It had been a couple of weeks since I had to walk the Del Norte. Last week Meanie took it so he wouldn't have to count and the week before I traded someone else for something they didn't want to do.
This week there was nobody else but Sausage and I knew he wasn't going to do it.... So I was stuck. I wasn't looking forward to it. Today was pretty hot. The thermometer in my van read 111 when I got in it this afternoon. But it did cool down to a frosty 103 by the time I got to work. That was a plus.
Since my little pocket notebook got used up I got a new one last week and I lost my master list of the Del Norte lights that aren't working. So I got the new one out and prepared to write down the light numbers. I got all the way to pole #10 before I realized that there hadn't been a single light out so far!
What the heck?
I looked back down the line of lights to see if I had missed any. Nope! Wow.
Somebody fixes things around here. Cool.
Got to #12 and there was one light out. Okay. Here we go. I wrote down a "12" and walked on.
And walked and walked and walked.
When I got done I looked at my notebook and had a "12" and a "32" written down. Seriously? Only two lights broken out of the 48 that I check. That had never happened to me before. Last time I think I wrote down sixteen lights.
And when I got down to zone 11 where the creek runs when it rains I almost tripped and fell in shock. Someone had gone out and built us a metal walkway over the creek bed. We could cross the creek and not fall off one of those stupid cinder blocks! Yay!
Further along there were two more metal walkways over the smaller creek beds as well!
Somebody has been busy!
When I got back up front and mentioned it, Sgt Puddle said "Yeah. We have VIP's coming in for an inspection next week. They are sprucing the place up a bit."
Now I hate inspections and have little use for VIP's just like the next guy. But we have gotten more stuff fixed in a week than we have in years!
These guys may have to come back more often. Maybe I can take a few of them for a ride on the B-side golf cart and they can see how bad the steering wobbles and the fact that we have no brakes. Maybe we can show them some of our fancy brand new ten year old computers.
Of course if we show them too much of the messed up junk we have to work with, they might just say "This place is too old to fix. Tear it down."
Then what would I do?
Friday I have to be in at noon. Not happy about that, but at least I get to leave early. And much to my surprise it will also be National Beheading Day. Oh good grief. I'm not happy with that one bit! But it will also be Bison-Ten Yell Day, V-J Day and National Lazy Moms Day.
I guess I can live with that.
I work in the heart of Silicon Valley. Our IT system is older than Windows 98. We have fancy flat screen monitors but the hardware and software is soooo old. What an embarassment for the "Bay Area's Best"
ReplyDeleteUpdates and upgrades take time and money. I wish we could get them done. It will take a divine intervention to bring that place up the the late 20th century. We have seen so many things go to the wayside as they neglect to repair/maintain them. We have the housing units that have floors that bounce. A housing unit that is off limits for habitation. Several problems with the housing units that house the GP and THU guys. The shack that had the mobile wall. Carts that have little to no braking capability. Computers that have a nice processing speed but no RAM. Systems setup in a way that makes the computers lag and crash. And that is just the things on my list that I can think of in five minutes.
ReplyDeleteVeri word--stryor--once a holy form of stir fry.
See, if only Bryan had waited another couple of days, his beheading of me would have been spot on...
ReplyDeletesafeword: hypen
A device used to inscribe new "words" into the Ebonics dictionary with.
I wish the state would observe Behrading Day and thin the herd haha
ReplyDeleteVeto word is foistin...
When something moist is close to freezing.
Then they could open a Level 5 in the Bluff and I could move home and my wife wouldn't have to drive 65 miles one way to work! All fun aside, I love working in Raccoon City.
ReplyDelete@Scott: I like to get ahead of things. Hahaha! (Seriously, you should lock your door.)
ReplyDeleteAnd Rev, I imagine this Del Norte thing to be something akin to the detex rounds I used to have to do, but I'm sure it's probably something altogether different.
Joe- I guess not all of us work for Microsoft, eh?
ReplyDeletePhoenix Tears- We are working in a dump. There's just no doubt about it. All we can do is chew bubble gum as fast as we can to try and plug the leaks.
Holy stir fry.... hee hee hee!
Scott- So was that a premature decapitation? That hypens sometimes.
FlyinMonkey- I can but agree. I have a little list.... they won't be missed.....
And I can't wait until it's foistin outside again.
Drew- The way our population keeps growing, it might not be too long before there is a new one down there. By then you'll be Captain on your way to Major and you can run the place!
Bryan- Do you and Scotty need to get a room?
I've covered the Del Norte awhile ago. I'll do it again so everyone can catch up.
Sounds like you found the other half of the horse you got there!
ReplyDeleteTalk about surprises...bridges, lights working - it all sounds surreal, be careful I'm sure there's some kind of catch!
Okay, now I have to ask about all these "special" days you list at the end of your post...do you make them up, are they work related, is it some secret society (that I could join) or what? Cough up...spill the beans...show me the money (couldn't resist).
It's late, I've had a really frustrating day and I can't think straight so I'm going to stop before I fall into the abyss of stupidity looming before me...oops, too late...
My WV - "hyphys" - it's incurable - from using too many hyphens in comments. (yikes-now-I'm-really-a-goner)