Gen. Disc. is typically such a magnet for posts and new topics, but it has seemed a little slow to me for the last week or so.
SOOoooo....what's everybody doing? Planting taters? Dyeing eggs? Last-minute income tax stuff?
Sign me curious,
Mowing yard.............But, I have wondered the same thing....Where is everyone, and why so quiet in here.....?
Quentin
Lack of political diatribe. A good thing, IMO.
Also, Murphy Siding has been below-quota on his questions. One of those is good for about 100 posts, on average.
RWM
Al, the forum has been down, so I move on when I see it that way. I have things growing in the garden that shouldn't be, so I was out there with a mini-flame thrower burning flowers off the more numerous threats in my fenced-off garden. I have rabbits around in numbers, so I must install a run of 2' high chicken wire around the bottom of the much coarser fencing...otherwise they'll get in and do the cackle and dance....you know what I mean.
My Dad returns from overwintering in AZ this month, and I have always whacked his lawns before he gets home. It is a real treat, let me tell you. Wife and I did much of that yesterday.
Moved a hydrangea just an hour ago. The deer keep stripping it and it won't thrive out in the open, so I had to relocate it into the garden. Soaker hoses had to be pulled up from their coiled state inside my raised beds because wife loaded the beds up with compost material that must now be dug into the soil. I also did that today.
No rest for the wicked.
.....Continue to soar with the turkeys here.
(I wanted so bad to ask after one of RWM's posts to the geophysical bubba if what he meant by "surveyor" was a juggie with knotted rope and a handheld GPS unit)
Have to go back to dealing with Brand X surveyor who cannot capiche "Degree of Curve"
ps - AL, keep working on BLUFFS LINE
al-in-chgo Gen. Disc. is typically such a magnet for posts and new topics, but it has seemed a little slow to me for the last week or so. SOOoooo....what's everybody doing? Planting taters? Dyeing eggs? Last-minute income tax stuff? Sign me curious,
Hello Al !
Well, down here its been zilch for train news,theyre all running at night so you can see'm LOL !
I am like you tho,it does seem slow on the forums,must be the high water keep'n evevrbody busy up your way...
Since the economy is taken a bite out of my workload, I have been somewhat active on the forum today, stirring up political controversy on the Amtrak BoD and buggin the heck out of RWM on the finer points about RTC simulator software.
Also found time to workout at the YMCA, bake bread, dinner is in the oven, write a couple of small orders, listen to the train scanner, a couple of loads of laundry, 42 emails, wrote a couple reports to the boss, and made my last mortgage payment. Also went to watch CN 392 pass thru town. I was stunned at the size of the train...only 59 cars. The last time I saw 392 was last fall and it was loaded down with 125+ cars.
Lets hope that stimulus $$$$ kicks in soon.
ed
Back on the extra road list... but even though we have over 2 dozen people furloughed at our terminal, our list has been running out every day and we've been pretty much working on our rest.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
If we are mentioning names we haven't seen in a while I noticed I hadn't seen a post by Carl in a while, or am I just reading the wrong threads?
Actually, I have noticed a downturn since Christmas in topics on other, Canadian based, RR hobby forums as well. Or, it could be that I am just going through a period where the topics that appear don't interest me directly, as opposed to a lack of topics. Over the last decade of following forums this isn't the first downturn I've seen.
AgentKid
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
mudchicken .....Continue to soar with the turkeys here. (I wanted so bad to ask after one of RWM's posts to the geophysical bubba if what he meant by "surveyor" was a juggie with knotted rope and a handheld GPS unit) Have to go back to dealing with Brand X surveyor who cannot capiche "Degree of Curve"
I have to admit, I don't get on all the time but even I noticed a little less activity here. In my case its not a bad thing, I miss less stuff this way.
(1) I've met just a few too many geophysical/seismograph crews "who be tellin' ya they'se surveyin' "....and they have no clue what they're doing, but they can do it by rote all day for peanuts. I often wonder what the precision of that product looks like. (I escorted a geophysical crew over some of my railroad's branchlines for months)
(2) Brand X surveyor understand radius in feet, but seems to think radius as related to degree of curvature is some kind of special code that does not apply to him (tried to tell a railraod official it was some form of spiral delta that doesn't work so he can pull out the ole "three points on a curve" solution and really screw things up. Point of contention is that GLO came through first with the railroad about a year behind with patent applications showing up 1-4 years later followed by the first platted subdivisions (really weak in the dimensions department as old plats tend to be) another 10 years later. Somehow the railroad's filed survey doesn't count. Brand X surveyor musta gotten a license by accident? Why does he still have one (especially after failing to file a 10+ year old plat with the county C&R as required by statute)?
