". . . but I have MILES TO GO before I sleep, miles to go before I sleep." Robert Frost

OK, Dessie, looks like word of your big three oh has reached us here in the nether woods of north west georgia and looks like mindsay has an order out that in your honor we are to bake something special for you - hope you don't mind a few hairs in your brownies - Big "reports of my desmise have been greatly exagerated" Foot - somewhere in the hills of north georgia :

So I just got off the phone with the hospital.
They have been emailing back and forth with my company's W/C division all day over the fact that I did not see Dr #1 but saw temp Dr #2, thus Dr. #1 CAN'T send a letter detailing his review of my two visits as requested by my company's W/C division.
And since Temp Dr #2 was a TEMP, she is no longer there to be able to send a review of my two visit.
So, 2 weeks, later, I am back at square one, I have an appointment tomorrow, NOT with the specialist requested by Temp Dr #2, but with Dr #1 who then will have to re-start the process of getting me an appointment with a specialist.
I wish I had my company W/C divisions email so I could send them disgusting close-up photos of my cracked and bleeding feet.

Got a wonderfully revealing call today from the Workman's Compensation division of my company :

ring, ring

WC foole : "we're just waiting for a letter from Dr. #1 to explain the need for a referral to a specialist"
me : "um, because after 2 weeks on antibiotics my toes still aren't healing? Oh, and by the way, I wasn't examined by Dr. #1"
WC foole : "you weren't?"
me : "no"
WC foole : "well, he wasn't in the office and his assistant was Dr. #2 but he has to confirm the diagnosis/referral decision"
me : "but if he isn't in the office, WHO is supposed to write you the letter?"
WC foole : "well, it may be up to a week before he returns and forwards his letter to us"
me : " oh, ok, thank you very much, I'll just sit here, out of work, while you all pay my salary and my feet bleed on the rug"


click.

who are still visiting the school to see friends and teachers YEARS after graduation, LOL! The shame is that while the people haven't changed, the school is now delapidated and falling apart (as I type on "basic mode" because otherwise I can't post photos on the walls) and the grounds are full of ugly weeds.
Ya know, if the administration doesn't care anymore, why should I? I think that is why many of us no longer hang out here, but go to the malt shop across town. I can't continue to stir debate with the same people I have butted heads with for years, its a waste of time. The jokes are fine, the friendships are true and long-lasting, so I won't abandon it, but there's no longer any new discovery at mindsay.

As for my history here - I came almost exactly 6 years ago shortly after getting out of the hospital where I was treated for a serious case of staph infection. Hmmm, what goes around, comes around, eh?
The early posters that held my attention ran the gamut from JimS and his political commentary, to the truely unique expressions of a couple of high school kids in Knoxville, TN (let's see if I can remember their names - uh, the guy was Luc, very funny, expressive, original in his thoughts - the girl was ... I'm drawing a blank - no, it was Hannah - very valley girl kind of stuff, high school drama, but also very creative in some of the things she posted - I think Luc's family moved to California and she, obviously, graduated, but I'm not sure why she dropped away from mindsay, but it was about a phase in her life I guess, and had nothing to do with the site.
Most of the others, like Jim, are still here - we went through the getting to know you stuff and then settled into on-line friendships - some great stuff - I even had Nomad send me a song for my birthday several years ago and Nomad, if you are reading this, I still remember just how much that made my Mom smile and laugh when I played it for her!
I had a wonderful day and evening with Snuggs. Have yet to meet JimS in person, but am looking forward to it someday - as well as Patchesmom, Sojourner, and just about every one of the people on my friends list.
I'm sorry that I rarely venture out and blurf, as I called it - blog surf, to meet new people, I know I am missing out by keeping to the same, safe clique. But ya know, budget cuts at the school of Mindsay seem to have affected the number of new kids enrolling, and really, its a bit more quiet at that malt shop and easier to drop in and say hi and share news (and photos, and links, and . . .). I walked in the doors of twitter once and never figured out the appeal, not my kind of joint. But I'll keep my FB, its Bruce Brandon Chattanooga if you want to seek me out, and will also stop in here mostly because it is still where a lot of good friends (and teachers) remain.bb.

no little goblins came out to spook people, instead those nefarious little green elve-types invaded CVSs, Rite-Aids, and WalMarts everywhere instantly removing Halloween stuff and replacing it with Santa stuff. So let me be the first : Bah Humbug!

