This 'n That

Still alive, Ms J. Still kicking. Still struggling to find time for work and Colleen and friends and family and ... blogs.

Here's a little of what's going on here in Mimico:

I've been to work three times now since I finished training. It feels awkward to be such an old new guy, but everyone I've worked with has been helpful. There's still a lot I don't know. I do enjoy it, though. I'm certainly better off than the poor souls who strain under the cruel yoke of the BBRC. Periodically, I bump into old acquaintances at Union Station.

"Hey!" they say. "Look at you! It's good to see you smile again. They must be treating you right over there at VIA."

They're always rushed, these people. Rushing off to fetch a cup of coffee and then racing back upstairs to their train. I remember those days. Things are more relaxed for me now. I have lots of time til my train is due out, but there's little time to chat. And the topic is often the same no matter who I meet.

"All the GO jobs are gone the end of the month, eh? I don't know where I'll go. And did you hear about so-and-so? Fired, eh? That's three this month. I fuckin' hate this place."

My heart breaks for them, Ms Journal. Really it does. But what can I do?

"Hang in there," I tell them. "It'll get better."

But I know it won't. The best I can hope for is that the BBRC loses all their good, experienced people. Fires them. Or they quit. Or take their pensions. There'll be nobody left who knows anything, or cares. Then maybe, just maybe, if there's any justice in this world, the company will falter. Share prices will plummet. Their precious freight trains will rust to the rails. And the greedy pricks who run the company will grow old and die, alone and penniless.

Bitter? No, not me.

I know it's wrong to feel this way, and I'm only hurting myself and blah, blah, blah. But when I see good people intentionally hurt by corporate bullies ... Well it makes me angry. It makes me furious.

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Meagan is home with her mother. She tried it on her own with RJ, but things didn't go very well. Children ought to stay with their parents until they're old enough to assume adult responsibilities. And while we're on the topic of responsible adults, let me say how disappointed I am in my daughter's choice of address. 'Nuff said.

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Colleen and I spent the Thanksgiving weekend up north. A friend of hers was married on October 11 and we were invited. The setting was beautiful. The wedding was held outdoors on the verge of a picturesque lake in the wilderness 500 kms north of Mimico. We drove there amid the spectacle of autumn colours. It was absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous.

Here's a few pics:









I'm in Love, Ms J. I love my new car. I love my new job. I love my kids, both of them, although they can't imagine how deeply. I love the fall colours in my Ontario. And I love Colleen.






I don't say it much anymore, but I love my Life!

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Update

I went to London last Thursday. I met my supervisor downtown at Union Station here in Toronto and he followed me up into the cab of the locomotive. It was train #85. Locomotive 6434. We had only three coaches. It was the easiest possible train to handle! The trip went without incident. Along the way, I prayed periodically, asking for calmness and confidence. My boss was in fine fettle. Shortly after we left the station at Toronto, he received a call from his eldest son who’d just been admitted to medical school.

“My son’s going to be a doctor,” he said later. “A doctor!”

He smiled a lot today. And at the end of our journey, he shook my hand.

“You did fine, Dale. Just fine. Now your education will really begin.”

I’m a qualified VIA engineer, Ms J. My training is complete, but as Tom suggested, I’ve still got a lot to learn.

Happy Thanksgiving!

***

It's All Coming Together

Monday. I’m home from Sarnia. It wasn’t a bad trip, really. My time in the hotel bed was short though, as usual. 5:30 comes early when you don’t climb into bed til 11:30. I ran the engine home from London to Union Station.

Back at the TMC, my cell phone rang. It was my boss. We made some small talk and then he asked about my trip away this coming weekend. (I’d asked him for time off to attend a wedding with Colleen.)

“When are you planning to leave?” he asked me.

I told him Friday morning.

"We'll be home again late Sunday afternoon. It's a long drive. Six or seven hours each way."

“OK then,” he said. “Here’s the deal. Tell me if this works for you.”

I listened while he told me his plan. And I smiled, Ms J. It was fabulous!

I’ll make a training trip to Niagara Falls on Wednesday. Then he’ll meet me on Thursday and ride with me to London. We’ll get off there and catch 76 home again. I’ll be home shortly after dinner time.

“If you do well, I’ll qualify you and make you available for work on Sunday at midnight. How does that sound?”

It sounded fantastic, Ms J, and I told him so.

This will be a busy week. I’ve got a day of rules instruction tomorrow. On Wednesday, I’ll make a trip to The Falls and back. Then on Thursday morning, I’ll go to London with Tom. With any luck at all, I’ll be a qualified VIA engineer effective Sunday at midnight.

And I’ll enjoy a lovely weekend adventure with my Colleen in Elliot Lake.

I love it when a plan comes together!

***

Sarnia

I'll be leaving for work in a few minutes. At work, I'll climb into a shuttle bus and head downtown to Union Station where I'll find my train. After the requisite checks and pre-departure tests, we'll proceed west to Sarnia. Again.

Our journey will take us through Georgetown. And I'll think of my kids as we depart the station there. Both Dan and Meagan live fairly close to the station. I think about them a lot, Ms J. And I worry. A lot.

I'm tired of going to Sarnia. I'd had enough after my first trip there. Between Georgetown and London, we'll travel across some of the roughest and most under-maintained track in the VIA system. Not surprisingly, this ninety mile stretch was sold to an American short line railway a few years ago. It's in dreadful shape.

I'm nearly finished my training at VIA. I still have a couple of trips to make to Niagara Falls, but it's not far really - less than a hundred miles - and fairly flat and straight. I'm nearing the finish line. I want to be done with this. I'm sick of training. I'm tired of being the third man in the locomotive cab. I want to take a job that I can work regularly, a job I enjoy. And I do not enjoy anything about this Sarnia corridor. The hours are awful. Rest time away from home is minimal. The journey is long. The scenery is boring. And Sarnia is ...

Unimpressive.

I'm tired of Sarnia. And I'm tired of training.

Til next time, Ms J.

Toot toot. Ding ding.

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