Waiting to hear the old cartoon character recite "It's the law of the west!" (Droopy/Tom & Jerry HB)
Paul_D_North_Jr mudchicken .....Continue to soar with the turkeys here. (I wanted so bad to ask after one of RWM's posts to the geophysical bubba if what he meant by "surveyor" was a juggie with knotted rope and a handheld GPS unit) Have to go back to dealing with Brand X surveyor who cannot capiche "Degree of Curve" From the "Urban Dictionary" at: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=juggie 2. Juggie A Juggie is a doodlebugger -- someone who works on a seismograph crew (oil exploration). The term "Juggie" or "Jughead" has been used since the late 1940s in the United States. Juggies meet every year in Afton, Wyoming for the Annual Juggie Convention (near Jackson Hole). A Juggie may work on a portable (helicopter) crew, a land crew or marine crew. Re: "Brand X surveyor who cannot capiche "Degree of Curve" - Not even the simple highway version ? Would he understand Radius - like in the streets, corner curbs, and traffic islands that are probably the only things he's calc'd. or staked that had a curve in them ? [I know, you're probably not being literal here - then again, I too have met some . . . ] - PDN.
Forums - all of them. Have an ebb and flow in their levels of activity, this forum is just going through an ebb period....the flow will come whenever it is supposed to.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
mudchicken Brand X surveyor musta gotten a license by accident? Why does he still have one (especially after failing to file a 10+ year old plat with the county C&R as required by statute)?
Brand X surveyor musta gotten a license by accident? Why does he still have one (especially after failing to file a 10+ year old plat with the county C&R as required by statute)?
Geeze, mud, just this last week I perused our BORPELS website here in the sunny state for the latest enforcement actions, and it seemed like all they were doing was smacking RLS guys for not filing the records of survey and corner records with the county surveyors. Brand X would fit in real well out here. I think the average fine was $1,000, with one persistent miscreant being nicked for $2,500 and suspended for a year. I am proud to say that I found only one EE on the listing, who engaged in exam subversion.
It is interesting, though, how some folks can't get a grip on some pretty easy concepts. Heck, even an aging electron pusher like myself can figure out degree of curvature and (based on some comments you made on the forum a few years ago) can see how RR surveyors make the staking of a curve a relatively straightforward process, quite in line (you should pardon the expression) with KISS. The counterintuitive thought I have is that to keep things simple, you have to fully appreciate the complexity.
I'd give some personal examples, but people are trying to stay awake here.
ChuckCobleighmudchicken Brand X surveyor musta gotten a license by accident? Why does he still have one (especially after failing to file a 10+ year old plat with the county C&R as required by statute)? Geeze, mud, just this last week I perused our BORPELS website here in the sunny state for the latest enforcement actions, and it seemed like all they were doing was smacking RLS guys for not filing the records of survey and corner records with the county surveyors. Brand X would fit in real well out here. I think the average fine was $1,000, with one persistent miscreant being nicked for $2,500 and suspended for a year. I am proud to say that I found only one EE on the listing, who engaged in exam subversion. It is interesting, though, how some folks can't get a grip on some pretty easy concepts. Heck, even an aging electron pusher like myself can figure out degree of curvature and (based on some comments you made on the forum a few years ago) can see how RR surveyors make the staking of a curve a relatively straightforward process, quite in line (you should pardon the expression) with KISS. The counterintuitive thought I have is that to keep things simple, you have to fully appreciate the complexity. I'd give some personal examples, but people are trying to stay awake here.
Okay, I understand RR and KISS, but do you guys have a glossary of abbreviations and acronyms into English?
huh, I was wondering that same thing when I read his first post?
GLO = General Land Office
County C & R office = County Clerk & Recorder - apparently one and the same official, unlike the 2 or 3 we have here in Penna.; custodian of official public records for land ownership and court filings, etc.
