I've been thinking about my biological father lately. He passed away on January 25, 2018. We were not close and his second wife never liked us keeping in touch. He once confided in his sister who informed me that it made home life "easier" to not keep in touch. Her oldest son back in 2009 made contact which she nixed as well.
I did not go to the funeral out of respect for his second wife and her insecurity regarding my father's first family. It's sad and a bit disappointing that I did not attend as I am extremely curious what people said about him. I'm pretty certain it's not the same thoughts that I have. I would like to keep in touch with my brothers too--I won't due to the circumstance of her being insecure and my respect for her as a human being and this insecurity. I plan to visit Dad's grave in Texas to pay my respects even though by his actions his first wife, my brother and myself were easy to "throw away."
He was an interesting man and though highly intelligent he was not smart with his life. He did some amazing things and worked for Ampex International. The first Olympics he worked were the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He was really good at working and he worked hard. That is the best thing I can say about him. He drank a lot of alcohol too.
In 1973, he was sent to Red China now known as The People's Republic of China. He was one of the first Western people to enter China since they closed their borders in 1911. His visa was #48. He was part of a diplomatic exchange and was to work two weeks and fix television electronic equipment. This was a time when Nixon was President and was working to open relations with them on trade and tourism. Dad was very good at his job and fixed the equipment he was assigned in 3 days. He then started fixing other equipment as he had two weeks to do his job and he later told me he thought "what the heck I don't have anything else to do for two weeks." After the two weeks was up he went to the airport to catch his flight. He was met by the Chinese Secret Service and what happened next was quite amusing or amazing or unbelievable. China revoked his Visa and essentially kidnapped my father. They made him stay and work on additional equipment that no one knew how to fix.
He has amazing photos of this country. He is the only white guy in any of the photos as the tourism trade was non-existent at this time in China. The Great Wall of China, the Forbidden Palace and he was one of the first Westerners to see the famous Chinese Acrobats. He was in Peking now known as Bejiing. They even gave him a coolio expensive camera to capture all of these experiences. He informed me that every wish he had they fulfilled (I can only imagine -- insert deep sarcasm here). He also told me that he got very bored and sometimes he would drop his glass that he was drinking from late at night out his window (go figure -- that was Dad). He said one night it never landed. He told me he never went anywhere alone and he got a kick out of loosing the Secret Service guys. He informed me one shift would take it as a challenge and find "the hunt" challenging. Another shift was smart and wouldn't give a crap, station one guy at the airport and the rest drank, smoked and played poker. He said that even though he was lost in one of the biggest cities in the world he knew eventually the Secret Service would find him and take him back to his hotel or he would eventually find his way back. I bet they shit bricks when he ditched them the first time!! It makes me laugh to think of it. He eventually ended up having 12 men watching (escorting) him. He said it was a strange kind of prison because he was in the lap of luxury but was unable to do anything alone or what he wanted. Someone was always watching him and it was creepy.
Back home, Mom was wondering when she was going to get her husband back. As a young child, I can remember being frightened and that the authorities kept telling us it would be another two weeks another two weeks and another two weeks. Two weeks ended up being over 3 months. Finally, Mom had had enough of the empty governmental promises and called Dad's boss and threatened to go to the media in 3 days if her husband wasn't returned. I don't know who Dad's boss eventually spoke to or how "high" up the "issue" of my father being kidnapped went but the minute Mom mentioned the media, suddenly Dad was home, showing us these amazing photos of this beautiful country and no foreigners in the photos at all but him. He brought me and my brother a toy that when operated correctly whistles. I still have it. It's not an easy toy to operate, my brother and I were eventually very good at it. I also have some chopsticks and a tea set that he brought back and gave to my Grandmother, which I eventually received upon her passing. My mother and I recently found some beautiful silk fabric that he brought back from that same "trip", which I also now have.
Some day perhaps, maybe, I think I would like to take a trip to China and perhaps visit the places he went and additional ones. I would like to speak to the people he met, who "watched" him. Plus I would like to see their textile industry. This trip would be a "bucket list" trip and one that will most likely never come to fruition, just fun to imagine and I doubt they'd want to keep me. I'm just a snowplow driver. LOL
It's amazing and frightening what governmental powers can do to a normal person, isn't it?
side note: China still had to show how powerful they were/are and waited another two weeks before sending my Dad home. Ironic, huh?
second side note: I would want my trip to be two weeks...yeah, I get the irony of it too.
Friday, March 30, 2018
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Dear Friend...
I have just completed two days of snow shift, 12 hours each at night.
The first night was great as I got to plow 6-8 inches of nice wet snow. I loved it. I love watching the rooster tail fly off the plows. It's great fun. One must be careful when passing a vehicle or bridge deck and we slow down when we do as this as heavy snow can cause quite the damage plus it's very blinding on a windshield and you never know who is below on the underpass of a bridge deck. I was in the number 3 position so my truck was pushing a lot of snow by the time the number 1 & 2 pushed their snow over to me. At times my truck got behind don't know how K stayed up with us in the number 4 position at times he got behind too.
This night was also so dark we could hardly see where we were going. Our lights are LED lights and do not melt the snow off like the old ones used to, and this darkens the roadway even more along with blinding blowing snow. side note: LED lights need to go away for vehicles as they are not as great as everyone believes. At one point as I was plowing on/off ramps and meeting up with the guys later I was wandering down Happy Canyon wondering why I was so close to on-coming traffic turns out I was plowing the number one lane when I should have been on the number 4 lane. I was following the prior plows path and later after speaking with the guys that's exactly what happened with them too. Their comments were they had never seen it so dark. Usually there are reflections from the snow from lights, etc, not on this night. Yikes, no wonder the drivers behind me kept back tonight.
