About how I feel this morning

After two years on the bench I finally went into the game last night. There's something to be said for high pain tolerence. Jackhammering concrete in an elevator shaft a little bit bigger than a closet has kicked my... well you get the picture. The clowns on the other side of the aisle think that people who do construction type work can keep doing it until their in their 70s? Ain't going to happen. There was a time just a few years ago when I could run circles around kids in their 20s (the gameboy generation). Not anymore. I need to find something a bit less physical.

Keep your drums upright

Mine safety

Methane a killer
As I've mentioned in a prior post the Bush administration was noted for cutting budgets and ignoring regulations. So too was it with the mining industry. With lobbyists dumping some $14 million of influence into DC companies have been bending er.. ignoring many of the laws and regulations in place to protect workers from workplace dangers. The attitude of get her done at all costs has been in place for many years now. It's so prevalent that it will take several years to undo what Bush and company did. We saw that with the banks which to date still have no oversight and they are back to doing exactly the things that got us into this mess.
I experienced this first hand in my own profession which made it quite difficult to protect myself and the public and still meet production schedules. I may have mentioned before that some years back a large job would require 15 to 20 workers was cut to 7 or 8 with no advanced technology to make up the difference. I was able to hit most of the production not by sheer effort but because I have been in the business so long that I remember techniques that others either didn't know or had forgotten. Still I saw an increase in worker injuries over the Bush years like never before and an attitude of production first public and worker safety last.

I feel truly bad for the families of that small mining town. They had neither the government to look out for their safety nor some union to back them up. I wonder if the company will even bother to pay to bury the dead. There's not usually a death benefit when you're non union. But the real kick in the pants is that the less one makes the worse one gets treated. All for this for the plain greed because it's cheaper to take a fine and loose a couple of workers than spend the money for safety.

My life is becoming a mess

I had it all planned out some 20 years ago. I figured 15 or so years in haz mat then get some type of teaching certificate and finish out doing haz mat instruction until retirement. Not happening. In looking at the number of major haz mat companies dwindling, they're down to about 12 in this area, the prospects for even getting back to work are slim. Those companies that have survived aren't working right now. The union is looking into starting training for "green jobs" but if the training for bio and chemical attacks is any indication I'm screwed. It took five years for them to get the money to develop a program for that. Gee don't you just feel safer now? It was just two years ago that I was doing some of the hardest nastyist work one could do and now nothing. I got moved up the list of worker wannabes but there's still a large number ahead of me and most of them do concrete type work, something I know little about unless it's the removal with full enclosure. Maybe I could write a book about the horror stories or as we call them war stories. There's been some pretty weird experiences happen over the years. Might make for interesting reading. I don't know.
The want ads look ever so promising. Let's see there's beverage server. Naah! I don't think I'd look good in a bikini. Newspaper subscription sales? Nope unless they offer free buggy whips with each subscription. Pygalgia suggested tatoo removal. Here let me take that teddy bear off your butt for you. No I think the state requires a doc to use the lazer.
I think the hard part of all this is what it does to one's psyche. It tends to drain motivation especially when you know there's nothing out there. The more you dig and hunt the more you realize how bad it really is. And for those out there who think they're cozy safe in their jobs, don't because you just might be next and you won't see it coming.

Keep your drums upright...

Unemployment sucks

Just got my second extention of unemployment benefits. If this is what retirement is like include me out. After scouring the net looking under every job.com web site there is I'm convinced nothing out there and it's getting worse. Every time a company around here lays off another couple hundred or thousand bodies hit the streets. Then you have the college kids who with high hopes who had that wild wet dream that they'd just pop into the local mega manufacturer or corporation and would be given their dream job with their own parking space. Ha ha ha the jokes on you. The reality is you don't have any experience and they aren't going to give it to you. The guys already working there are having their hours cut back even management. Got to watch out for the shrinking bottom line you know. So you thought you'd start your own company. How you going to do that when you still have all those student loans to pay back? You think you can get a business loan right now. You're daddy rich? Didn't think so.
The two relatives that I have here that are working had their hours cut. One now works 4 days and he's in management and the other is now down to 3 days. Still working? Don't bother to take a vacation your job just might not be there when you get back or maybe that newer guy who's had his eye on your position is just waiting to poison your reputation with the boss. Feel better now?

