Haven't slept in years
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Monday, November 30, 2009
I see that Shatler is exactly as I left it.
Rather disappointing, but not unexpected.
Well, made it back from Calgary despite the blizzard that blew up around 1300. I decided to wait here until it died down rather that go back to Shatler in time for a Swine Flu shot, so I took the opportunity to do some model work.
I returned to the PRSX car and applied the water-slide decals to one side. All went well except for the reflective striping decals which disintegrated upon application.
I also got a BNSF SD40 today that will shed its BNSF markings and, at some time, become leaser CITX 3020. The first thing I did as I took it out of the box was drop it. Luckily it did not fall far, but it was enough to damage handrails and the sunshade on the conductor's side, as well as partially dislodge the cab.
Goody.
The company of idiots is inspiring. Every ounce of a derision is admiration, and every syllable of insult a compliment. An idiot will disparage another and not examine himself; he will find the faults in others he is too afraid to find in his own small mind. The idiot is a talentless critic. An idiot uses imagination only to convince himself that he is equal to his superiors. The actions of an idiot are the manifestations of an inferior talent, and the mouth of an idiot is a window to a barren intellect. An idiot has no confidence in the abilities of another, fearing his own inadequacies to be omnipresent. The self-improvement of an idiot lies only in the degradation of others. An idiot gathers crumbs from under a table and thinks himself a king for being at the feast. An idiot befriends other idiots first out of fear, second out of ignorance. The idiot will give advice, but will not take it. The idiot's capacity for boredom is limitless, for in boredom lies safety. An idiot is a frightened barbarian trapped in an arena with a gladiator.
An idiot.....is an extremely fucking infuriating individual.
Technically, it is already Return to Shatler Day.
By the way, I have been wondering lately if there is some wordplay at work in these parts. It has interested me to ponder whether or not the county name "Kneehill" is in fact a play on the word nihil.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
On account of a unilateral move by the company to increase the monthly mileage maximum from 3800 to 4300.
I wonder when that will be coming for us.
4300 miles is a lot. I know that there was the mileage relaxation in place for some time to allow people who wanted to work extra do so, but to make 4300 the minimum and have that as the basis of acceptable performance...seems like a lot. 3800 was already 10-12 round trips per month. Assuming 24 hours per round trip (i.e. 10 hours each way, four hours layover at the AFHT, to take some numbers out of the air) ... that works out to 10 or 12 days worked, or 240 to 288 hours. An average person will work 160 hours in that time. With scheduled time off and regular rest patterns. At 4300 miles...a person would be at work more around 100% more than if they had a "normal" job.
In other words, what choice do you have but to double out every time if you want to make 4300 miles?
Hmm.
So Kelly shows up a half hour late yesterday and immediately tells me that we had a "miscommunication" last week. I respond in the affirmative. He asks me "what we should do about it." I respond that it's more or less his call.
So he gives me this spiel about how I should have put the brakes on since I was on that side and saved him the walk. He asks, specifically, if I thought that it was "fair" to him to make him walk five carlengths to tie the north side down.
Like as if I give a good goddamn what's fair to Baby Kelly.
I don't want to be one of those "in my day" people, but when CP cancelled the second crew bus in Alyth, I had to walk from the west end of the departure yards to the Pulldown Tower after I every train we set. That distance was over a mile. Don't soil your frickin' pampers over five cars.
So I reply that it's not a matter of whether or not it's fair, it's a matter of the conductor getting the handbrakes the last 65 times we put the train away and then this suddenly being different last week.
"Oh," he says. "Well, we'll keep doing that then. I guess it was my fault for not telling you we were going to do something differently."
The fact remains, in my opinion, that by this point it's not a fault issue since our responsibility was shared anyway. But, nonetheless, the truth is that both he and Shane tried blaming it on me and when I wouldn't bite they both rolled over instantly.
I'm also still of the feeling that if I'm making them work too hard, they should book off. He gets to sit on his ass and talk to Shane at the station while I'm across town with the engineer getting the unit. And he got to stand around and talk to Shane in Big Valley while the rest of us worked at the dinner, and then take an early supper break with his buddy while the rest of us were working. By the time everyone else got to eat, the supper was cold. And when we got back to town, save for his four handbrakes and making one cut, he got to sit on his ass in the station again and talk to Shane while I take the unit back across town. I'm sorry pal, but even with having to do all the brakes when we get back to town, I don't think you're overworked. The thing is, though, that Kelly, I have noticed, gets to pick and choose when he works and what he does. Clearing away plates and serving wine is beneath him, for instance, which is why it gives him great pleasure to remind me that that is my assignment.
Anyway, I'm not certain that the issue was resolved to either of our satisfactions. I think the plan was for me to say "yes sir, sorry sir, it won't happen again sir, and can I kiss your ass, sir?" whereas I was hoping for a more dramatic altercation, as a consequence of which I would not need to worry about going back to Stettler for 8 am on Tuesday.
In addition, I had to look after drink ticket sales for a while, and I was told that I "make change like Archie Bunker." I asked Bob what the significance of the All in the Family reference was, and he begins by saying that "Archie Bunker was not a bright individual."
