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2008 [PART 2] and the Coffee Pot is still on and now 4 years old. Here we gather as friends with trains. Sweet ice tea too.

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Posted by RockIsland52 on Friday, March 21, 2008 9:53 PM
 Buckeye Riveter wrote:

Good morning from Beautiful Ohio where I just returned from my colonoscopy.  They told me my tonsils looked good. Confused [%-)]

Buckeye...I hope you never have, to have, your tonsils taken out.


Chuck # 3
I found my thrill on Blueberryhill !!

The Dr. Pepper just came shooting out of my mouth and nose and all over the keyboard.  Great one, Chuck.  Big Smile [:D]

Jack 

IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.

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Posted by RockIsland52 on Friday, March 21, 2008 10:47 PM

GregM,

Read your post and had to laugh because it's so true.  You read the job description and then start shaking your head.  It's like whoever wrote it was smoking something grown in Rolesville (sorry, Chief).  The qualifications and skill sets required are so numerous and spread across so many sub disciplines that it would take two or three people combined over a lifetime to have them all, spread out over 10 companies to boot.

Then you get to the part where it says: minimum 10 years experience.  And then the salary offered is an insult.  How could someone possibly get solid experience in all of this stuff in just 10 years?  They couldn't.  And if they could, they'd be worth a lot more than the salary range for the position.

My wife has done corporate recruiting among other things. I help her refine job descriptions.  I routinely question her about the descriptions she is posting for openings.  "What individual in your organization has or had every one of these qualifications and skill sets?  They got them in 10 years?  I assume it's the current hiring manager because he/she has them all, right?  Dear, if someone responds saying they've got them all, they are either lying or have the same sense of humor your hiring manager has."

Don't get hung up on pie-in-the-sky lists of qualifications and skill sets.  You need to find out which are "must have" game breakers versus "would like to have."  Even some of the "must haves" seem to mysteriously disappear once you get in the door.  Don't be afraid to politely but firmly ask either the in-house recruiter contact (preferable) or the search firm (they won't know or will be afraid to ask their client).

Jack

IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.

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Posted by ChiefEagles on Friday, March 21, 2008 11:21 PM

 Ogaugeoverlord wrote:
We're in an office park - the view out my window is a senior living community that was built after KPC was constructed in '89. The idea is to stay long enough to moving in over there and walk to work ...


Bob, moving this weekend. Whistling [:-^]Laugh [(-D]

Gracious.  Reclinerized after dinner [eastern NC pork Bar-be-que, fried chicken, cole slaw and brunswick stew]. 

Buckeye, I will give you a real deal on removing your tonsils.  Won't use the big Gerber I keep sharpened on my belt.  I have a very sharp pointed Puma that is razor sharp [I carry all the time, except flying, in my pocket].  Think that will work better.  A fifth or Dewars should work great for you [and me] so you will fill no pain.

Brent, guess you will have to remind us old guys to change the post.  But then you will ask Fife to remind you and he fits with us OLD guys. Whistling [:-^]

Time to crash.  Am glad to see Shake and Bake is doing better.

God bless.

 God bless TCA 05-58541   Benefactor Member of the NRA,  Member of the American Legion,   Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville Laugh,   KC&D QualifiedCowboy       

              

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Posted by rtraincollector on Saturday, March 22, 2008 7:05 AM

Morning all. Wish bergie would just tell us hey need to close this on and start a new one so chief could add a link to the new one and we could move on. I guess maybe we ought to look into opening a new one say every 3 or 4 months as I'm sure it really does add to the load these long ones. That way we would had set moves. Oh well glad we still are able to come and talk in here.

Nice view bob Glad when its time you don't have to far to move to.

Not to much happening around here will talk to you all later

Life's hard, even harder if your stupid  John Wayne

http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/

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Posted by GregM on Saturday, March 22, 2008 7:51 AM

Jack,

Very true.

 

RT

I have previously suggested a new "pot" each month.

GregM
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Posted by cnw1995 on Saturday, March 22, 2008 7:57 AM
Morning all. Lotsa snow on the ground this AM. The plow just zoomed by depositing more to move at the end of the driveway - have to go to the neighbors first - this is real heart-attack snow. V. heavy. Greg, don't get discouraged, those web-recruiting filters sure are frustrating - suggest trying something like LinkedIn. I like the idea of a new monthly pot - so we don't need a blow-torch to clean the crud off the bottom of the pot.