Here in eastern Tennessee we woke to an unusual sight - sunshine and blue skies!
Last night was the first time in 11 days that I went out


- had a pretty good time except for the bar owner who dressed as Brittney Spears in Twenty Years - scary! (pot belly, hooters tee shirt/shorts, and boobies hanging down to his waist (nicely done pantyhose attached to a brassiere with a pair of ?? in them).


And the surprise of the evening was a marriage proposal (that was not surprisingly accepted prompting tears from all the ghouls, uh, girls, present).



I was tempted to drop to a knee and propose myself, but I saw this red riding hood making out with a girl wolf, oh well, gorgeous all the same!



Well, Sunday afternoon already, beautiful day and no where to go, so here I sit.
Got new meds for the skin which is in pretty bad shape and will hope to hear from the hospital tomorrow with an appointment having been set with a specialist.
Lynn and Kim, thanks for the card!

And checkin' it twice
Of all the candy I'm gonna go out tomorrow
And buy half price!

Yesterday's headline : "Investors rush back into stocks as economy grows"



Today's headline : "Stocks plunge amid consumer worries"


as if one day of stock trading numbers mean anything at all.

I have not researched either the law or uses the military is using for the drones in recent attacks in Afghanistan, but saw a report today that the U.N. has warned the
U.S. *shaking in boots* that it may be violating international law in regard to using drones to direct assassination strikes against Taliban leaders in the war.

Without the answers (and of course the news source did nothing really to educate the reader on the topic) my reaction is to shrug - so what? How do you differentiate the moral acceptability of using a drone to strike a singular target for the purpose of killing a specific individual versus dropping a bomb on the same house to the same effect except that the bomb would potentially kill dozens of innocents?

That's all I got - anyone reading care to weigh in?

the article :

updated 8:58 a.m. ET, Wed., Oct . 28, 2009
UNITED NATIONS - A U.N. human rights investigator warned the United States Tuesday that its use of unmanned warplanes to carry out targeted executions may violate international law.

Philip Alston said that unless the Obama administration explains the legal basis for targeting particular individuals and the measures it is taking to comply with international humanitarian law which prohibits arbitrary executions, "it will increasingly be perceived as carrying out indiscriminate killings in violation of international law."

Alston, the U.N. Human Rights Council's investigator on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, raised the issue of U.S. Predator drones in a report to the General Assembly's human rights committee and at a news conference afterwards, saying he has become increasingly concerned at the dramatic increase in their use, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan, since June.

He said the U.S. response — that the Geneva-based council and the General Assembly have no role in relation to killings during an armed conflict — "is simply untenable."

"That would remove the great majority of issues that come before these bodies right now," Alston said. "The onus is really on the government of the United States to reveal more about the ways in which it makes sure that arbitrary executions, extrajudicial executions are not, in fact, being carried out through the use of these weapons."

Alston's warning comes as President Barack Obama is weighing how to overhaul the U.S. approach to the Afghan conflict.

Alston, a law professor at New York University, said that while there may be circumstances where the use of drones "to carry out targeted executions" is consistent with international law, this can only be determined in light of information on the legal basis for selecting certain individuals.

"What we need then is the U.S. to be more up front and say 'OK, we're prepared to discuss some aspects of this program,'" he said.

Alston said the U.S. should provide details on use of drones, disclose what precautions it takes to ensure the unmanned aircraft are used strictly for purposes consistent with international humanitarian law, and what measures exist to evaluate what happened when their weapons have been used.

"Otherwise, you have the really problematic bottom line — which is that the Central Intelligence Agency is running a program which is killing significant numbers of people, and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant international laws," he said.

I don't put vids from my camera to my laptop to a CD/DVD very often, but when I do, one repeated problem I have is that it apparently gets formatted in a way that only a PC can read. I find I can't play the finished CD in a television/DVD player.

Because I don't do it often, I can't recall from one attempt to another what, if anything, I did different. Can anyone give a simple solution for me like making certain a particular format is used? These are .mpg movie files.

that investors are pulling back money after short gains in recent months.
Long, boring industry critique to follow.
One of the two reasons for pessimism regarding the speed of the nation's recession recovery cited is that two railroads gave gloomy forecasts for future earnings.
This is a case of misdirection in my view and here's why :
Railroads increased business during the recession as trucking companies were hit hard by increases in fuel prices. Trucking outfits went bankrupt by the THOUSANDS and that doesn't even include the number of one-truck companies that are one guy, his truck, and his hopeful business. They went under in staggering numbers.
Shippers saw the effect on trucking, and turned to rail. Rail handles about 30% of frieght in this country, and of course not only do trucks handle over 70%, but they also have a slice of railroad's 30% due to the fact that frieght trains don't deliver to the back door of your local grocer, trucks do.