Ah well.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
A revelation from this afternoon is that I may have to wear a Big Bird costume for the children's Christmas runs on December 23.
Hmm.
Maybe there was something in the water after all: apparently 4000 homes in Edmonton still have lead water pipes.
Second, my new name at "work" is "Thespian Boy." Oh, how I despise the scorn of idiots.
Third, a song.
100 trips from the car to the shop
A hundred trips to the shop
Get on the ground, walk around
Think I'll come back 20 minutes late from lunch.
In other news, I am returning to Innisfail tonight since I have to go to a funeral tomorrow. Oh goody.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Here at the Western World
Down at the Lido they welcome you
With sausage and beer
Klaus and the rooster have been there too
But lately he spends his time here
Hangin' with the mayor and all his friends
And nobody cares
Where the sailor shuts out the sunrise
Blacked out on the stairs
Chorus:
Knock twice, rap with your cane
Feels nice, you're out of the rain
We got your skinny girl
Here at the western world
Ruthie will give you the silver key
To open the red door
Lay down your jackson and you will see
The sweetness you've been cryin' for
In the night you hide from the madman
You're longing to be
But it all comes out on the inside
Eventually
In the night you hide from the madman
You're longing to be
But it all comes out on the inside
Eventually
This one has music. As one might guess, my inspiration left me before it was finished, so I have been trying to work it out for days.
The Serpent's Hands
Run away
To a misty yellow wood
Where I cannot be found.
Where I can scream out loud
Where my love is allowed.
Close my eyes
On a million dead end streets*
In the cold dark city.
Miles of concrete pity.
My pain was so vain.
Turn my back
On my old ways today.
Yeah it's time, for a change.
I've been so deranged.
But my goals were attained.
Cast off these chains
And feel new again.
No love, no fall,
No joyous refrain.
No hate, no rose
By no other name.
No death without life,
Or while one life remains.
I won't sue
Noone for second chances.
I'm the bastard king.
I've got everything.
I want not what you bring.
Step aside,
You crawling mass humanity.
You can't stand to see
All, inside of me.
It might set you free.
I won't heed
The malice of my enemies.
I'm more than a man.
I'm the serpent's hands.
And I will cleanse this land.
I'm the serpent's hands,
And I will cleanse this land.
* From David Bowie's "Changes."
Well, nothing is going to come of the handbrake issue here. On the advice of my dad I am letting it lie. Such as it is right now, the issue is more or less closed. If I prod baby Kelly he may run and cry to Don, in which case we are in major trouble.
So, barring, (and that constitutes a big "if") any smart comments, this sleeping dog shall lie. As my dad said, "you're just waiting to leave anyway, so why bother wasting your breath on those babies?"
Yep. The secret to getting along in the world is allowing the arrogant to think that they are superior: one cannot reason with the mornonic.
Our heavenly Father:
I pray in thanksgiving for Jack Daniel's Quality Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey, among the other blessings which I enjoy this day.
I pray also for Kelly and Shane, and that their brains may one day prove of some use, most likely preserved in formaldehyde and the subject of study.
I pray this is your name,
Amen.
Turns out that a situation arose on Saturday in which a cut of passenger cars was left without handbrakes. Shane tries to come after me for it, and I tell him that in this situation, there was joint responsibility and that, not in so many words, he'll have to go and pick on his buddy Kelly too.
So he thinks maybe he'll drop it.
Then later on I hear him and Kelly talking on the other side of a car, and all I can make out is Kelly saying "so I've got to do everything on my own now?"
So, Shane did tell Kelly, and then Kelly, obviously, thought that he had better start badmouthing me.
The long and short of it is that the accepted practice here, rightly or wrongly, if for the trainman to blow and go with the north cut and put the engine away. Afterwards, the conductor ties it down. This time I didn't happen. I took the engine across town, and Kelly didn't put the brakes on. But, I'm not without fault because I did not ask, and we are required as a crew to confirm with one another that equipment has been secured in accordance with policy. True, I was given no indication that Saturday was different than the other 60 trips we did this summer, but apparently it was so. I didn't ask, and now my ass is in the fire too. Hmm.
I guess my question is do I turn us in and cut off my own nose to spite my face?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Those of you interested in hockey are no doubt familiar with the term "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" which refers to a player getting a goal, an assist, and a fight in one game, in contrast to the regular "Hat Trick" which refers to a player scoring three goals.
The question is how many Gordie Howe Hat Tricks did Gordie Howe have in his career?
According to Gord Miller on TSN, only one.
How odd.
As I look at the cable guide, I see that on one channel there is AVP Volleyball. That's not what I think it is....is it??
Also, a prayer.
Dear Lord:
I thank thee for this another day of blessings and good fortune from which I was able to return safe.
I thank thee as well for the food I am about to eat, and the many comforts that I enjoy.
I thank thee finally for Jack Daniel's Quality Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey, and its many fine qualities.
In the name of the Father,
Amen.
Finally, I am now officially useless. Today, after lunch, Don gave me $20 and told me to go and wash his truck. I think my parents can now stop being proud of me.