The next night, nightshift got assigned washing trucks and sanders since the weather was about 60 degrees this day and the snow melted and is mostly gone. That's why I love it here, snow one day, sunny and warm the next. I was sent down to the truck wash to safety wash my truck and sander. With a safety wash you are to get all the preliminary sand salt mixture off your truck as it will rust the metal on the truck and that's bad. I washed my truck for 2.5 hours and still didn't get all the dirt and muck and grim off and this is just the preliminary wash. Every time I do this I am mesmerized by the water and I think of all the nations and people that have no water and how spoiled we are in the United States as people will call and complain if we do not clear the road for them to speed by. I cringe and bear the burden of washing the truck all the while thinking about people who are thirsty and the land that is dry. It truly humbles me.
We then pull the sanders out of the trucks which is a dangerous business as these things are very top heavy and can easily tip over on top of someone if you are not very careful. Plus the trucks have lots of blind spots and are also very heavy and someone can get hurt very easily with these too. One must be ever watchful and alert when working with such large equipment. Once the sander is pulled the truck and sander are thoroughly hand scrubbed with soap and water and we use long handled scrub brushes to do this and then thoroughly rinse everything. We got 3 trucks/sanders done. So much water...sigh.
The night crew guys are pleasant to work with (they usually are - it's during the daytime that they change as they don't want to be thrown out of the "boys club" for enjoying working with me) and we laugh and joke throughout the night. We joke about the prior night's work and grumpiness as Q got sent to the mountains to "help" out and he was not happy about this especially since they don't really need the help. C2 was grumpy about J2 telling him how to do his job and the general nag-i-ness of the guys. Ironic that I'm not accused of this. C2 joked that he listens to me more than his own wife, we both laughed at this and I said yeah but to be fair I rarely talk here so when I speak it's usually to ask a question not nag.
It's a long night but the good news for me is I get the next 4.5 days off since I was on weekend duty last weekend unless snow shift is called, which it should be. I am watching it snow/rain out my window now. Although, we have lots of red-tagged trucks and plows so I was informed that even if snow shift is called I probably don't have a truck to drive anyway. I will only be called in if they have a dire need, which since we are only expecting flurries I get to stay home. Yay, me.
That's it for now. Send me all the news.
Love, L
The first night was great as I got to plow 6-8 inches of nice wet snow. I loved it. I love watching the rooster tail fly off the plows. It's great fun. One must be careful when passing a vehicle or bridge deck and we slow down when we do as this as heavy snow can cause quite the damage plus it's very blinding on a windshield and you never know who is below on the underpass of a bridge deck. I was in the number 3 position so my truck was pushing a lot of snow by the time the number 1 & 2 pushed their snow over to me. At times my truck got behind don't know how K stayed up with us in the number 4 position at times he got behind too.
This night was also so dark we could hardly see where we were going. Our lights are LED lights and do not melt the snow off like the old ones used to, and this darkens the roadway even more along with blinding blowing snow. side note: LED lights need to go away for vehicles as they are not as great as everyone believes. At one point as I was plowing on/off ramps and meeting up with the guys later I was wandering down Happy Canyon wondering why I was so close to on-coming traffic turns out I was plowing the number one lane when I should have been on the number 4 lane. I was following the prior plows path and later after speaking with the guys that's exactly what happened with them too. Their comments were they had never seen it so dark. Usually there are reflections from the snow from lights, etc, not on this night. Yikes, no wonder the drivers behind me kept back tonight.
The next night, nightshift got assigned washing trucks and sanders since the weather was about 60 degrees this day and the snow melted and is mostly gone. That's why I love it here, snow one day, sunny and warm the next. I was sent down to the truck wash to safety wash my truck and sander. With a safety wash you are to get all the preliminary sand salt mixture off your truck as it will rust the metal on the truck and that's bad. I washed my truck for 2.5 hours and still didn't get all the dirt and muck and grim off and this is just the preliminary wash. Every time I do this I am mesmerized by the water and I think of all the nations and people that have no water and how spoiled we are in the United States as people will call and complain if we do not clear the road for them to speed by. I cringe and bear the burden of washing the truck all the while thinking about people who are thirsty and the land that is dry. It truly humbles me.
We then pull the sanders out of the trucks which is a dangerous business as these things are very top heavy and can easily tip over on top of someone if you are not very careful. Plus the trucks have lots of blind spots and are also very heavy and someone can get hurt very easily with these too. One must be ever watchful and alert when working with such large equipment. Once the sander is pulled the truck and sander are thoroughly hand scrubbed with soap and water and we use long handled scrub brushes to do this and then thoroughly rinse everything. We got 3 trucks/sanders done. So much water...sigh.
The night crew guys are pleasant to work with (they usually are - it's during the daytime that they change as they don't want to be thrown out of the "boys club" for enjoying working with me) and we laugh and joke throughout the night. We joke about the prior night's work and grumpiness as Q got sent to the mountains to "help" out and he was not happy about this especially since they don't really need the help. C2 was grumpy about J2 telling him how to do his job and the general nag-i-ness of the guys. Ironic that I'm not accused of this. C2 joked that he listens to me more than his own wife, we both laughed at this and I said yeah but to be fair I rarely talk here so when I speak it's usually to ask a question not nag.
It's a long night but the good news for me is I get the next 4.5 days off since I was on weekend duty last weekend unless snow shift is called, which it should be. I am watching it snow/rain out my window now. Although, we have lots of red-tagged trucks and plows so I was informed that even if snow shift is called I probably don't have a truck to drive anyway. I will only be called in if they have a dire need, which since we are only expecting flurries I get to stay home. Yay, me.
That's it for now. Send me all the news.
Love, L
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Dear Friend...
just completed weekend shift with one of the guys from Patrol 03. I learned lots and should have written down some of it so I won't look so stupid if I get a transfer to a new Region. My patrol is so big that it does things a bit differently than the others. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20.
The only tiring thing about weekend shift is that you work at least 10 days straight and if snowshift gets called it can be even longer.
And the bratty thing about weekend shift is that the "Courtesy Patrol" boys think it's funny to make fake calls to the CSP about things being in the road that are on opposite ends of our territory right before quitting time on Sunday. GRRR. Yeah, it's not funny.