BORPELS stands for Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (California)
RLS = Registered Land Surveyor, in this context (could also be Rail Load Simulator or Renaissance Law Society . . . nawwww)
EE = Electrical Engineer (old); could also be Electronic Engineer (modern)
I think that's all of them . . . ?
- PDN.
Paul - You forgot "Mudchicken"....
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
MookiePaul - You forgot "Mudchicken"....
LOL! Nobody can forget mudchicken, of course, but maybe it's better to be a mudchicken than a mud hop.
Google mudchicken though and you find some interesting recipes. Garlic...lots of garlic.
Paul_D_North_Jr EE = Electrical Engineer (old) - PDN.
EE = Electrical Engineer (old)
Thanks a lot, pal. Rub it in a little more, why don't you!
Working. Spring is our *do a lot of work that produces nothing* season. But, we're in the lumber business, and business (for us, at least) is good. This forum is my escape from reality/ escape from insanity. Lately, a lot of reality has ganged up on me all at once. That doesn't help the sanity part of the equation.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
AgentKid . Or, it could be that I am just going through a period where the topics that appear don't interest me directly, as opposed to a lack of topics.AgentKid
. Or, it could be that I am just going through a period where the topics that appear don't interest me directly, as opposed to a lack of topics.AgentKid
The topics I normally find interesting have to do with railroad history,construction, geography, books (I'm a reader) , and the business side of how railroads were/are run. Sometimes, though, I find myself engrossed in something way off from what I would normally be interested in reading about. Two threads that come to mind are the ginormous British Railway Operations thread, and the one about some abandoned ROW in Pennsylvania that provided a route for a turnpike. Variety is the spice of life. Go figure.
What type of threads interest you?
Paul_D_North_Jr GLO = General Land Office County C & R office = County Clerk & Recorder - apparently one and the same official, unlike the 2 or 3 we have here in Penna.; custodian of official public records for land ownership and court filings, etc. BORPELS stands for Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (California) RLS = Registered Land Surveyor, in this context (could also be Rail Load Simulator or Renaissance Law Society . . . nawwww) EE = Electrical Engineer (old); could also be Electronic Engineer (modern) I think that's all of them . . . ? - PDN.
Thanks, Paul. Now it makes a lot more sense to me! - al
Murphy Siding AgentKid . Or, it could be that I am just going through a period where the topics that appear don't interest me directly, as opposed to a lack of topics.AgentKid That brings up an interesting point. What topics interest you directly? It's interesting, to me at least, the varying number of topics that do make their way to this forum. It must show the diverse crowd we run among here. The topics I normally find interesting have to do with railroad history,construction, geography, books (I'm a reader) , and the business side of how railroads were/are run. Sometimes, though, I find myself engrossed in something way off from what I would normally be interested in reading about. Two threads that come to mind are the ginormous British Railway Operations thread, and the one about some abandoned ROW in Pennsylvania that provided a route for a turnpike. Variety is the spice of life. Go figure. What type of threads interest you?
This is a very impressionistic reckoning, but it seems to me lately that "today's" Gen. Disc. only runs about a page and-a-half on the board, but I recall it in recent past (say, 2008) occupying close to three boards (or screens, whatever). That's the main reason I started this thread. - a.s.
al-in-chgo This is a very impressionistic reckoning, but it seems to me lately that "today's" Gen. Disc. only runs about a page and-a-half on the board, but I recall it in recent past (say, 2008) occupying close to three boards (or screens, whatever). That's the main reason I started this thread. - a.s.
Didn't the old forum that was just replaced have about 2-3 times the number of threads on the first page? I think that has a lot to do with the fall-off in activity.
Well, while all you slackers have been busy earning a living and attending to other seasonal or routine chores, I have spent the last two months helping get something over a million dollars into the hands of a large bunch hardworking, taxpaying citizens.
Few things make people happier than getting a big tax refund.
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
I'm building a rocket powered machine to travel down the dormant Zephyrs tracks. I have yet to get permission.
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
Jeaton glad you can help people get their money.What I try to do is to keep people updated on what I see and hear in nw Ohio.Especially when a train with containers marked explosives is headed westbound I warn Carl to duck and cover.Csx runs whatever power it can although it has aquired new power of its own.Another thing I am working on is coloring my train circle some more and finding some very good results.And as always I have to keep up with Matt.
stay safe
Joe
Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").
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