I discovered Google Earth last night - it was fun zooming down into Kalmbach World Headquarters...

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

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Posted by ChiefEagles on Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:06 AM
Morning all.  Warm and sunny.  Doug M, the plow is going to go in my backyard too.  OH, different plow [bottomplow behind tractor]. Wink [;)]  Love it when those Yanks get SNOW. Whistling [:-^]  Off to MIL's this PM to bar-be-que chickens for her family Easter gathering [we now have it on Sat instead of Easter].  Later

 God bless TCA 05-58541   Benefactor Member of the NRA,  Member of the American Legion,   Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville Laugh,   KC&D QualifiedCowboy       

              

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Posted by cnw1995 on Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:14 AM
I love it, Chief! I live vicariously through your postings and others below the snow-line. It'll happen here soon I hope. MMMM, bar-b-que. That sounds like a good breakfast too.

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

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Posted by fifedog on Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:22 AM

Mornin' boys.  Partly sunny & 39 here in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Back is all stiff from spreading red cedar mulch all day yesterday...still need more.  Tried to work it out by walking down to the corner store for milk.  Will be busy today getting fifedom ready for family dinner and egg hunt tomorrow.  Gonna have to do a 10-second-tidey on the layout tonight.

cnw1995 - I use Google earth for researching rail-lines and line side industries.

Chief - ...it ain't the years;it's the mileage...

 

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Posted by cnw1995 on Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:23 AM
That's a great idea, Fife. How do you do that? Start with an address?

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

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Posted by johnandjulie13 on Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:24 AM

Good Morning All:

We did not get the amount of snow that Doug saw up north.  Still, everyone around here is ready for spring.

I hope everyone has a good weekend and a good Easter.

Regards,

John 

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Posted by fifedog on Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:31 AM
cnw1995 - Rarely do I have an address.  I usually start with a town that my track runs through (say, Meyersdale,PA).  From there, I can "fly" south to Keystone Viaduct, then onto Cumberland, MD.  Then I can "fly" north past Salisbury Junction and onto Pittsburgh,PA.  If you can't find tracks, check river banks, as railroads tend to follow these routes.  It's a beautiful tool to have when planning a layout...
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Posted by MartyE on Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:47 AM

Well good morning from Vermont. Got a nice $151 souvenier from Vermont this morning.  Not the kind you really want.  Let's just say the state is a little wealthier this A.M. 

Looks like my Legacy diesels are not shipped yet.  If they are not in by Monday I'm canceling and going to find 'em somewhere else.  I was told they'd be in that's why I ordered them from where I did.  Call FED EX and get 'em in.

Hope Kooljocks taxes go down a little now.Black Eye [B)]

Trying to update my avatar since 2020 Laugh

MartyE and Kodi the Husky Dog! ( 3/31/90-9/28/04 ) www.MartyE.com My O Gauge Web Page and Home of Kodiak Junction!

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Posted by Buckeye Riveter on Saturday, March 22, 2008 9:16 AM

fifedog and Doug....You may want to take a look at MSN maps instead of Google Earth.  The resolution is much better for many rural areas of the country and the birds eye view feature is very clear.  

Feel much better today.  All cleaned out. 

Working on bridge piers and abutments using a paint from RustOleum named "stone".  Looks decent so far.  A black wash should bring out the joints in the stone.  I built the piers/abutment about an inch higher than required and then will use the miter saw to set the correct height.

Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum. Smile, Wink & Grin

Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..

Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR

TCA 09-64284

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Posted by fifedog on Saturday, March 22, 2008 9:24 AM
Buckeye - thanks for the heads-up on the MSN site.  I'm going to be using KRYLON SUEDE and TEXTURED ELEGANCE on some of my new tunnel portals, viaducts, and retaining walls.
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Posted by johnandjulie13 on Saturday, March 22, 2008 9:30 AM
 MartyE wrote:

Well good morning from Vermont. Got a nice $151 souvenier from Vermont this morning.  Not the kind you really want.  Let's just say the state is a little wealthier this A.M. 

Ouch!!!  You must have been really moving. Wink [;)]

Regards,

John 

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Posted by johnandjulie13 on Saturday, March 22, 2008 9:32 AM

 fifedog wrote:
Buckeye - thanks for the heads-up on the MSN site.  I'm going to be using KRYLON SUEDE and TEXTURED ELEGANCE on some of my new tunnel portals, viaducts, and retaining walls.