Today they called about a fake box at I-25 & 168 and some real re-tread tire strips at the 172 and then debris on 225 and Mississippi. The box was not real the tire tread was there but on the side of the road and not necessary for it to be called in and then unknown to them we had already checked 225 and Mississippi debris, which they called in at the same time as the 168 and 172 issues. I did stop and pick up the tire tread even though it wasn't in the way.
Side note: retreads are very dangerous and I don't believe that they should be made anymore.
We also picked up a huge couch and love seat this morning. JL and I joked about the conversation the "man and wife" that lost the couch and love seat had, 'cause J is like, "don't they know they lost this stuff?" and I said, "sure they do. The conversation goes like this...wife: honey stop we lost our couch and love seat and a bunch of pillows, stop...stop...stop. Husband: I'm not stopping. We will just replace it. Wife: (after a ways) yeah, I guess."
J is all quiet and then laughs and says, "Yeah, he already loaded it up once and ain't doin' it again." We laugh and then pick up all this stuff.
Yesterday we had to pick up a doe. I bid her peace. Thankfully it was a fairly quiet day.
Send me all the news.
Love, L
The only tiring thing about weekend shift is that you work at least 10 days straight and if snowshift gets called it can be even longer.
And the bratty thing about weekend shift is that the "Courtesy Patrol" boys think it's funny to make fake calls to the CSP about things being in the road that are on opposite ends of our territory right before quitting time on Sunday. GRRR. Yeah, it's not funny.
Today they called about a fake box at I-25 & 168 and some real re-tread tire strips at the 172 and then debris on 225 and Mississippi. The box was not real the tire tread was there but on the side of the road and not necessary for it to be called in and then unknown to them we had already checked 225 and Mississippi debris, which they called in at the same time as the 168 and 172 issues. I did stop and pick up the tire tread even though it wasn't in the way.
Side note: retreads are very dangerous and I don't believe that they should be made anymore.
We also picked up a huge couch and love seat this morning. JL and I joked about the conversation the "man and wife" that lost the couch and love seat had, 'cause J is like, "don't they know they lost this stuff?" and I said, "sure they do. The conversation goes like this...wife: honey stop we lost our couch and love seat and a bunch of pillows, stop...stop...stop. Husband: I'm not stopping. We will just replace it. Wife: (after a ways) yeah, I guess."
J is all quiet and then laughs and says, "Yeah, he already loaded it up once and ain't doin' it again." We laugh and then pick up all this stuff.
Yesterday we had to pick up a doe. I bid her peace. Thankfully it was a fairly quiet day.
Send me all the news.
Love, L
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Dear Friend...
today I did one of my favorite things which was to grease trucks and plows. They are supposed to be greased after every snowstorm. This doesn't happen all the time because either another snowstorm comes in or some other event happens that needs attended plus no one but me likes to grease trucks. I like it because it gets me away and yet I can watch and listen to what happens around the shop. Today was a bit different as everyone was gone but me. All doing other work someplace else. I still enjoyed it.
I did start the day out potholing with Patrol 08 and then when done there broke down in my attenuator on the way back to my patrol. It over heated because the belt ripped apart. Sat on the side of the road for about an hour and then the mechanic came and put a new belt on.
Not a whole lot of anything to report.
Send me all the news.
Love, L
I did start the day out potholing with Patrol 08 and then when done there broke down in my attenuator on the way back to my patrol. It over heated because the belt ripped apart. Sat on the side of the road for about an hour and then the mechanic came and put a new belt on.
Not a whole lot of anything to report.
Send me all the news.
Love, L
Random Thoughts...
sometimes I am surprised at how overwhelmed I am by my sadness and then there are days like today that I am happy to be me and I dance in the parking lot at work --- when no one is looking of course.
-Although I have a theory that there is always someone watching.
Quotes and ideas from the movie Elizabethtown:
Do you sometimes feel like you're the substitute person? What does this mean exactly? I'm not really certain.
"Men see things in a box, women see things in a round room."
"I'm impossible to forget, but I'm hard to remember." I especially like this quote as I feel like this a lot
-Although I have a theory that there is always someone watching.
Quotes and ideas from the movie Elizabethtown:
Do you sometimes feel like you're the substitute person? What does this mean exactly? I'm not really certain.
"Men see things in a box, women see things in a round room."
"I'm impossible to forget, but I'm hard to remember." I especially like this quote as I feel like this a lot
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Dear Friend...
Thursday night to Friday morning ends up being more interesting than expected. We are the one of the very few working this night and it decides to snow in the southern and western parts of the Region. Since we are the ones in we get to go plow snow. Monument hill has about 6 inches and I get sent down to provide back up to Lake Gulch Road and am asked to continue further and then head over to Hwy 83. I am in a new-to-me plow truck that has a wing. I take County Line Road over to 83 and am shocked at the snow.
Even though this isn't our road and some people are real sticklers for not plowing roads that don't belong to them (which answers a long time question of mine) I decide to plow this road as it will give me good practice for using a wing plow as they are tricky. I head over to 83 which has no snow. It was an interesting little snow storm. Most areas were dry. Monument hill got 6 inches, Hwy 67 about 6 inches and the rest was clear, I got to practice with the wing plow as I would definitely need it for what was to come on Sunday.
Sunday rolls around and snowshift is called. We wonder why and later didn't need to wonder at all as my Patrol was blasted with about 10 inches of snow. We had crazy drivers everywhere as they still think they can go 90mph. This snow was wet and heavy and the flakes were as big as a quarter or more. I had a lot of fun and was tense with stupid drivers that like to drive right next to me or right behind. You are supposed to stay 500 feet behind and if you don't know how far that is that's about 13.5 skip lines which are the white dashes on the road. That's a long way behind people.
At one point, I was so tense from a driver that I accidentally brought my wing up as I try to keep my thumb on the button just in case it needed to come up because of a car or other object in the road or the road narrowing. I put it back down after noticing. It was fun to see the rail guys run as we had to blast snow over the wall to get it off the road and they were working this night. We tried to slow down so it wouldn't go over but there was just so much snow that there was no place to put it.