So the article I read is very misleading when an ecomonist points out that rail is an early indicator of economic times; TRANSPORTATION in general is an early indicator, and trucking specifically is the best early indicator (I left work in late mid 2007 in part because I saw this coming but of course Bush still had his head up his . . . oh, never mind).
Anyway, many shippers chose to try something that has been increasing in popularity and that rail has been trying to take advantage of recently (the past 10 years) - its called intermodal transport. Stuff leaves the plant in a truck pulling a container - those big steel boxes you see on trains and in ports. We have special trailer frames so the boxes become instant highway trailers when locked down. But instead of an over the road driver like me taking it to it's destination 900 miles away, the intermodal driver brings it to the nearest rail yard. There it is transferred to a flatcar, shipped to the destination city, then ANOTHER TRUCK DRIVER picks it up to bring it to the store, the distribution center, the manufacturing plant, whatever. This is how I lost my long term assignment with General Mills a few months ago. This is how the numbers for rail looked great last year and the execs thought they had a trend on their hands, that rail was about to increase its share of overall general frieght movement. They were/are wrong. Manufacturing schedules can not be met by rail supply - they are too slow. Urgent orders can not be processed using rail supply - the tracks are just as crowded as the highways and they do not have anything in place to grow any type of 'expedited' movement of goods (where-as a truck company can pull a driver off one delivery and put him on another immediately, or a team can be assigned so the frieght, as on a train, can move 24/7 and be cross country in a day and a half.

* some might say "wait - if he said a train can deliver frieght in a day and a half, where's the argument FOR trucking?". As I said, that freight on a train ONLY travels from point A to point B in that day and a half, it first had to get ON the train, then had to be scheduled to run cross country, then had to be delivered OFF the train to the consignee - I'll match trucking's door to door to rail any day *

So right now, after last year, manufacturers and shippers are learning that though they DID save money by switching to intermodal, they lost as much, if not more, in productivity.
Fuel prices are coming down, shippers are taking advantage of even lower rates in trucking. Part of the reason little outfits are going under is that they can't compete with a big firm like Schneider or Crete - those two have THOUSANDS of trucks completing deliveries every day - they can afford to price their service so that they only make $25 per load - hell, with 4,000 trucks a day, the firm is then still making 36 MILLION a year AFTER expenses! Show me an owner operator who can survive on $25 profit for a load that took him 2 days to deliver.
SO, the fact is, that trucking survived the great oil spike of 2008, downsized, laid off, cut back, low balled, cut corners, and bruised and bloodied, is shaking it off in 2009 with great expectations for 2010. Rail will lose the business they gained and still be hampered by their infrastructure problems. (you've heard of "truck only" toll lanes that some have proposed? it is mostly for safety reason. Rail wants a govt bail out to help them establish more track dedicated to helping them MAKE MORE MONEY.
And that just won't happen and so the execs this week put out negative growth projections for 2010 which for reasons I don't understand, media economists bought hook, line, and sinker as an indicator for the U.S. economy instead of what it is, an indicator for rail. The downturn for rail is not because of the economy of 2009, it is a "correction" as they call it, for the economy of 2008.
I'm not happy with the hits we truck drivers had to take, but I'm a lot more confident this fall than I have been since the spring of 2007. The next windmill to tilt at for us is probably equally unbeatable, and that is to get companies to pay us what we earn, and for the government to regulate pay in the industry and outlaw per-mile pay for driving. Sure, the trucking firms can charge clients per mile, but as an employee, I deserve pay for my time from door to door, not only the time spent with the wheels turning.
My thoughts, and I expressed them back in 2007, is that THIS is the time for trucking to make that change - consumer prices have risen little because trucking cut fees to keep business. Trucking likely will not increase fees even though fuel prices are now down - they should, however, and they should use that profit to restructure driver pay.

but what about idle feet?
stuck on the sofa fielding phone calls and listening to the scanner as our boys respond to an auto accident. The chief, the assistant chief, the captain, and two firefighters all work at a family auto body/paint shop 1/4 mile from the firehall. This morning at work they all heard a big crash, looked out the shop door and saw a car that had been rearended by a pickup - boy, talk about quick response time!