I would have described this forum as having "textured elegance." Big Smile [:D]

Regards,

John 

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Posted by MartyE on Saturday, March 22, 2008 9:39 AM
 johnandjulie13 wrote:
 MartyE wrote:

Well good morning from Vermont. Got a nice $151 souvenier from Vermont this morning.  Not the kind you really want.  Let's just say the state is a little wealthier this A.M. 

Ouch!!!  You must have been really moving. Wink [;)]

Regards,

John 

No points on my PA license so thats OK.  And if I got it in PA it would probably be twice as much.  Could have been worse.

Trying to update my avatar since 2020 Laugh

MartyE and Kodi the Husky Dog! ( 3/31/90-9/28/04 ) www.MartyE.com My O Gauge Web Page and Home of Kodiak Junction!

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Posted by sir james I on Saturday, March 22, 2008 9:59 AM

GOOD MORNING

That figures, just when I was going to say something nice about the Chief,he played the snow card. Not as bad as some we got about 3 inchs. Maybe less as I can see the cracks in the sidewalk. Bright sun this morning, middle 30s today. house still smells from the caulk. Wife fried bacon this morning to see if that helps. wouldn't give me any just fried it.Kidding. Have a great day where ever you are,,,,,,,,,,,S.J.

"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks 

  Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC)   - Detroit3railers-  Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS

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Posted by cnw1995 on Saturday, March 22, 2008 11:36 AM
Tough luck, Marty! It's getting sunny and warm (40s) here too - melting everything already. After shoveling, I took my youngest to our town's biggest sledding hill - no one was there - I couldn't believe it. Maybe because it was 930 on a Sat. morning. What fun! Great to see it through the eyes of a five-year old. Now I have to rest. LOL.

John, glad you're up and about. Hope your back is better this AM. Thought of you whilst pushing snow.

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

edw
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Posted by edw on Saturday, March 22, 2008 2:30 PM
 RockIsland52 wrote:

The qualifications and skill sets required are so numerous and spread across so many sub disciplines that it would take two or three people combined over a lifetime to have them all, spread out over 10 companies to boot.

There is a reason that the KSAs (knowledge, skills and abilities) listed in Federal job vacancy announcements are written to cover a very broad spectrum. Such job descriptions serve a dual purpose for the managers. In addition to listing some of the actual skills needed for a particular job, they intentionally list a broad menu of desirable skills, in order to afford the selecting official the greatest amount of flexibility when choosing a candidate.  

Many years ago, written civil service exams were required for most federal jobs, and these tests  provided a numerical score with which to rank all the applicants. Consequently, selecting officials were under great pressure to choose candidates with the highest scores, or spend a lot of time and effort justifying why they choose someone farther down on the list of eligibles. However, there were complaints that placing such a heavy reliance on written exams penalized certain segments of the population, and eventually, the use of written civil service exams was eliminated for most jobs.

The current system gives selecting officials much greater latitude to pick almost any of the available applicants, by subjectively emphasizing one or more of the many KSAs listed in the official job description, in order to justify their selection.

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Posted by johnandjulie13 on Saturday, March 22, 2008 2:36 PM

 cnw1995 wrote:

John, glad you're up and about. Hope your back is better this AM. Thought of you whilst pushing snow.

Hello Doug:

Thanks.  Fortunately, all we received was a dusting.  It has turned into a beautiful day here, with the snow melting.  We may see spring yet. Smile [:)]

Regards,

John 

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Posted by Brutus on Saturday, March 22, 2008 3:11 PM

Good afternoon, coffee potters.

Yeah, what EDW said.  Actually, I have been on panels evaluating KSA's many times.  There is a simple trick to maxing out your scores in all areas, since many times there are members of the panel who don't know the job for which you are applying.  If it asks you to describe your ability to communicate in writing with people from diverse backgrounds and levels of understanding (this is paraphrased from an actual requirement for an old job o' mine), then you repeat the "question" in your "answer", but preface it thusly:  "I have the ability to"...  So, I have the ability to communicate in writing with people from diverse backgrounds and levels of understanding...  THEN, give some examples.