What the heck is in this fridge that is giving everything that weird banana taste?!?!? The bananas are on the counter, and the awful strawberry-banana yogurt crap that Totten bought is long gone.
Now the taste is in the milk and the cheese. It's jalapeno cheese! With an undertone of banana.
Ugh.
In other news, I spent the morning puting diesel in things. All the tanks on the passenger cars got diesel. 7438 got diesel. That took three and a half hours.
Anyway, I was filling 5080 and Shane comes out. "Is that dyed diesel?" he asks. I respond with a yes. "Huh," he says. In the little sight glass it doesn't look very dyed.
That was when I first started.
Then, after I was done, Don asks if I put fuel in 7438. Yes. Two tanks. (Hence my two hour absence.)
He proceeds to ask if I've been buying purple diesel, because I should have been. I say yes, I've been buying the right thing. So I wonder who told who what over there this morning.
I've been going to pump six at UFA. Pump six is dyed diesel. The diesel going into the sliptank is purple. The receipt says dyed diesel. Need I say more.
"Hello, UFA? This is Don Gillespie over at Alberta Prairie. I don't know what you guys are doing over there, but your purple diesel isn't purple enough for God's own railroad over here. We're going to have to take our business elsewhere."
Monday, November 23, 2009
Found that someone has taken the "No Junk Mail" sticker off my mailbox, so it was bursting at the seams.
Funny. Very funny.
Other than that, got a little train gear, a CP hat, and an old book of CP station names and numbers. Want to know where CP connected to Chesapeake and Ohio in 1985? This book will tell you.
And that's about all there is to report for today.
This is my 2000th post.
Well, LJ, I guess we've been through just about everything together.
Stay tuned for further coverage.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
I accomplished nothing. Had a coke with cherry whiskey: the whiskey has been sitting in my closet here since 2005.
I also inventoried my farm toys. As it turns out, not counting my previous collection from childhood, I now have 151 tractors, 10 combines, and 34 implements of varying descriptions.
I found today that, out of the lot, I have three doubles, though technically two are different. I have two IH 1456 tractors as well as two IH 560 tractors, though one of each is from the "State Tractors" series and, although the castings are identical, the paint is different. Also, I have two John Deere 820 tractors. This is only so since one comes in the 80-820-830 set, the purchase of which is the only way to get the JD 80 and JD 830 in green paint since the other 830 that comes with the "30 Series" set is painted yellow. The wide-front 820 is also found in the 5/6/7/820 set which I have had for some time.
I see also that there are farm shows coming up in Lethbridge and Edmonton. It may be a chance to get some rarer items...
Anyway, I suppose that that is about all for now. I may have another drink. This is, after all, my Saturday night.
What's it like to babysit 125 drunks?
Well, I'm not sure how to describe it. Just don't ask the guy that wandered off in a drunken rage and had to be subdued by Kelly and Shane out behind the elevator then driven back to Stettler in a vehicle.
I'm also not sure that we should serve alcohol on the way back. I mean, drinks are always available on the train whenever it runs, but it's not like everyone on the train is drinking hard for the whole trip...and an extended stopover in Big Valley. If anything ever went wrong with a trainload of drunks, the results would be disastrous. A lady forgot her purse at the community hall and it was a major panic, as was trying to find the missing guy. I mean seriously...if we went on the ground, and the propane tanks in 6603 started a fire, and we had to get 100 people of the train that were in the bag and then some...I shudder to think.
Also, I did have a brief conversation with a passenger on the platform about Oscar Wilde.
Oh yeah. And when we got back to town, Kelly thought we should put the train away form the north end the normal way, but since the Christmas Specials only take half the consist, we have to go and handle the remainder of it. He said to me that he wasn't going to "dick around" with the diner and 5080 like I did last week (which, incidentally, in my opinion, worked well). So whatever. Do what you gotta do.
So I take the engine up there and tie on to the three cars and caboose. And wouldn't you know it? It wasn't ready for air. Whoever built it (yes, looking at you, Two Heads) just made the joints and left it, which is stupid because we only ever handle the cars on air. Like, seriously, I know you guys are the best railroaders ever, but interrupt with playing with your dink for two seconds to do up the air hoses. I mean, how lazy do you have to be?
One thing I will say, though, is that Kelly did buy me a hamburger from A&W without solicitation. I did appreciate that.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Afterwards a walk, which yielded this:
A Sentence in Conversation
Baby, you say you're bad
Baby, you say I'm weak
Well Listen.
Under this quiet skin
And inside this kind heart
I burn with a lightless fire
Yeah still I'm burning bright
I am a hurricane
I am a weapon
I am a tidal wave
I am a fucking atom bomb
I am a poet and my soul
Belongs to the devil already.
Yeah you couldn't take all of me for one second
And your bad?
It's three shades of blue on a Friday night.
I'm sorry, baby
But your bad is fucking dull.
Friday, November 20, 2009
I now get a 10% discount at FutureAg in Red Deer.
This moment was not unlike the time at Trains and Such when I was officially thanked for my patronage.
In other words, my customer account just passed a big, round number.
And who is FutureAg?
http://www.futureag.ca/Home.aspx
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