Sunday, January 27, 2008

I am tired...

I am tired of not getting enough sleep. I am tired of fighting to get anything done at work. I am tired of people on my team trying to make things work backward. I am tired of working long hours and I am tired of being tired.

Now that I have that out of my system…

Remember my rant about drivers in Santa Fe and the road being closed? Well is seems that the local parking Nazi decided to ticket at least three work trucks that were parked on the closed street that was closed for us!

One of them was mine.

They refuse to ticket the people that drive over signs or come within inches of killing a pedestrian, but ticket a truck that is marked as a construction vehicle in a construction area that is parked behind a 30 yard roll off container, out of everyone’s way.

I would not be surprised to learn that they drove on the sidewalk to get to the truck in order to ticket it.

The ironic part of this parking situation is that the largest part of this building is a parking structure that no one is allowed to park in.

Welcome to Santa Fe.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Bleh

I admit it, I am just a little black hole of creativity right now.

The Grant Street closing finally really took effect, by putting one of those great big dumpsters across the street. Now I only occasionally see the lone driver making his way down the sidewalk in a fit of stupidity.

My company takes off the MLK holiday, which makes it kinda sucky for me because we now need to work four, ten-hour days to make the time up. This makes me feel even less creative. Boo-ya.

The cold weather is taking its toll on me. I picked this trade years ago just to work indoors and in the past few years have endured from below zero to well over 100 degrees. Keep things like this in mind, kiddies, when planning your future. I just saw the weather report for the week and it is going to do all those bad winter things; Wind, snow, and cold cold cold. Boo-ya again.

Fexophenidine is having some kind of doggie dilemma and is demanding attention all the time. Having a ninety pound lap dog is painful and hard on the lap parts. She has taught me to tuck my man bits away when she wanders into the room. Who says that you can’t teach an old man new tricks?

The Mopdog occasionally tries to make a bid to become Alphadog, but is up against two fellow dogs that are each about 50 time’s heaver than she is. It is amusing to watch Fexo toss the Mopdog across the room with a simple flick of the head. Never underestimate canine stupidity.

On that note I think it is time to pack for yet another week in Northern New Mexico.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Open letter to Drivers in Santa Fe N.M.

What is wrong with you people? Can you not read? Do you not know the meaning of the words “ROAD CLOSED”? Do you not care that you just came within inches of killing some poor bastard of a construction worker that is just trying to take care of his family and go home with all the same body parts that he left with?

The large signs on Grant Street that say ROAD CLOSED are there to close the road to traffic. By traffic we mean cars, trucks, ambulances, tour busses, motorcycles, and other motorized vehicles.

“But why is the road closed?” you might ask. That one is easy; the road is closed because in order to build that building, the people that build buildings have to work from the street. There is no room between the building and the street to set up equipment to do the things that need to get done. That is just the way it is. Things happen.

The city seems to feel that this is in fact so, and has agreed to close the street until February 15. That is why the signs are there. That is why there was a notice in the paper that the street was going to be closed.

Are we on the same page? One block of Grant Street in Santa Fe, New Mexico is closed. Just one block.

Why in the hell do you people think that it is OK to drive around these signs (or in more than one case that I have seen with my own eyes, OVER them) to avoid having to go around the block? Do you not see the big, brightly colored construction equipment in the street? Can you not see the worker bees that are all wearing orange vests with reflective stripes?

It seems to me that each and every one of the forty seven vehicles that I saw driving down this street in the last three days had one thing in common. They think that what they want is more important than some construction worker’s life.

The ones that piss me off the most are the judges and judge helpers that work across the street from the site. They just drive up to the barrier that impedes their progress and glare at some lowly, plastic hat wearing, undereducated slob, until he moves the barrier for them. And if the undereducated slob ignores the glare, the judge type person just drives over or around the offending barrier like so much tissue paper.

It is a good thing to learn that judges and judge helper persons do not have to obey traffic laws like the people they are judging. Better that I learn now than after I take a piece of metal bar to the next fucking car that misses me by inches or honks at me while the all terrain forklift that I am driving is in their precious, important, way while they ignore the fact that the other end of the block is open for them while this end is closed.

The traffic enforcement people from the city are more than happy to ticket some poor slob that parked too near the fire hydrant, but ignore the huge pickup truck driving the wrong way on a closed street around the huge ROAD CLOSED sign, barely missing construction workers, then driving on the sidewalk so he will not have the slightest possibility of scratching the paint.

Thanks for your help. I am feeling MUCH safer now.

So if you find your car has a new bumper sticker that says “I DON’T BRAKE FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS”, just be assured that it is a present from me to you.

You people seem to forget that I CAN read and write and jot down license numbers on the little pad that I carry, and when I see your car has that number, I will be leaving you a sticky, difficult to remove gift. Please ruminate on why it got there while you are trying to remove it.

I am so sorry that I had to put on your windshield, but I was more thoughtful than you and did not want to ruin your paint, asshole.

Signed;

Troll



PS I am hoping that you will be late in noticing the second bumper sticker that I put on your bumper that reads, "I LOVE KIDDIE PORN". I hope you have as many sleepless nights as I have.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Another year

I finally got over my holiday depression when I went to see “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” Somehow a musical about revenge, murder, cannibalism, self loathing, and depravity just cheers me right up.

This jobsite that I am on is one of the strangest experiences of my life. Santa Fe is called the ‘City Different’ and I can see why. Safety is a laugh, schedule is whatever can get done each week, and trades show up to work wherever they feel like it. It is like being inside a great big sandbox with 100 other big kids, all doing what they want. Heavy sigh.

The dogs are running Sanctuary now, with the Frunobulax, Fexophenidine, and Maggie all demanding attention and time with Daddy. I could knit a cat with the dog hair that is on my cloths this very minute. The Mrs. won’t let me shave them because it is winter, but come spring they are all in trouble.

I think naked dogs look funny.

I think naked cats look funnier than naked dogs.

I think I have a strange sense of humor and that I will have to leave for Santa Fe soon before the first in a series of storms hits.

Good luck to ya’ll in this New Year and may money be attracted to you like relatives at the funeral of a rich uncle.