Ispolkom
Engineer
Hey, but every Wednesday is Board Game Night! And there's yoga on Saturday mornings! Plenty of room for both, since there aren't any Amtrak passengers.
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Cite?Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Amen, I'm glad I retired. I live approximately 25 miles from Chicago and this is the worst winter I have seen in my 65 years. The record number of zero degree days is broken or tied, depending on your source. The snowfall total is twice the seasonal average. I haven't seen bare ground on my land in 3 months, at least the way it is going I won't have to mow the lawn until after the 4 of July snow melt!No, you are mistaken. Actually, in Minnesota it's the coldest winter in 35 years. Or nineth coldest winter ever recorded.
And it's colder in North Dakota and Montana than it is here.
Snow is annoying, and snowfalls are running a foot more than average (and you know, none of the snow that has fallen has melted yet), but equipment can handle snow to some extent. The problem for the railroad is a) working on broken equipment outside when it's dangerously cold out, and b) continuing to do that when the cold continues for days and weeks. Even with good clothes, it saps morale.
I'd love to enjoy your winter in New Jersey. You guys probably don't bombard snowfields with helicopter-dropped bombs
I've never had to do anything more complicated in subzero cold than throw hay bales and chop ice to water cattle, and that was when I was a youngster. Now I have to shovel snow, but you can leave your mittens (and gloves and glove liners) on for that. I can't imagine doing detail work as your fingers lose feeling. I grew up in a railroad town, and every winter night that I hear the wind howl, I think of people out doing the sort of work you did.You may ask how I know, I started there with the PennCentral in 1972. I went to Amtrak in 1973 and traveled extensively. I am familiar with the 480 power cars. Riding for hours with the noise and fumes while sitting on a folding chair and ear glued to a railroad radio. I've spliced in 480 volt cable heads on # 7 at 20 degrees below zero. So cold that the heat shrink insulation would not shrink until you applied a torch directly to it and electrical tape broke when you tried to get it off the roll. I'm proud to say that we were on the move with full 480 power in 20 minutes.
Yes, statistics can be misused. But this isn't a "slightly worse than normal" winter. It's one of the coldest winters ever (in fact, the coldest winter in Minnesota since I've been born,) especially in terms of long stretches of cold days. Each particular day may not be so cold as to break records, but it's been a persistent cold...50+ below-zero nights with highs often barely breaking the 0 mark. That doesn't play well with fixing broken rails, fixing slow orders to keep them to a minimum, etc.Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Head South for the Winter! Birds and Snowbirds do it, and when you Retire(or Win the Lottery!! ), Move where it's Warm in the Winter like so many Have! Just Don't move to Austin!! :lol:Yeh, it is pretty cold. Not historic cold, but enough cold to cause all sorts of problems. Like frostbite and gangrene. Meaning people in its path need to know things like dressing properly and paying attention to what their body parts are telling them. In some parts of the world, the whole way of life is adapted to this. But the cold this year has also hit places where people have expectations of more warmth. Those are the people really suffering.
Should be by next month. That's the end of Q1 14 where Amtrak's signed agreement stipulates that they will begin service at St Paul Union Station.so when will Amtrak relocate to SPUD?
I like the verse in I Heard It Through The Grapevine, it says "believe half of what you see and some or none of what you hear!"As everyone has said: I will believe it when I see it. This has dragged on soooooo long now it's almost comical.
:-(
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