John Schmidt
Member
Posts: 15322
a/k/a Stuffy. '99 I/S Valk Roadsmith Trike
De Pere, WI (Green Bay)
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« on: January 30, 2019, 07:11:22 PM » |
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The city of Winter Park, FL has been slowly(verrryyy sloooowwly) replacing water lines in our area. Today was a rough day for my wife and lo and behold, the City crews decided to work directly across the street. They start out with a huge truck mounted vacuum machine to suck up all the dirt and debris while one guy uses a high pressure hose to blast it all away from the various meter boxes. It rattled the windows when running and my wife's nerves to boot. The real kicker was later this afternoon I noticed six men standing around a growing pile of dirt so strolled over to observe. What I saw literally cracked me up....six guys standing in a circle watching a seventh guy down in a hole doing his best to dig it deeper. Upon looking closer, I realized the digger was well past the age of any of the "supervisors" so I asked about it plus asked if I could take a group picture. The old gent just chuckled in agreement but the six "supers" would have no part in it and asked me to leave. So I simply stepped to the other side of the sidewalk and stayed put, whereupon a couple of them started to get a bit more serious in their demands that I leave. I suggested they zip it....I'm standing on private property. About this time the wife of the couple that lives there came out(good friends of ours as is her dad), asked about the mess being made and was also told she needs to leave, telling her what's going on is none of her business. Wrong thing to say to a redhead! She stood her ground, let some verbage fly in their direction, then whipped out her cell phone....snapping a couple pics. About 30 seconds later, the old gent in the hole had just one helper that stayed with him and we got a great explanation of the procedure being used in replacing the water lines. The next few days are going to be interesting.  |
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Jess from VA
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« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2019, 07:20:27 PM » |
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I'm surprised you still had water at your house after this.  I've seen the road crew one-guy-digging-and-6-guys-watching so many times over the years, it's become cliche'. I've never been around long enough to see if they take turns with the shovel, or the one guy is just screwed. |
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Sorcerer
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« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2019, 07:42:56 PM » |
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You probably got someone in trouble with a union. 6 workers most likely 3 different union job disscriptions. Plumber, general laborer/ ditch digger, equipment operator/ Teamster, engineer department someone to that makes sure that the job is being done to code. And the crew boss to make sure no one crosses union jobs.  |
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Pappy!
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« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2019, 07:52:16 PM » |
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There ya' go again, John.....stirrin' that pot!
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old2soon
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« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2019, 08:01:35 PM » |
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My little town-Willow Springs Missouri-water main leak repair 2 or 3 guys and they ALL git muddy. Water main replacement 6 guys one on a backhoe couple with shovels and one drivin the dump truck with the new gravel. And I've seen ALL 6 git muddy. I've noticed over the years the larger the town or city the more people that shovels are holding up. Seen them-city workers-on a job at 3 in the afternoon and their clothes are still clean??  W T F-over? RIDE SAFE. |
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Today is the tommorow you worried about yesterday. If at first you don't succeed screw it-save it for nite check. 1964 1968 U S Navy. Two cruises off Nam.
VRCCDS0240 2012 GL1800 Gold Wing Motor Trike conversion
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Hooter
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« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2019, 03:11:55 AM » |
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Did they all leave their shovels when they left?
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You are never lost if you don't care where you are!
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Tx Bohemian
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« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2019, 05:10:39 AM » |
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was also told she needs to leave, telling her what's going on is none of her business. "none of her business"?? WOW! That would've set me off!!! |
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Remember, if you are on a bike and wreck with a car no matter how "in the right" you are you are going to lose. RIDE LIKE EVERBODY IS OUT TO GET YOU!!
Al
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solo1
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« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2019, 06:38:35 AM » |
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That doesn't happen in our town. I'm on the Board of Works. All of our utility people are cross trained. They are able to do any maintenance work needed with no problem and they are NOT Union. We have the latest equipment and things get done quickly. I never saw watchers, all are doers.
An example. Leaf pickup is done by two workers, one driving and one walking along, using the giant vacuum hose that sucks up the leafs at the curbs into a big trailer. In Ft. Wayne, our neighborhood BIG city, they use dump trucks, many guys with shovels, and front loaders. (Union workers).
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da prez
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« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2019, 07:13:18 AM » |
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When I was doing under ground , anything deeper than three feet, there was supposed to be two top men (women) to watch the hole for soil movement. They were to be on the opposite sides of the hole. The backhoe operator was to stay in the machine while the bottom man was in the hole. I have been in three cave ins. I was lucky all three times. Only minor injuries. If there are to many people on top , the bottom man is ignored. We would try to answer questions and watch the bottom man. At some point , they were told that they were interfering with the safety on the job.
I was on one job where the bottom man was killed in a cave in. The top man decided to take a break without saying anything. I do not know if it would have made a difference.
I have been down 44 feet in a casing , down and up on a cable lift.
da prez
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John Schmidt
Member
Posts: 15322
a/k/a Stuffy. '99 I/S Valk Roadsmith Trike
De Pere, WI (Green Bay)
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« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2019, 10:32:38 AM » |
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was also told she needs to leave, telling her what's going on is none of her business. "none of her business"?? WOW! That would've set me off!!! Oh yeah, big time. When he said that to Rhonda, I looked at her and instantly her face matched her red hair, the nostrils flared and the air turned blue. Then out came her cell. I just laughed at the guy that said it, then asked if he wanted to continue down that road. "Uh...no!" Good choice! Reminds me of the old joke about four city workers were critically injured while "on the job." Seems all were leaning on the same shovel when the handle broke. |
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Alberta Patriot
Member
Posts: 1438
Say What You mean Mean What You Say
Rockyview County, Alberta 2001 Interstate
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« Reply #10 on: January 31, 2019, 01:38:37 PM » |
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It'll be a while teaching robot replacements how to lean on shovels properly  |
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« Last Edit: January 31, 2019, 01:42:03 PM by 7th_son »
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Say what you mean, Mean what you say.
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sheets
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« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2019, 02:05:17 PM » |
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When I worked for a city water utility company there were two guys assigned to the "leak truck". We patched leaks in residential neighborhoods and four-lane city boulevards. The idea was to not dig (by hand) a hole any bigger than you had to in order to fix the problem. Just big enough for one guy to go in and put the clamp on the main to patch the leak. No point in digging a hole large enough for more people to get in when it only requires one guy to install the clamp. Been there - done that. Many times.  |
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Skinhead
Member
Posts: 8742
J. A. B. O. A.
Troy, MI
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« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2019, 05:23:30 AM » |
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It'll be a while teaching robot replacements how to lean on shovels properly Looks like those boys need some of theses:  |
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 Troy, MI |
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F6Dave
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« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2019, 06:14:04 AM » |
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Those workers are supposed to be 'public servants'. I doubt any of them ever heard the term. They might even think it was a racist slur.
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