Driving Denver

Nice Management

2008-04-23T08:28:00.002-06:00

Our contract is coming up. So far, I think we need most to address the fact that morale is very low. They did away with the company party and the trips to Elitch's years ago. They have decided that we have to give them a doctors excuse if we have been out more than 2 days. They NEVER change their mind when we file a grievance. There is a long list of nasty things that have been done to various people.

We need a kinder, gentler management at RTD.

2008-04-05T14:09:00.000-06:00

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Saxon Wives

2008-03-21T07:37:00.005-06:00

As I was going to St Ives,
I met a man with seven wives.
Seven wives had seven sacks,
Seven sacks with seven cats,
Seven cats had seven kits.
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives:
How many were going to St Ives?
(1725)

2008-03-02T18:04:00.001-07:00

historic Denver postcards

Denver historic postcards

2008-02-24T13:47:00.002-07:00

My Green Fedora

I'm wearing my green fedora,
Fedora
Not Alice, not Annie, not Casey but Fedora
I usually come to town in a battered old hat of brown
But it got red/green when me and my queen go steppin' around.

She's Fussy about colors,
She's very I think,
But if she won't fix it,
Might even wear pink.

That's why I wear my green fedora.

Fedora.
Fedora is the girl I love

"I'm Wearin' My Green Fedora" is a popular song from 1935 written by songwriters, Al Sherman, Al Lewis and Joseph Meyer. It was written for the short animated film, My Green Fedora, directed by Friz Freleng and produced by Leon Schlesinger. Chuck Jones and Robert Clampett were the animators. The film was released in the United States on May 4, 1935. It is considered one of the best cartoons featuring a parody of comedic actor Joe Penner.
The song appears in several other cartoons of the 1930s, including "Toy Town Hall" and "The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos".
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Wearin%27_My_Green_Fedora

2008-02-24T13:46:00.002-07:00

Toy Town Hall
This cartoon is six minutes long and is directed by Friz Freleng as well. It was released in the USA on September 19, 1936.

2008-02-24T13:44:00.003-07:00

The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos
This cartoon is seven minutes long and features the voice of Mel Blanc as "Mr. Allen". It was released on December 4, 1937.

2008-02-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

Felix Dies Porci Terrae
>>Happy Groundhog's Day

2008-01-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

Oh, see, Billy, see her go,
Forty Buses in a row!
Oh, no, Billy, them is trucks.
What is in them?
Cars and ducks.

O, si vile, si ergo,
Fortibus es inero!
O nobile, demis trux.
Vadis indem?
Causem dux.
Isabili, heres agofortibus in eronoces mari Thebi truxvatis enim pax a dux?
O sibile, si ergo.Fortibus es in ero.O nobili, deis trux!Vates enim? causa an dux!
Si senor, der dagoForti loris inaroDemant loris, demam truxFulla cowsan ensan dux

2007-10-21T16:03:00.000-06:00

Who are these people? Twins or relatives?

Glenn Close
Sigourney Weaver
Meryl Streep
Harvey Keitel
Robert DeNiro
Al Pacino
Kevin Bacon
Kurt Russell
Patrick Swayze
David Keith
Denzel Washington
Cuba Gooding jr.
Blair Underwood
Roddy McDowall
Malcom McDowell
Andie MacDowell

2007-10-21T15:57:00.001-06:00

Colorado Rockies: Not too bad!

Rocktober stats added.

Columbus Day Genocide

2007-10-07T10:34:00.000-06:00

Every year on Columbus Day we hear of the protests and the parades marking Christopher Columbus. I grew up with Columbus as a hero. But then again George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and others have lost their heroism as well. When I googled Columbus Genocide to find out just what the controversy was all about, beleive me: there were very few postings that were even readable. They were rants and raves without any direct facts at all, there were pieces that tried to sound scholarly but made no sense. Even Wikipedia seemed to have trouble when it came to talking about the "controversy." One main source, it seems, for the genocide accusations, came from none other than Ward Churchill, who has been permanently fired from the University of Colorado for plagarism and lack of scholarly ways. In other words, he is not a credible source.

There is indeed sufficient evidence against Columbus that he treated the natives of Hispaniola like cattle, and indeed that population was nearly wiped out. The only reasonable posting I found was from cartoonist Mikhaela B. Reid in his Boiling Point blog. That is from 2002, but it holds up well. In other words, nothing has changed.