Anyway, here I sit when the asst chief calls me about my Mack fire truck.
It origionally had two booster reels on it (large garden hose style hoses that spin off an electric reel and typically are used for brush fires - the heavy rubber hoses are much more impervious to nicks and heat than the larger fabric covered fire hoses that we pull off the back of the fire truck for building fires. When the Mack was brought down from Jersey, the two reels were removed and one put atop a tanker truck and the other used to create a brush truck out of a pickup truck. I have lobbied for the chief to consider returning the booster reels to me when we replace or sell the old tanker or brush unit.
So the asst chief calls to tell me that nearby there is an old Ford fire truck for sale with two booster reels and that he knows the guy who owns it - he is a contractor with a yard filled with older trucks he has bought and salvaged, or bought and scavanged parts off of and then sells them. He MIGHT consider donating the truck or I might be able to buy is for the price of the reels alone.
So, am I about to double the size of the Hooker Hose Company? Stay tuned!

Mr. Casey Smith climbed the 120' oak at the LazyB up past the 60' mark where the main trunk split into two large limbs and has cut one off :
I now have a winter's worth of firewood and no fireplace, LOL!

I'M, too sexy for my SHOES, too sexy for my SHOES, two sexy, FEET

Got back from the doctor with my hoped for "no driving" restriction in place for a week and half.

The nurses assistant got the fun job of cleaning the wounds and dressing them.  After all was swabbed,

creamed, and bandaged, she then slipped on a pair of fishnet stockings. 

On me.

 

Cut it out!  They are fishnet 'booties' intended to hold the gauze wrapping in place on both feet instead of the traditional first aid tape - sorry, I have apparently left my USB cable for my camera somewhere in a hotel up north so I can't show my sexy feet.

after 36 hours of phone tag the company workmans comp office got in touch with me, took my preliminary report (I call back tomorrow for a phone conference with my manager and the safety dude), and set me up with an appointment in the morning at a local hospital where we go for all our occupational health screenings and testing.  Lets hope its as simple as some good anti-biotics and a couple of days off, uh, weeks, I meant weeks!

Visited several foot clinics Friday in Maryland to be told the docs had hospital duty and weren't in thier offices.  So found a big clinic in Carlisle and went there Monday to find out they were all  booked (7 of them!) til Wednesday.  So called my family doctor when I was told that he didn't "DO" workman's comp evaluations and that I had to arrange a doctor appointment via a list provided by my employer (so nice that my manager didn't share that tid-bit with me TWO WEEKS AGO!).  So two calls, one a.m. one p.m. to our WC division went unanswered with no call backs to my message.

But wait!  I got home at midnite in Chattanooga to a message on my HOME phone from someone with whom I had left my CELL phone as a contact number.

And now its late, 4 a.m., and I'm going to bed and not even worrying about trying to coordinate an appointment tomorrow (today).

Oh, and by the way, K&B trucking called today to see if I could take a slot that just opened up for the Chattanooga regional position (the one I was told I would probably have to wait 6 - 8 month for).  I told them no - I wouldn't be ready to consider a job change until November 1 at the earliest.

So, off to sleep - laughing that I just got a letter from a hometown florist from whom I bought flowers for Mom last year reminding me her birthday is next week - could they be honored to again send her a gift on my behalf? 

Uh, no.

So today I sleep.  And of course, today will be sunny and warm for the first time in 2 weeks.

 

plans this week - get feets fixed

                         - have tree cut down at LazyB

                          - roll hoses and put away tools from the old Mack

                            - take Mack to the Mack dealer for a tune-up

                             - apply for vacation pay at work to cover first week of not working that is not covered by

                                Workers Comp

                               - cross fingers that WC claim goes forward and I get to sit on sofa and eat bon-bons

                                  for next two weeks - paid, of course!

                                 - stew over fact that I just burned my weeks vacation and now probably wont be able

                                    to get time off in March to go to Ireland - for the 2nd year in a row.

                                    - drink beer and eat pizza (my luck, my gout will flare up!)