I guess it could be worse. Could be standing in a bread line like the 1930s with no unemployment. I'm sure the teabaggers would just love that. We'll just eliminate all taxes. Get rid of unemployment and kick those lazy old people off of Social Security and Medicare. Police and Fire? Who needs em. You can just buy a gun and protect your own property. Fire? We could leave a fire hose next to the hydrant and you can put it out yourself. Let the loggers and oil companies into our parks and spread the royalties amongst us. Let's make the whole of government for profit. Let the congressmen pay to hold the position. Get rid of all those pesky laws they just get in the way of profits. Open the prisons and let them all out. The most violent would be given the option of the country of their choice. Think of the savings.

Jobs Jobs Jobs and no jobs

So I was watching the news the other night and some big wig from the state Dept. of Unemployment was on saying that there are jobs to be had. So I took her advice and poped over to the web site to see if indeed there were any jobs. I typed in my info - classification, area of interest and location (in my case I'll take anything within 50 miles of here). I hit the search button and up poped 3 jobs. The only problem? Two of the jobs had been listed there for over a year and a half and the third was for something not even in the same field (plumber). One job had been filled earlier this year because I talked to the guy who got it at a recertification class. The only other job was for a temporary on call person at a local university. This at a time when they are going to slash state spending on higher education to make up a $6 billion shortfall.

I must say they sure haven't made it easy at the Unemployment office ( I refuse to use their term for it the Department of Employment Security ). There was a time when you could go there and look through job listing that employers had posted and at least get a feel for what was happening in the job market. Oh no, those wonderful republicans went and had the department privatized. Outsourced to some company of people who were probably out of work themselves and found the ultimate golden recession proof cow tit to suck.
It used to be that if you were out of work you could go there and find a direction if the particular industry was tanking. That's how I got into Haz Mat work in the first place. It was the dislocated worker program for out of work loggers and aerospace workers (I was neither but figured why not). It was simple back then. You found what they were looking for they gave you a list of trainers and you went and got trainning. Now there's no clue as to what the needs are and you have to hope that the training is state approved because they won't tell you up front.

Maybe I should just get a job handing out pink slips. Here you go everybody. Merry Christmas and by the way YOU"RE FIRED!

The Haymarket massacre or why we don't work like slaves

You ever wonder why we work a 40 hour week and get weekends off? Well you can thank your local laborers union for that one. Back in 1886 the workers in Chicago were trying to get the work day shortened from 12 hours to 8. Imagine your work day being 13 or 14 hours long. They had a commute back then either on foot or street car as best as I can figure. The average wage back then was between $1 and $2.25 per day. In Chicago companies hired their own armed guards to intimidate and harass workers. A strike at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. now called International Harvester had a force of 400 police (hired Pinkerton men by some accounts) to protect strike breakers. The workers had gone on strike because McCormick lowered wages to $9 a week. The strike had started in Feb 1886 and gained momentum with a nation wide union push for an 8 hour work day. Strikers outside the plant had gathered to hear speeches by August Spies who encouraged the strikers to remain united but be nonviolent. When the whistle blew at the end of the work day the strikers stormed the gates. Police shot and killed six people some strikers and a few innocent bystanders. The labor organizers called for a rally on May 4 in Haymarket square. The gathering took place with a large gathering of police. All was so peaceful that the mayor had stopped by to listen and walked home as the last speaker was speaking. As the crowd was starting to break up a group of police started to disperse the crowd. Someone threw a bomb into the police line and mayhem insued. In the end six policemen were killed and it's witnesses stated later that many of the police were killed by friendly fire. Eight of the strikers and leaders were brought to trial. Seven were sentenced to death one was given a 15year sentence. After extensive appeals two had their sentences commuted one comitted suicide in prison by setting off a dynamite cap in his mouth that had been smuggled in. Four were hanged but they did not die immidiately. After all was said and done the governor of the state in 1893 found all the men innocent. The greatest travesty of justice in American history that has been long forgotten and never taught in schools. Ask your kids even your grown kids if they know anything about this.

