Interesting weekend

currently listening to: Interpol-Our Love to Admire  

Things got started friday morning with a call that my position to Jeff City had been cut back and i had to bid on another job.  I did that Sunday-I will be going to Coffeyville, KS and back now.  My first trip was today and well first impression is that this won’t be as good as the Jeff City run.  The fact that half of Coffeyville is flooded out and the hotel kinda sucks doesnt help.

Then there were the 2 pomonas shows on friday and saturday night. they were the last two shows the pomonas might do and they went great as expected.  it was pretty tight catching up with a lot of people who I don’t get to see as much anymore like Ryan and Jason. 

Sunday I managed to bowl in back to back games in league a 100 and a 219.  I can’t really explain it.

and now i really need to sleep.

nice little day

currently listening to: Tripping Daisy-Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb

Started out pretty well with a good trip back from Jeff City.  the trip itself only took about 6 hours with a total time on duty under 9 hours which is nice for a “work” train. 

anyway after a solid 9 hours of sleep i received a call from the apt people about an apt available on september 1st and its apparently what i was originally seeking when i went in to look a few weeks ago.  i will be checking it out monday or so and hopefully putting down my deposit.  then, i went bowling and bowled a 175 avg thru 5 games, including a 218 final game.  i was on quite a high at that point so i popped in the Tripping Daisy CD listed above which is a total rock out CD with thunderous drums and poppy guitar licks.  Listened to that on my way to Lawrence where I went to make/have dinner with Abbie and Cassy (always a good time) before our usual tuesday Bible study.  just got home a little while ago after watching some dvds and talking a while with the aforementioned ladies.

just an overall swell day that i felt like gloating about.  only downer i suppose is i haven’t been called for a train as soon as i would like so i might miss the wizard of oz at starlite thursday night .  we’ll see what happens with that.

Cautiously optimistic

also watching: X-Files-Season 3

i generally feel content and optimistic about pretty much everything going on right now, but i still occasionally have days like yesterday where I feel like it can all come crashing down at any moment.  I have come to realize there are a number of things in my life now that i could not handle losing in any sort of shocking fasion.  so i get a little paranoid but in the end i do realize even if that did happen i would end up ok.  its that process of dealing with the shock that scares me. 

bla bla bla

anyway i finally bowled a good set of games today.  179, 164, and 192.  my strike ball is finally coming back i think.  hopefully i will be an asset again to my team.

I am excited for next week.  i will be working basically non-stop till next thursday where i’ll be going to starlite with my family to see wizard of oz (my gift to them due to an extreme slackage on birthdays and the like due to lack of funds most of this year).  then on friday and saturday ryan and jason will be in town and the pomonas will be playing their final shows and releasing a final CD.  and then of course…..

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE!!!!   YEAH!!!

why do the little things annoy me so?

currently listening to: Rush-Different Stages: Live

currently watching: Arrested Development-Season 1

you know, generally i do just fine with all the big things in life.  job, place to live, friends, family, relationships, all that.  i pretty much expect both the good and the bad there.  but its all the stupid dumb little things that bug me and frustrate me.  i’ve mentioned bowling before, but things like today. 

i’m at wal-mart buying groceries and i put them on the wrong credit card.  i have a couple of cards, one is for gas/groceries and another is for everything else.  i put my groceries on the everything else card and apparently it requires the CEO of walmart to sign off on cancelling a swiping of the wrong card because the cashier just didn’t get it at all.  so i had to keep it on the wrong card.  talk about completely ruining my life.  mercy.  i hate it when i do something just plain dumb and can’t correct it immediately.  i have definitely found my new thing to work on.  not allowing the little things to get to me.

or not

currently listening to: Spoon-Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga  

went and saw the apt that was available and well, it was too bright.  it is an upper level apt with a big skylight.  and since its a studio it really lights up the whole place which doesnt work for me at all.  i need more of a cave-like atmosphere to accommodate my off-kilter sleeping patterns.  i couldnt even really figure out a good way to cover up the skylight cause its like 15 ft high.  sooooooo….i’ll be waiting for a ground level apt with no skylight.  the ground level apts are also easier to move into (no stairs) and $10/month cheaper (apparently skylights are worth an extra $10/mo?)  there is, of course, a waiting list for the ground level studios.  so looks like a few months waiting afterall.  oh well. 

getting closer to moving

currently listening to: Blitzen Trapper-Wild Mountain Nation

how goofy is it that the thing that most upsets me or depresses me or makes me the maddest is when i bowl poorly. 

so i’m going to look at my possible future living space tomorrow.  aparently i could move in august 8th if i like it and want it which i do.  i will no doubt be cut off from my job the day after i move in but so be it if that comes to pass.  i’m ready to move out.

The first 9 days as a conductor

currently watching: Simpsons-Season 9

In the past 9 days i’ve taken 4 round trips and worked over 72 hours.  Needless to say i’m pretty worn out so i finally laid off today to catch up on life.  It won’t normally be this busy.  The railroad is in its “busy season” but on top of that trains are being re-routed from the south through kansas city due to all the flooding in texas and oklahoma. 

A more normal schedule would be a day and a half on duty and a day and a half off.  right now its like a day and a half on duty and 16 hours off.  but at least i’m getting paid a lot i suppose.  i need it cause i haven’t really worked much in a while.

with each trip i feel more confident in what i am supposed to do.  there have been a few rough spots but generally guys all help each other out cause everyone just wants to get the work done and get it done safely.  I really enjoy the work, I hope I can stay on this Jefferson City, MO run in particular.  I like it a lot better than when I ran north to Des Moines back in February. 

If anyone doesnt know, basically what I do is take care of all the paperwork, talk to the dispatcher, log signals and speed restrictions enroute, and do any ground work if needed like cutting off cars or walking the train if there is a problem.  The engineer drives.  Typical trip lasts about 9 hours, with a 12 hour rest in Jefferson City, then 9 hours back to KC.  Its exciting to finally be working.