Say something like "My former supervisor relied on my ability often, as a [position description], giving me the complex cases, because he knew that I would fully inform the claimant of the reasons for our decision including the evidence we considered; explanations of the actual laws, regulations and rules that we applied in reaching our decision; and, a rationale explaining how those same laws, regulations and rules combined with the significant facts or evidence to result in our decision; etc..."  Point out that you did so in a manner that guaranteed that the claimant would understand our decision and that this communication would include all relevant information, so that it would stand on "four legs" or "on it's own" without a need for further information.  You would be amazed at how many applicants never answer the first and most basic question -- can they do it?  As you can imagine, this cuts down on their points.

No snow in STL.  Just water!  How high's the water, Mamma?  She said 40 feet and rising!  LOL

RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.

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Posted by phillyreading on Saturday, March 22, 2008 4:16 PM

With all the rain that south Florida is getting reminds me of the flooding in the midwest areas. I will only worry if Lake Okeechobee bursts a ***, as it is about 35 miles wide and up to 17 feet deep, in plain English lots of water!!

Try not to get a traffic ticket here in Florida as it may come back to haunt you a few years later as people down here are verry corrupt in the public and state offices. You will pay the ticket the first time and get a receipt but they keep sending you threatening notices four to six years later saying that you will be fined or have your license taken away by state of Florida.

Went to train show today and bought a few parts and some American Flyer cars, spent about $75.00.

Lee F.

Interested in southest Pennsylvania railroads; Reading & Northern, Reading Company, Reading Lines, Philadelphia & Reading.
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Posted by sir james I on Saturday, March 22, 2008 5:05 PM

Afternoon Folks

Bright sun has wiped away almost all the snow. I hoped for that, and didn't shovel. I think my cable co. is having problems today. Digital cable box out for about five hours,phone out off and on. And some of my fav. web  sites are not  working at all. Spent some time today reinstalling the alarm switches to the new windows so all is well. I'll be back to say goodnite. If everythings working.....S.J.

"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks 

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Posted by Brutus on Saturday, March 22, 2008 7:13 PM

Nothing much going on here.  Wife picked up some supplies for me while she was doing a whirlwind shopping spree today.  5 Minute epoxy, new hobby knife (can't find old one) and emory board.  Except for paints, I'm ready to go on my new station.  Just ran out and got dinner and we're watching a family movie now, so we'll see - probably get started tomorrow afternoon.

RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.

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Posted by jefelectric on Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:20 PM

We lucked out again.  The little bit of snow that we got this morning, melted when it hit the ground.  Did a little shopping with wife today & going to Son's tomorrow for Easter Dinner.  Hope to get some time to run trains tomorrow evening.

Hope all are improving that were ill.

Thanks for the tip on MSN Maps Buckeye, will have to give that a try.

 

John Fullerton Home of the BUBB&A  http://www.jeanandjohn.net/trains.html
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Posted by ChiefEagles on Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:39 PM
Well Yanks.  Busy day here.  Trees and flowers blooming.  Disked and broke up [with the plow Southerners use. not snow plow] garden.  Did neighbor's [the one who has been so ugly to Pam and I].  Then re-disked his.  Now he is my buddy again.  Pam agrees.  Be nice to someone who is ugly to you, if he is still ugly, its on his head.  Thent o MIL's to cook chickens on grill.  FIL and I cooked a pile of chickens.  She already had turkey and ham.  Too much food.  Fife is a walking railroad encyclopedia.  Now to bed.  God bless and Happy Easter to all. 

 God bless TCA 05-58541   Benefactor Member of the NRA,  Member of the American Legion,   Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville Laugh,   KC&D QualifiedCowboy       

              

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Posted by sir james I on Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:56 PM

Good Evening

I still cannot get on some of my websites Glad this one is working. It has to be the cable co. as you can see this works, that other place doesn't.  I just stopped for a decaf and to tell Chewy goodnite.  HAPPY EASTER I hope you get the egg that you wanted....S.J.

"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks 

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Posted by cheapclassics on Saturday, March 22, 2008 9:33 PM

Good evening all,

It was cloudy most of the day in SE Indiana with temps in the 30s.  I ran the 384E for more than a hour last night and set up some more people.  I stayed up too late watching basketball games and "South Park" again.  Lucas and I did play "Axis and Allies: Miniatures" which was a fairly quick game and much easier and quicker to set up and play.  We also played a round of chess, which I barely beat him at.  I did weights at the YMCA today, and did some shopping with Lucas and my wife on separate trips.  We straightened the house up for tomorrow and I shorted out a pile of paper work.  It took three Avril Lavigne CDs to get thru the mess, but I did.  Second round of the F-1 series is tonight.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

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