It's now Tuesday and the snow is now gone. That's what I love it about here as we are to get into the 70 degrees by tomorrow and that melts the snow pretty quick.
I got lucky with the wing truck because at one point I forgot it was down and was on a narrow on ramp and I didn't hear any scrapes like I should have if there wasn't any room for it. I leave the window all the way down on that side to listen for stuff like that. We plowed so much snow off the road it was incredible and fun. Love the nightshift crew.
Of note before shift we all got into trouble from the previous week because we didn't Zonar our trucks. Only one guy did. Boy was the TMIII not happy about it. He gave us all "the look." You know the one where you just want to crawl into a hole and hide because he's right and you are very, very wrong. Wouldn't you know it this is the first and only time I did not Zonar (eletronic pre/post-trip). My TMII admitted to laughing at me a little inside as he knew I was up Sh*t Creek without a paddle for my actions and thought it was funny as he knew it was the only time I had done this. He's right to laugh at me and I certainly deserved being laughed at no matter if it was quietly inside like he did. I almost feel part of the patrol that he was able to say this in front of the guys.
Ironic, that doing something wrong almost, almost makes me part of the crew.
Send me all the news.
Love, L
Even though this isn't our road and some people are real sticklers for not plowing roads that don't belong to them (which answers a long time question of mine) I decide to plow this road as it will give me good practice for using a wing plow as they are tricky. I head over to 83 which has no snow. It was an interesting little snow storm. Most areas were dry. Monument hill got 6 inches, Hwy 67 about 6 inches and the rest was clear, I got to practice with the wing plow as I would definitely need it for what was to come on Sunday.
Sunday rolls around and snowshift is called. We wonder why and later didn't need to wonder at all as my Patrol was blasted with about 10 inches of snow. We had crazy drivers everywhere as they still think they can go 90mph. This snow was wet and heavy and the flakes were as big as a quarter or more. I had a lot of fun and was tense with stupid drivers that like to drive right next to me or right behind. You are supposed to stay 500 feet behind and if you don't know how far that is that's about 13.5 skip lines which are the white dashes on the road. That's a long way behind people.
At one point, I was so tense from a driver that I accidentally brought my wing up as I try to keep my thumb on the button just in case it needed to come up because of a car or other object in the road or the road narrowing. I put it back down after noticing. It was fun to see the rail guys run as we had to blast snow over the wall to get it off the road and they were working this night. We tried to slow down so it wouldn't go over but there was just so much snow that there was no place to put it.
It's now Tuesday and the snow is now gone. That's what I love it about here as we are to get into the 70 degrees by tomorrow and that melts the snow pretty quick.
I got lucky with the wing truck because at one point I forgot it was down and was on a narrow on ramp and I didn't hear any scrapes like I should have if there wasn't any room for it. I leave the window all the way down on that side to listen for stuff like that. We plowed so much snow off the road it was incredible and fun. Love the nightshift crew.
Of note before shift we all got into trouble from the previous week because we didn't Zonar our trucks. Only one guy did. Boy was the TMIII not happy about it. He gave us all "the look." You know the one where you just want to crawl into a hole and hide because he's right and you are very, very wrong. Wouldn't you know it this is the first and only time I did not Zonar (eletronic pre/post-trip). My TMII admitted to laughing at me a little inside as he knew I was up Sh*t Creek without a paddle for my actions and thought it was funny as he knew it was the only time I had done this. He's right to laugh at me and I certainly deserved being laughed at no matter if it was quietly inside like he did. I almost feel part of the patrol that he was able to say this in front of the guys.
Ironic, that doing something wrong almost, almost makes me part of the crew.
Send me all the news.
Love, L
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Dear Friend...
I am in the attenuator this night too.
The whole crew head up to patrol 08 to do our time as this is the only computer available at this time. We have to do this as unfortunately, the computers for the whole Company have been down due to an unfortunate worm virus being introduced to the system. I suspect a "higher up" visiting or opening a photo that they should not have been looking at especially since it's been kept very quiet as to where the virus came from. It's not even in the media and these things are very easy to track from where it came and who introduced it. Shame shame, plus imagine the tax dollars that it just cost you and me. That's what irritates me the most that and the quietness of it all. I have an inquiring mind and am curious as to "who did it."
As we are at P08, I find that I will be farmed out to them to give safety coverage while they are potholing. We work through the night till 1:30am. Potholing is not an easy job and I admire the stamina my coworkers have of the continuous work they have done this night. Plus we have the added danger of the high volume of traffic that Denver Metro provides. It's still busy at 1:30am, in fact all night and early morning.
Where are all you people going? And really, what are you all doing at this time? Nothings open.
Go to sleep people!
We take a quick lunch break and back to potholing. I am informed that after the last southbound pothole I am free to head back to my patrol. I inform MS I am now available and am told to give coverage to C1 and K. My patrol has also worked like they are demon possessed as they are almost finished with sweeping the whole inside wall of our area and a bit more. Don't know what we will do for the next two nights but it'll either be interesting or unpleasant as there doesn't seem to be any middle ground here at all.
Send me all the news.
Love, L
The whole crew head up to patrol 08 to do our time as this is the only computer available at this time. We have to do this as unfortunately, the computers for the whole Company have been down due to an unfortunate worm virus being introduced to the system. I suspect a "higher up" visiting or opening a photo that they should not have been looking at especially since it's been kept very quiet as to where the virus came from. It's not even in the media and these things are very easy to track from where it came and who introduced it. Shame shame, plus imagine the tax dollars that it just cost you and me. That's what irritates me the most that and the quietness of it all. I have an inquiring mind and am curious as to "who did it."
As we are at P08, I find that I will be farmed out to them to give safety coverage while they are potholing. We work through the night till 1:30am. Potholing is not an easy job and I admire the stamina my coworkers have of the continuous work they have done this night. Plus we have the added danger of the high volume of traffic that Denver Metro provides. It's still busy at 1:30am, in fact all night and early morning.
Where are all you people going? And really, what are you all doing at this time? Nothings open.