Okay, I guess all our holidays for heroes are outmoded (except perhaps Easter and Christmas, both for the same Palestinian Savior). Should we do away with Martin Luther King day, Caesar Chavez day, and the like? Isn't Labor Day celebrated for Unions? Columbus Day is celebrated on October 12 because it is the day he arrived in the New World, October 12, 1492. It has nothing to do with his birthday or etc. The celebration of the day has brought out the anti-Columbus point of view as well, so maybe we should celebrate the holiday, as others have suggested, as a point of change for all of us. It comes at a time of year when harvest festivals occur, when we are preparing for the Winter that will lead to Spring. What should we name our new holiday?

2007-09-19T21:06:00.000-06:00

This visitor to our front window is a white-lined sphinx moth, one of the largest flying insects in some deserts. It is also known as a hummingbird moth because it hovers and feeds on nectar like a hummingbird.

Traffic Laws Have Changed

2007-09-16T08:18:00.000-06:00

The first traffic law I was aware of that had changed over the years was U-TURNS. It used to be that you couldn't make a U-Turn unless it was posted that you could or you were in the middle of nowhere and no traffic was around. Now you just have to be careful.

I have talked earlier about the Speed Limit: the de facto speed limit is 10 miles above the posted limit.

If you were to follow at 1 car length per 10 miles of speed like you used to, or even at the 3-second rule, you will probably get honked out of existence. (I don't care, I still do.)

Apparently, the blind spot that used to exist is gone. This law of human anatomy has been repealed. That is what it seems like when you watch people in the lanes around you.

2007-09-15T21:44:00.000-06:00

How Bad are the COLORADO ROCKIES ?

When I was growing up, I followed the Denver Bears avidly. They were the AAA Baseball team. I remember listening to their games on my transistor radio as I collected payments for my paper route. My dad was a pharmacist, so he got free tickets from the Liquor Salesmen and I got to go quite often. They were succeeded by the Colorado Zephyrs (the ZZZs). When we finally got a Big League Ball club I really looked forward to it. I went to several games in the first seasons, first at Mile Hi Stadium (originally Bears Stadium), then at the really cool ballpark Coors Field. We nearly named our dog after Andres Gallaraga.

You can't afford tickets to the other Denver Sports Teams, the Rockies need to be geared more to the common folk.

The only records the Rockies have are concerning sold-out games, they did really great at first. Then they got their new stadium and even (barely) made it into the playoffs in 1995. In 1996 and 1997 they had winning seasons, but only 1 winning season (2000) since then, and probably now 2007. They really do draw good crowds when they have something to watch. When the Yankees were in town earlier this season, the city went crazy. You couldn't even get on a train to get to the stadium on time.

The only problem I see keeping the Rockies from being a big league franchise is the ownership. The original owners Monus and Antonucci were caught up in the Par-Mor embezzlement scandal. It went to Jerry McMorris, who was a prince of a fellow who got the money to invest in the Rockies by declaring bankruptcy at his trucking company and leaving all his drivers unpaid for long periods of service. Currently the controlling partners are the Monfort Brothers, who have had labor problems in their meat companies for many years (ConAgra), and tend to underpay all their (mostly legal) workers. These are the guys who reportedly require their version of Christian Ethics on the players, including no Playboy Magazines in the locker room.

1993-2006: 14 seasons
winning seasons: 4
playoffs: 1, 1995: lost 3-1 games to the other wildcard team.
Attendance seems to have a direct relationship to the number of games won.
The Rockies of the mid-90s looked great. Where did they go from there?

See some statistics here

See more about the Rockies at the.wikipedia article on the Colorado Rockies

Horse Chestnut Tree

2007-09-08T08:39:00.000-06:00

I didn't know what those pods were until someone told me: My neighbor's tree is a horse chestnut tree. The pods are all around the neighborhood, distributed by the squirrels. The horse chestnut is poisonous, in fact all parts of the tree are poisonous. It won't kill you, it will just make you stumbling around sick.

2007-08-28T08:35:00.000-06:00

THE TRAFFIC PATTERNS CHANGE when school opens even more than when Labor Day comes. The change is most noticeable when school begins, but you can see the changes when school ends as well. More or Less traffic at Different times of day.

2007-08-15T08:10:00.000-06:00

WARD CHURCHILL

You have to feel sorry for the guy. He thought he was a noted scholar, he thought he had a line on Native American history, he thought he was part Indian himself. He has found out that all of that was wrong. He even lost his ancestors.