The memorial mass for Mom was exactly what I had wanted - it was a folk mass attended by dozens of Mom's neighbors and parishioners. A surprise appearance by a friend of Mom's who we had thought was going to be out of town made it even more special - Ginny was a co-member of the folk group Mom sang and played with back in the 70's. I almost burst into tears when I saw her walk into the back of the church (and it wasn't because she was also my dreaded algebra teacher back in high school, LOL!). Add to that the musician friends of my sister who also sang and played at the mass including an awesome version of "Ave Maria". The ladies of the church, organized by our neighbor, my Mom's best friend since we moved to Maryland in 1965, put on a wonderful sit down reception in the hall after the service. My sister Holly spoke a wonderful eulogy at the end of the Mass that encompassed Mom's love of music, family, and church, and my off-key singing to Eagles tunes at 4am (yes, she did, thanks Hol). LOL! My sister Barry had spoken an equally wonderful eulogy for Mom in front of family at the funeral Mass for Mom in Massachusetts the other day, and her theme of Mom's connection to our tightly knit Irish clan is what inspired Hol to focus on Mom's connection to the parish family in Maryland. My sister Sal mentioned at one point how sometimes that certain song has a certain spot when you KNOW the emotional wave will overcome you. You keep a stiff upper lip, you stare off in different directions, you think of baseball stats, anything to maintain composure, but there is no changing the fact that when the music reaches that spot, you become a baby and have to bawl. My problem similar to that is the personal touch of a hug - I love a hug, but in a situation like this, a hug is ok, but when you try to combine it with a platitude, it is too much. So I often make very brief connection with people - even saying goodbye today to my sisters, I wanted a big hug, but the moment I embraced them, I felt that tide rise and my voice break, and had to pull away. Too bad I cant do a video here - sister Sal glued a photo of Mom's face to an Irish doll I gave Mom several years ago. When the tummy is pressed, it sings "When Irish Irish Eyes Are Smiling". The doll has been a toy Mom has enjoyed in the past few months and I accepted it as a gift. With Mom's face (from the photo of she and I posted several spots below) on the fiddle playing red haired leprechaun, I shot the doll with the house in the background before I pulled away from our home of 44 years. If you are a facebooker, friend me and the video is posted there tonite - it is just a few seconds long as the "lepre-CON" (Mom's name is Constance, get it?) sings its one verse. Lepre-CON will ride with me for a few hundred  thousand miles.

*sigh*  and life goes on . . .

 

There's a tear in your eye, And I'm wondering why,
For it never should be there at all.
With such pow'r in your smile, Sure a stone you'd beguile,
So there's never a teardrop should fall.
When your sweet lilting laughter's Like some fairy song,
And your eyes twinkle bright as can be;
You should laugh all the while And all other times smile,
And now, smile a smile for me.

When Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter
You can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away.

For your smile is a part Of the love in your heart,
And it makes even sunshine more bright.
Like the linnet's sweet song, Crooning all the day long,
Comes your laughter and light.
For the springtime of life Is the sweetest of all
There is ne'er a real care or regret;
And while springtime is ours Throughout all of youth's hours,
Let us smile each chance we get.

Made it up to Massachusetts without incident (well, other than forgetting my luggage!) wrapped up the funeral services for Mom and have returned to Maryland for her memorial mass at our local church for her friends and parishioners.
No luck getting to see a doctor about my feet so will have to put that off til I get back to Chatt next week.
Meanwhile have put in paperwork to apply for another trucking job, one that is run out of Chattanooga with regular service to Iowa at a daily rate of pay, not by the mile.
This could get dicey as I am approaching my one year anniversary at Schneider meaning I can collect a weeks vacation pay, but also I may go out on worker's comp while my feets heal. It would be nice if I could put two and two together, get 3 paid weeks off, and then jump ship.
The steady pay would be nice, the regular trips to the midwest that WON'T include Chicago will be great, the winter weather could be rough at times, but that's probably less than I would encounter running north with Schneider on a regular basis. Its also a foot in the door for working that company's dedicated fleet for Pilgrim's Pride chicken in Chattanooga which would give me regional work in the southeast and the possibility of being home several nights a week (the plant is in Chattanooga and most distribution runs are in central Georgia which would mean out in the morning and back by the evening with probably one or two days a week with an overnight run to south Ga or eastern Carolinas etc.
The fact that this job with K&B Transportation is a tough gig to get into means turnover with drivers is low and that indicates the job is better than most. With Mom gone, I really don't have the need for running up to PA other than once or twice for holidays in New England (July and December). We'll see, but I'd feel better if these damn toes would simply heal up and not be a possible issue for my hiring process.

Well, family is all back from Massachusetts as my sis just rolled into the driveway, time to chat about tomorrow's plans (packing Hershey's kisses to be set on tables for the reception after Mom's mass as we did up in Pittsfield, LOL!)

Family Guy -
talking to native North Americans about spirits then later sitting at breakfast
Peter : LOOK! There's a message in my cereal! It says " Ooooooooooooooo!"
Bryan : "Peter, those are Cheerios".