Go to sleep people!
We take a quick lunch break and back to potholing. I am informed that after the last southbound pothole I am free to head back to my patrol. I inform MS I am now available and am told to give coverage to C1 and K. My patrol has also worked like they are demon possessed as they are almost finished with sweeping the whole inside wall of our area and a bit more. Don't know what we will do for the next two nights but it'll either be interesting or unpleasant as there doesn't seem to be any middle ground here at all.
Send me all the news.
Love, L
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Dear Friend...
funny thing happened at work during night shift this week. I scared the bejeebers out of K.
Anyway, nightshift is a bit creepy around the place as its dark there's lots of large dark equipment creeking as the metal of it slowly goes cold and creepy shadows that the equipment casts all add to the atmosphere and others have talked about strange stuff happening in Patrol Shed 24.
K and I both have to go over to 24 to obtain keys to equipment we will be using. He goes first and does not know I am a ways behind him. The shed is dark and he opens the door and turns on the light. I hurry before the door closes behind him to catch it so I don't have to key card in. Unknown to me he says,"Hello. anybody home? Lucy I'm here, Anybody here???"
As I catch the door I loudly say,"HA!" happy that I caught the door in time before it closes behind him.
K is so scared out of his wits he jumps two feet in the air and turns white as a ghost. It's so funny I'm laughing so hard as I write this I'm crying and when it happened. He turns and happily finds that it's just me. The look on his face is one of terror as he has no clue who just answered him when he wasn't expecting an answer. He is relieved to see that it's only me.
Later that night as I have to restart 24's attenuator to use it MS scares the bejeebers outta me as I am in the back that is not a lit area and not expecting anyone to be around as I get down from my attenuator to unplug it and put the plug away the door blocks my view for a second and there is a looming shadow coming at me down the alleyway between the two main buildings. I scream and then I'm embarrassed when I notice it's just MS. This was all two nights ago. Last night MS joking says hey don't scream again, ok? because I'm going to go this way (use the alleyway) and it's just me.
that's it for now.
Love, L
Anyway, nightshift is a bit creepy around the place as its dark there's lots of large dark equipment creeking as the metal of it slowly goes cold and creepy shadows that the equipment casts all add to the atmosphere and others have talked about strange stuff happening in Patrol Shed 24.
K and I both have to go over to 24 to obtain keys to equipment we will be using. He goes first and does not know I am a ways behind him. The shed is dark and he opens the door and turns on the light. I hurry before the door closes behind him to catch it so I don't have to key card in. Unknown to me he says,"Hello. anybody home? Lucy I'm here, Anybody here???"
As I catch the door I loudly say,"HA!" happy that I caught the door in time before it closes behind him.
K is so scared out of his wits he jumps two feet in the air and turns white as a ghost. It's so funny I'm laughing so hard as I write this I'm crying and when it happened. He turns and happily finds that it's just me. The look on his face is one of terror as he has no clue who just answered him when he wasn't expecting an answer. He is relieved to see that it's only me.
Later that night as I have to restart 24's attenuator to use it MS scares the bejeebers outta me as I am in the back that is not a lit area and not expecting anyone to be around as I get down from my attenuator to unplug it and put the plug away the door blocks my view for a second and there is a looming shadow coming at me down the alleyway between the two main buildings. I scream and then I'm embarrassed when I notice it's just MS. This was all two nights ago. Last night MS joking says hey don't scream again, ok? because I'm going to go this way (use the alleyway) and it's just me.
that's it for now.
Love, L
Dear Friend...
work has been trying lately (always) so I have been imagining my favorite conversations that I could have at work to make a point.
Imaginary:
(at the lunch table with everyone present)
coworker: Hey how's it going?
Me: ok, I'm a little tired.
coworker: oh yeah night's getting to you a little?
Me: no, being treated like a disease infected parasitical insect by my lame insecure coworkers 99 percent of the time, Oh that's possibly a huge exaggeration, 95 percent, oh still an exaggeration...
for every second, every moment...um...let's just say A LOT that I am at work is exhausting and tires me out.
--------------------------
The real conversation:
(no one but me and the coworker)
coworker: hey how's it going?
Me: ok, I'm a little tired.
coworker: oh yeah night's getting to you a little?
Me: no. just stuff.
-end of conversation
Send me all the news.
Love, L
Imaginary:
(at the lunch table with everyone present)
coworker: Hey how's it going?
Me: ok, I'm a little tired.
coworker: oh yeah night's getting to you a little?
Me: no, being treated like a disease infected parasitical insect by my lame insecure coworkers 99 percent of the time, Oh that's possibly a huge exaggeration, 95 percent, oh still an exaggeration...
for every second, every moment...um...let's just say A LOT that I am at work is exhausting and tires me out.
--------------------------
The real conversation:
(no one but me and the coworker)
coworker: hey how's it going?
Me: ok, I'm a little tired.
coworker: oh yeah night's getting to you a little?
Me: no. just stuff.
-end of conversation
Send me all the news.
Love, L
Monday, March 12, 2018
Dear Friend...
working nights this week and Sunday/Monday, March 11-12 was our first night. I am usually shipped off to another patrol that works nights the same time we do so I have never worked with "the girls," ahem, my patrol on nights.
The night starts out unpleasant as C1 decides to play dumb about the traffic control plan and the reason I know that my "dumb" statement is true is because we all ask him about it and he denies knowing anything and yet later when he makes the TMIII mad about it he makes a statement about the plan that he supposedly didn't know anything about. ugh. C1 immediately is removed from his attenuator and Q replaces him. We are all now in the unpleasant status of getting things done quickly with no knowledge of the traffic plan and the TMIII is not happy. To be fair, the TMIII is pretty good about harnessing his anger and keeping it to himself.