My next T shirt or jacket

Poop meet fan

Called the boss and after almost 7 months of no work the feces is about to hit the fan next week so if my posting is light in the upcoming months you'll know why. The thing I hate about this is that it's like starting out on a marathon but the beginning is more like a sprint and the end is always a sprint. But to be out of shape at the beginning is the worse.

Just in

Just got a call from my employer and after a near 6 month hiatus. It's back to the grind. This is going to be painfull. I'm way out of shape and the hours are weird. I'm glad though because now I can continue to save for retirement if that is possible.

The New York Crane accident

It was a sad day in construction when this crane gave way killing four workers. I've worked on thousands of construction sites over the years and I must say I don't think I would have stayed on this one very long. They had 13 violations in 27 months. That's one every other month. I've always been a bit leary of cranes and always make sure I know where the boom is before moving ahead. Always look for an escape route or good cover when working around these guys. This somewhat surprises me in that most cranes and scaffolding have multiple ancor points with back up safety features. I can't speak that much about cranes but I know with scaffolds I'll take some time to check connections and the general stability of the structure and if anything's wrong I get out the ratchet set and tighten connections.
Just a few redundant ancors in this situation and four guys might be alive. Maybe the crane company will learn from this mistake maybe not I sure hope they do.

Crane in NY

Looks like the UAW strike is over

There is a tenative agreement with the UAW today. Few details were given but it looks like they got some type of job security offer and a new program for health care called a VEBA. I'm always suspicious when they throw something new at us and I think there may be a few glitches in this system.
VEBA
Any teachers or state workers under this plan out there like to comment about its' pros and cons?

Long week

It's been a busy week for me and I'm not looking forward to the next three weeks as I-5 near Seattle will be cut down by two then three lanes. and at the end of August there will only be one lane northbound for several days as construction crews replace the expansion joints. Just a wonderful time to be on the job from hell south of Seattle. I'm considering taking the last week in August off but this is the time of year for making the most of our money. That is unless there's a terror event at which point we'll all be sent to class they promised to give back in spring of 2002. On that subject let me tell you a little known secret. There are only about 1200 workers who are trained to deal with an event in this country. That may sound like a lot until you consider that's for the entire nation and getting those people across country if air traffic were grounded would be a nightmare. Would we be able to handle it if we had the training, equipment, and transportation? You betcha. But, alas the rethuglicans have no love for this land, so in such an event your on your own.

Busy week

Won't be posting much this week as work should be a busy one with much travel and plenty of items to accomplish. Tune in on the weekend to see how things are going. Oh yes, a belated happy fathers day to all you dads out there.

Time warp

Looks like my work schedule is making me loose track of time working 7 days a week for a few weeks. Thought I had posted yesterday only to realize that was Monday. Eeek and I had a few great posts but they will have to wait. Catch you later folks.

Ouch!

This story via King 5 news sure gives my profession a black eye.

SPOKANE, Wash. - Workers from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Ecology found 50 containers of cyanide and other toxic chemicals at a Spokane home this week.
Wearing hazardous waste suits, the workers toiled to clean up the site (at 5606 N. Loma Drive) today and yesterday.
Ecology spokeswoman Jani Gilbert said crews "overpacked" the drums and other containers into larger containers for transport to an approved treatment and disposal facility.
Gilbert said investigators found the 50 containers in a detached garage. A few others were stored in a backyard behind the garage. Most of the containers were 55-gallon drums containing cyanide and various corrosive and flammable materials.
Gilbert said the source of the contaminants is under investigation.
Homeowner Genevieve Webb said her son had stored the barrels and she wasn't concerned about them.
Sources told The Spokesman-Review newspaper that the barrels were waste from a methamphetamine laboratory cleanup business.
There was no evidence that any of the containers leaked at the home. Environmental officials say at inspection showed the home was safe.
Neighbors were surprised by the cleanup operation on the quiet northwest Spokane street. Stephanie McConahy said she had seen the barrels in the back yard, but assumed they were empty.

Yes and I've done a few drug lab clean ups in my career. This is embarrassing.