Mammaw’s sick. Really sick. She insisted on getting through Christmas without a hospital visit, but this was a bad idea. She can barely breathe, both her face and body are really swollen. Congestive heart failure is what it ends up being – little did we know then. Fast forward to another Christmas. Pawpaw isn’t feeling well. He’s trying to deal, but running a fever, thinks it’s the flu. It might’ve been the flu then. But it wasn’t the flu that caused his heart to fail in front of us two weeks later.
Poplar Forest. New house, and so proud to have Christmas here. Much has changed in past years, we have two who are no longer with us and are reminded of that pain especially during the holidays. Baby girl is continuing to grow into a fine young lady – downside of this is gifts are getting much harder to pick for her. My most memorable gift – my wedding ring set that my husband had reset from yellow into white gold, given to me on Christmas eve. Little did either of us know then of what was to come in the near future.
Hamilton’s Harbor. I have only one Christmas here, so far – but in a couple of weeks I’ll have two, and with that more memories made. The one Christmas here consisted mainly of my past memories. This can be a good thing, as well as being detrimental – but I have to remember that every single thing we’ve experienced and endured in our lives shapes the person we are today. You either learn and grow… or you let it defeat you. Things change, life changes, and we must go on.
‘God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.’ ~James Matthew Barrie, Scottish dramatist & novelist; best known as the creator of Peter Pan
Life of Bon 
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