We set traffic for the bridge crew and one set of the patrol heads off to do sweeping. I get to be in the attenuator providing safety for the bridge crew. It's later determined we need the loader and I get to run it. I'm a bit nervous about this not because I don't know what I'm doing but because of the atmosphere here. I run the loader well enough and get back to the attenuator wherein we pick up traffic. I do this incorrectly. sigh - another mark against me and something for "the girls" to hold against me too as that's how it goes here. I need a little direction and get "get right behind me". Instead I am behind and to the side. Finally MS gives me the direction I need and I get back on track.
Note to self: "right behind" literally means right behind.
It was to provide protection for the guys picking up the traffic cones and is the exact reverse of what we did to set traffic and I mean EXACT. Plus I was later instructed to turn off my headlights so the guys can see otherwise I blind them, which makes it difficult to work. A little direction is all I need. sigh.
After we pick up we head back to the shed I am with the crew I started and I am not informed that we will be continuing additional operations so I bleed the brakes to my attenuator and put everything away. Meanwhile, the TMIII is looking for me, so the girls tell me. I get ahold of the TMIII and ask him about him trying to find me he says yeah nobody knew where you were. Say What??? I just followed my crew back to the shed, and they knew exactly where I was. I inform him that I followed J2 back to the shed. ugh to another set of men "playing dumb." GRRR
Anyway we break for lunch, and I am sitting quietly minding my own business looking at lovely gradients on my favorite knitting site, when MS decides to try and include me in the conversation and asks me if I've heard anything about the job transfer. Well, you could have heard a pin drop in this shed and it's usually pretty loud and all these guys are hard of hearing. I do not look up and quietly state no. I am certain everyone heard my answer and was hoping to hear "good news." I see out of my peripheral vision that I get "the look" from everyone like they tried to nicely include me. HA, I laugh at this as this stage was set long ago and it was a stage of meanness to me and why would I want to be included in that??? Speak to me about work and I am all for it otherwise just pretend I don't exist like you have been doing for the past nine months, please and thank you very much.
MS trys again. Gotta give him A for effort. I do look up and stop what I am doing as this time it's about tonight's work and he gives me additional pertinent information that would have been handy from the beginning but better late than never and I thank him.
After lunch I am informed that we are continuing and I am with the sweeping crew and giving coverage in the attenuator for the one-ton. This would have been nice to know before I bled the brakes and put everything away. sigh. I am certain this was discussed while I was not present and putting things away and the guys didn't know where I was as everyone but me seems to know what is going to happen. Its sad that the girls keep having work meetings without me and then get upset and frustrated with me when I don't know anything.
I follow C1 and K for the rest of the evening as they pick up large debris that the sweeper cannot pick up. It's strange how they do this and they are slow as molasses and the sweeper, which started out way behind us catches up, which should not have happened. oh ugh.
Another nightshift tonight. Oh sigh and big ugh.
Send me all the news.
Love, L
PS I applied for 4 other positions with the Company
The night starts out unpleasant as C1 decides to play dumb about the traffic control plan and the reason I know that my "dumb" statement is true is because we all ask him about it and he denies knowing anything and yet later when he makes the TMIII mad about it he makes a statement about the plan that he supposedly didn't know anything about. ugh. C1 immediately is removed from his attenuator and Q replaces him. We are all now in the unpleasant status of getting things done quickly with no knowledge of the traffic plan and the TMIII is not happy. To be fair, the TMIII is pretty good about harnessing his anger and keeping it to himself.
We set traffic for the bridge crew and one set of the patrol heads off to do sweeping. I get to be in the attenuator providing safety for the bridge crew. It's later determined we need the loader and I get to run it. I'm a bit nervous about this not because I don't know what I'm doing but because of the atmosphere here. I run the loader well enough and get back to the attenuator wherein we pick up traffic. I do this incorrectly. sigh - another mark against me and something for "the girls" to hold against me too as that's how it goes here. I need a little direction and get "get right behind me". Instead I am behind and to the side. Finally MS gives me the direction I need and I get back on track.
Note to self: "right behind" literally means right behind.
It was to provide protection for the guys picking up the traffic cones and is the exact reverse of what we did to set traffic and I mean EXACT. Plus I was later instructed to turn off my headlights so the guys can see otherwise I blind them, which makes it difficult to work. A little direction is all I need. sigh.
After we pick up we head back to the shed I am with the crew I started and I am not informed that we will be continuing additional operations so I bleed the brakes to my attenuator and put everything away. Meanwhile, the TMIII is looking for me, so the girls tell me. I get ahold of the TMIII and ask him about him trying to find me he says yeah nobody knew where you were. Say What??? I just followed my crew back to the shed, and they knew exactly where I was. I inform him that I followed J2 back to the shed. ugh to another set of men "playing dumb." GRRR
Anyway we break for lunch, and I am sitting quietly minding my own business looking at lovely gradients on my favorite knitting site, when MS decides to try and include me in the conversation and asks me if I've heard anything about the job transfer. Well, you could have heard a pin drop in this shed and it's usually pretty loud and all these guys are hard of hearing. I do not look up and quietly state no. I am certain everyone heard my answer and was hoping to hear "good news." I see out of my peripheral vision that I get "the look" from everyone like they tried to nicely include me. HA, I laugh at this as this stage was set long ago and it was a stage of meanness to me and why would I want to be included in that??? Speak to me about work and I am all for it otherwise just pretend I don't exist like you have been doing for the past nine months, please and thank you very much.
MS trys again. Gotta give him A for effort. I do look up and stop what I am doing as this time it's about tonight's work and he gives me additional pertinent information that would have been handy from the beginning but better late than never and I thank him.
After lunch I am informed that we are continuing and I am with the sweeping crew and giving coverage in the attenuator for the one-ton. This would have been nice to know before I bled the brakes and put everything away. sigh. I am certain this was discussed while I was not present and putting things away and the guys didn't know where I was as everyone but me seems to know what is going to happen. Its sad that the girls keep having work meetings without me and then get upset and frustrated with me when I don't know anything.
I follow C1 and K for the rest of the evening as they pick up large debris that the sweeper cannot pick up. It's strange how they do this and they are slow as molasses and the sweeper, which started out way behind us catches up, which should not have happened. oh ugh.
