HOW YOU DOIN'? Part two

Alright here's some more:
I split these up so you didn't have to read one long post. You could take it as you wanted. Anyway...

THE STORM AND THE TREE
The day before golf, we get this tornado-like wind and hail storm on my way to work at 4:00. I get the call from home that wind has blown down a tree from an adjacent property and taken down our power lines (and our neighbor's). We have no power, no phone (because we have Time Warner digital phone), can't get in our driveway. Not to mention that it's, like, 87 degrees, and there's no air conditioning. Plus, no power to run the sump pump in the basement. I leave work and come home. Power company ends up coming by 4 times and telling us they'll need a crew (no duh). 25 hours later, with Patty at the end of her rope, the power people finally show up and reattach in less that 1 hour. This would not have happened if Patty had not been extremely assertive on the phone with NIMO.

So we're all hooked up (power, phone, and cable), but we still have an 80-90 foot tree lying across two yards. So, Saturday I'm mowing my back lawn and notice the neighbor trying to cut some of the smaller branches wih a hand saw. Then, Don across the street, comes over with his electric chain saw. Then another couple shows up and then the widow from across the street (who we shovel out occasionally) comes over. So we're all working along. Just as I leave for Jackson's soccer game, Super John from down the street shows up with his "real" chainsaw and cuts the tree back to my lawn so I can get in my driveway.

Another guy (from the Eddie Burgess-group) comes up with a guy who's looking for firewood. I just want the tree gone. So, it's taken several trips over a few days, but we finally got the yard back so it's usable. I just have to vaccuum up wood chips before my lawn is a total mess.

Thanks to the Owens', Don and Charlotte Van Keuren, Mary Mancuso, the Trainors, and Super John from down the street for all of your help. Thanks also to Paul for doing all of the cutting and hauling. The town wouldn't take the branches.

AMTRAK GETS WORSE
As hard as it is to believe, things at Amtrak Rensselaer got worse this week. Our Chief Mechanical Officer came and told us that the P.M. work we do on a certain line of engines was being moved to Chicago, where they want to centralize the work and inventory for the program. They have no problem with the quality of our work. Business-wise, it's a smart move. Unfortunately, it's going to cause us to lose 22 jobs. 16 of those will be people retiring whose jobs they will not fill. The other 6 are actual jobse we will lose. It doesn't seem like alot, but when you only have 153 and they want you down to 131, it is alot. Never mind that we had 200-300 people at one time.

My craft of 10 workers was reduced by 2 in this move. This was done because management doesn't like the man who was second-from-the-bottom on our roster. See, our local management manages with the style of VINDICTIVENESS AND DEGRADATION. The guy who makes the rules and schedules has admitted that if he is mad at one guy, he likes to punsih the WHOLE craft. How do you like that? I won't go too far into the other archaic and childish things they do and say to and about the workers, because I could write for hours. Suffice to say that it is an abominable place to be, and I am physically nauseated when I am in their presence.

You COULD say, "Len, if you hate it there so much and it sucks to be there, why don't you leave?" No diploma. Golden hand-cuffs (decent pay and can't aford to risk being without benefits). Not enough money saved to allow for flexibility of not working at this time. I should probably go and get my Real Estate license, even with the market being bad right now. I actually figured I'd retire with the railroad. My job is safe for now, but it's only a matter of time. Amtrak is going to, over the next few years, turn the Rensselaer Maintenence Facility into a gas station. The trains will come in, get fueled, toilets serviced, cleaned and sent out. No mechanical repairs will be made.

You know, it's bad enough that we haven't gotten a contract for almost 8 years (no raise and gasoline costs over $3.oo/gal), but to have jobs abolished and a local management that will not communicate "en masse" to the employees, and operates on the, "You're lucky to have a job" mentality, is a kick in the teeth. I find myself often wishing for the embarassing and painful death of those in control. And then I think, "Hey, what kind of thinking is that?" So, I guess I'm going to put a resume together and see what's out there that I can do that will pay me what I'm making now. No construction work. I freaking hate it. I need a large comapny to hire me as a liason to big-wigs who come into town. That would be good for me. HIRE LEN IS RIGHT, NOW. YOU WON'T BE SORRY.

You know what, though? I'm healthy. I have a nice family. Things could be alot worse. I at least have the ABILITY to take care of my family. If I have to end up working 2 jobs and 60-80 hours to make the same money as I'm paid at Amtrak, I'll do it. Fuck Amtrak. You're not going to beat me. In the end, the upper hand will be mine AND I WILL PISS ON YOUR SHOES, YA BASTIDS!!

This ends Part Two. Part 3 to follow. LEN IS RIGHT. ACCEPT IT.
I am,
Len Tollerton