Another nightshift tonight. Oh sigh and big ugh.
Send me all the news.
Love, L
PS I applied for 4 other positions with the Company
Friday, March 9, 2018
Dear Friend...
work has been work. The TMII and TMIII and MS who is training to be a TMII are concentrating on what is called the FRCP - Facility Runoff Control Plan. This means lots of cleanup around the yard and making certain everything is extra clean.
It's also the end of a full moon on Monday and the guys seem extra uptight. Monday to Wednesday, I picked up trash around the yard.
Thursday comes around and for some inexplicable reason Q is our acting TMII as MB and MS are not in. One gone on vacation and one gone because he had weekend duty and this day is now his weekend. That's the nice thing about weekend duty, which I will have in a couple of weeks. It's inexplicable to me as to why Q is the acting TMII as C1 and C2 have been here longer and usually this duty falls to the next person with longevity. I'm so confused here.
Back to the Q. He is the acting TMII and he's back to not being able to speak to me. He and C1 and C2 are outside before work and he lets them know what he wants done. They are outside as it's before work and taking a "smoke break." I go outside and they break up the "meeting" and move inside. Oh boy, it's going to be one of those days.
At 8am, it's like magic and the guys head off to do items that were discussed without me. I ask C1 about it and he informs me that Q has told them what he wants done. Great, thanks for the inclusion. Q is such a jerk. I decide, fine, you can't speak to me I'll go and do my own thing and clean up all the broken wood pieces in the yard and when you get ahold of yourself and can finally do the right thing and let me know what you want done maybe then we'll get on the same page.
Q watches me (glares me down) as I take the one-ton (I should have waved and smiled real big as I slowly drove by -- I didn't) because it's easier to have a truck bed to put the wood in to take to the dumpster. We have a big yard that is multiple blocks wide and long. Q watches me and finally walks over to C1, has C1 call me on my cell that they need to use the one-ton. Really??? you have to have someone else call me to let me know what my job is today??? Yeah, that's a real good acting TMII.
I have the one-ton full of broken pieces of wood, unload it and take the one-ton over to them. Q then informs me that if I am frustrated (which I am not) then I need to come to him and ask him what I need to do. I have done this repeatedly with these men and usually get a shoulder shrug. This statement does make me mad (not frustrated) as NONE of the guys have to do this. NONE, NOT ONE, NOT EVEN TWO NOT EVEN ANY OF THEM. GRRRR. Instead of keeping quiet I state, "and when you know what you want done YOU can let me know."
oh boy, I am certain you could hear his teeth grind from blocks away as he clenched his jaw so tight I thought he was going to break it.
He walked away and I mumbled "yep, making friends on a daily basis here, yes, I am." C1 was near me and said what? I said nothing just talking to myself. I think he heard me anyway and thought my comment was funny or at least figured it out.
The rest of the day was just quietly unpleasant. At one point, the girls, as the rest of Region 1 calls my patrol because they are amazingly such drama queens --- BTW they were called this years and years before I ever got here, go to get lunch. They do stop to ask if I would like something and I state no thanks. At lunch C1 and C2 get called away to do traffic control for an RV that's sadly burning on the side of the road and the fire department decided to shut down the Interstate. Sadly this leaves me and Q and the mechanic that rarely fixes anything alone at lunch. The mechanic watches me and Q ignore each other and you could cut the tension with a knife. I am certain he talks about this with the patrol next door. It's actually amusing to me as I quietly watch the tension unfold.
Sadly again, Q and I get to work together cleaning up the big shed we have. Talk about unpleasant it's almost hysterically funny if it weren't so unpleasant. ugh, in fact 3 hours of ugh.
At the end of the day, I'm working on cleaning oil spots outside while the boys walk around with our TMIII to see what needs completed for the FRCP. Q actually lets me know what the plan is for the next day. I am shocked. He also needs 2 volunteers for the next morning 2am to 10:30am for working with the patrol next door. Oh yeah, me please. I mean, ME PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE. I don't speak up right away as I don't want to seem too eager to get away from everyone.
Friday early morning working is so pleasant as I get to drive the attenuator giving safety coverage for the guys working on getting potholes filled and I only have to deal with Q for 2 hours this day. Plus the weather is decent as it's not too cold. Later, I get to scrape slicer off the tarmac for clean up. It's like cement but good hard work to get it broken up. The last 2 hours goes pretty slow. C2 was the other volunteer and I get a chance to ask a couple of questions as to why Q is somehow acting TMII when it should be either him or C1. Turns out it's nepotism at it's finest hour as Q is good buddies with the TMII and Q gets to do lots of things that C2 should be doing like training on the grader.
It's all confusing although I should know better than to write that as it's a classic case of it's not what you know it's who.
That's all the news. Wish me luck for next week as I certainly didn't make any new friends this week.
Love, L
side note: the RV that caught on fire was a complete loss they did save the Mercedes that was being towed by it. Yikes, that was an expensive loss.
It's also the end of a full moon on Monday and the guys seem extra uptight. Monday to Wednesday, I picked up trash around the yard.
Thursday comes around and for some inexplicable reason Q is our acting TMII as MB and MS are not in. One gone on vacation and one gone because he had weekend duty and this day is now his weekend. That's the nice thing about weekend duty, which I will have in a couple of weeks. It's inexplicable to me as to why Q is the acting TMII as C1 and C2 have been here longer and usually this duty falls to the next person with longevity. I'm so confused here.
Back to the Q. He is the acting TMII and he's back to not being able to speak to me. He and C1 and C2 are outside before work and he lets them know what he wants done. They are outside as it's before work and taking a "smoke break." I go outside and they break up the "meeting" and move inside. Oh boy, it's going to be one of those days.
At 8am, it's like magic and the guys head off to do items that were discussed without me. I ask C1 about it and he informs me that Q has told them what he wants done. Great, thanks for the inclusion. Q is such a jerk. I decide, fine, you can't speak to me I'll go and do my own thing and clean up all the broken wood pieces in the yard and when you get ahold of yourself and can finally do the right thing and let me know what you want done maybe then we'll get on the same page.
Q watches me (glares me down) as I take the one-ton (I should have waved and smiled real big as I slowly drove by -- I didn't) because it's easier to have a truck bed to put the wood in to take to the dumpster. We have a big yard that is multiple blocks wide and long. Q watches me and finally walks over to C1, has C1 call me on my cell that they need to use the one-ton. Really??? you have to have someone else call me to let me know what my job is today??? Yeah, that's a real good acting TMII.
I have the one-ton full of broken pieces of wood, unload it and take the one-ton over to them. Q then informs me that if I am frustrated (which I am not) then I need to come to him and ask him what I need to do. I have done this repeatedly with these men and usually get a shoulder shrug. This statement does make me mad (not frustrated) as NONE of the guys have to do this. NONE, NOT ONE, NOT EVEN TWO NOT EVEN ANY OF THEM. GRRRR. Instead of keeping quiet I state, "and when you know what you want done YOU can let me know."
oh boy, I am certain you could hear his teeth grind from blocks away as he clenched his jaw so tight I thought he was going to break it.
He walked away and I mumbled "yep, making friends on a daily basis here, yes, I am." C1 was near me and said what? I said nothing just talking to myself. I think he heard me anyway and thought my comment was funny or at least figured it out.
The rest of the day was just quietly unpleasant. At one point, the girls, as the rest of Region 1 calls my patrol because they are amazingly such drama queens --- BTW they were called this years and years before I ever got here, go to get lunch. They do stop to ask if I would like something and I state no thanks. At lunch C1 and C2 get called away to do traffic control for an RV that's sadly burning on the side of the road and the fire department decided to shut down the Interstate. Sadly this leaves me and Q and the mechanic that rarely fixes anything alone at lunch. The mechanic watches me and Q ignore each other and you could cut the tension with a knife. I am certain he talks about this with the patrol next door. It's actually amusing to me as I quietly watch the tension unfold.
Sadly again, Q and I get to work together cleaning up the big shed we have. Talk about unpleasant it's almost hysterically funny if it weren't so unpleasant. ugh, in fact 3 hours of ugh.
At the end of the day, I'm working on cleaning oil spots outside while the boys walk around with our TMIII to see what needs completed for the FRCP. Q actually lets me know what the plan is for the next day. I am shocked. He also needs 2 volunteers for the next morning 2am to 10:30am for working with the patrol next door. Oh yeah, me please. I mean, ME PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE. I don't speak up right away as I don't want to seem too eager to get away from everyone.
Friday early morning working is so pleasant as I get to drive the attenuator giving safety coverage for the guys working on getting potholes filled and I only have to deal with Q for 2 hours this day. Plus the weather is decent as it's not too cold. Later, I get to scrape slicer off the tarmac for clean up. It's like cement but good hard work to get it broken up. The last 2 hours goes pretty slow. C2 was the other volunteer and I get a chance to ask a couple of questions as to why Q is somehow acting TMII when it should be either him or C1. Turns out it's nepotism at it's finest hour as Q is good buddies with the TMII and Q gets to do lots of things that C2 should be doing like training on the grader.
It's all confusing although I should know better than to write that as it's a classic case of it's not what you know it's who.
That's all the news. Wish me luck for next week as I certainly didn't make any new friends this week.
Love, L
side note: the RV that caught on fire was a complete loss they did save the Mercedes that was being towed by it. Yikes, that was an expensive loss.
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Dear Friend...
worked guardrail on Friday, Feb 23, guardrail on Monday the 26th and cable rail Tuesday the 27, and then back to guardrail Wednesday the 28th. Had an interview for Region 2 on Thursday, March 1; cleaned trucks that morning. I did not do as well as I would have liked during the interview. I felt lost and alone.
We had funeral roadside solidarity on Friday, March 2nd for the honor guard transporting the ashes of a fallen transportation worker who was killed by a car traveling too fast in a work area in the southern part of our state. This means we lined our vehicles along the shoulder of the road that the honor guard travelled. Very sad, very moving --- messed traffic up a bit and the public were very mad.
Please slow down people.
Then driving the attenuator for sweeper coverage the rest of Friday.
Not much to say. Still feel a little awkward with guardrail. In time, this will be better. Don't know how long it will take me I do know that it will take me longer due to the environment that I have encountered here.
Thoughts: surprisingly Q actually spoke to me in a decent tone and wished me a safe drive home during snow shift last week for the first time, and has been fairly decent, not as hostile. I don't like it. I'm used to being treated like I have the plague and that's the tone for me now. It is nice when it's not so unpleasant.
The TMIII had a "come to Jesus" meeting last Monday and wanted the in-house irritation between day shift and night shift snow shifts to stop. He went over other things too. Ironically, the solidarity lasted about a day before each shift became irritated by the other. Inside I wondered how long the "happiness" would last.
Send me all the news.
Love L
We had funeral roadside solidarity on Friday, March 2nd for the honor guard transporting the ashes of a fallen transportation worker who was killed by a car traveling too fast in a work area in the southern part of our state. This means we lined our vehicles along the shoulder of the road that the honor guard travelled. Very sad, very moving --- messed traffic up a bit and the public were very mad.
Please slow down people.
Then driving the attenuator for sweeper coverage the rest of Friday.
Not much to say. Still feel a little awkward with guardrail. In time, this will be better. Don't know how long it will take me I do know that it will take me longer due to the environment that I have encountered here.
Thoughts: surprisingly Q actually spoke to me in a decent tone and wished me a safe drive home during snow shift last week for the first time, and has been fairly decent, not as hostile. I don't like it. I'm used to being treated like I have the plague and that's the tone for me now. It is nice when it's not so unpleasant.
The TMIII had a "come to Jesus" meeting last Monday and wanted the in-house irritation between day shift and night shift snow shifts to stop. He went over other things too. Ironically, the solidarity lasted about a day before each shift became irritated by the other. Inside I wondered how long the "happiness" would last.
Send me all the news.
Love L
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