But really: If he had come out and admitted that he really made up stories and did what he could to show the bad side, stole and plagiarized apparently most of what he did, there might have been a way to save him. The ultra liberal would-be intellectuals that still support him say that they never would have found his problems if they had not investigated his stupid 911 statement. True. Does that mean he should be able to plagiarize so long as no one notices? He was never dissed for that statement. He was dissed for being a cheat and a thief.

2007-08-10T08:02:00.000-06:00

The RTD subcontractors have turned over a new leaf.

We had a meeting with the customer service people from Veiola and First Transit, and they have both started programs to ensure that customer concerns are really addressed. They have access to playbacks and other information to confirm the concerns of citizens. Let's hope that they can really get somewhere with this. Laidlaw was not at the meeting.

2007-07-09T07:38:00.000-06:00

Thank you for the quieter motorcycles. If some motorcycle riders are "taking their money elsewhere" then maybe they need an ordinance there too.

2007-07-08T14:23:00.000-06:00

What Ever Happened to the old Tramway Lines?

In the Rocky Mountain News lately they have been talking about the tracks of the old tramway cars still visible some places in Denver. Mention was made that they were actually the same gauge as the current light rail trains, but those old tracks would not support the modern cars. Those old lines were first replaced with tramway cars that hooked to an overhead line but did not run on tracks. As I had posted previously, I recall riding those vehicles in the 1950s, I specifically remember the Tramway North-Bound on Broadway at Colfax, in front of the State Capitol Building. Broadway was a 2-way street at that time.

The rest of the story: Henry Ford, and a group of other businessmen representing the Oil Companies, made trips to Denver and other cities around the country in the period after World War 2, 1940s and 1950s, to discourage cities from using rail cars. He felt that he could sell a lot more cars, and we would use a lot more gas by promoting this vision. He was right. We have become so dependant on oil that we go to war to protect the Oil Companies.

2007-07-07T17:01:00.000-06:00

ERGONOMICS IN AN OFFICE JOB
Ergonomics is the science of survival in a repetitive-motion job. Most jobs nowadays involve using a computer, but the problem really goes back to the time of Henry Ford, when workers first started doing the same thing over and over. By doing the same thing multiple times, your body builds up problems that come out after a while. The best-known is carpal tunnel syndrome, where the tendons (and ultimately the muscles and bones) break down, usually first in the wrist, but also affecting the fingers, forearms, elbows, and upper arms. For some people, the injury is a permanent disability. Likewise, sitting in the same position for long periods of time will affect the feet, legs, back, all through the spine. Not to mention the mental breakdown, blurry eyes being the first symptom. After 10 minutes of sitting at your computer, your posture falls apart, you slouch and then you wonder why your back hurts.

A good company will take note of ergonomics in all aspects of their worker's jobs. It was reported a few years ago that someone had isolated a string in DNA that would predict a person's predilection for Carpal-Tunnel Syndrome. Whether that was true or not, it prompted many governments to pass laws disallowing DNA profiling in hiring or even in issuing insurance.
Many Ergonomic studies have concluded that, when your job involves typing in a computer, you need to take a "tiny break" every 10 minutes or so: do something as simple as close your eyes and stretch your arms. Further, you need to take a "small break" every 30 minutes to an hour: get up and walk around for 3 to 5 minutes. The ability to get up and walk while talking might help, if you are not typing into a computer. In fact there are numerous computer programs that virtually force you to take those little breaks. Without those breaks, accidents during the last 15 minutes of a 2-hour period are twice as frequent as during the first 15 minutes. Avoiding tunnel-carpal and similar problems is common among all modern companies. When I worked for the Union at Qwest (then U.S. West), I remember seeing a book published for the Union, nearly 100 pages long, just regarding the selection of chairs for the workers to use.

In a post I made a few days ago, I assumed that it was common knowledge that you need to get up, take small breaks several times during your workday. Apparently, many of the new middle managers have never heard of ergonomics, and they really do think it is okay to tie workers to their desks for hours at a time. I guess that is another job of the Union: to train managers.

2007-07-04T20:59:00.000-06:00

Did the UAW break the American Auto Companies?

One of the biggest problems of Unions is their reluctance to change and keep up with the times. Some say that the reason Ford, GM, and Chrysler have fallen on such hard times is that the Unions would not give in to change. The change they refer to is the fact that Union people were making too much money, and would not accept lower wages. They say that the American Companies were forced to pay those high Union wages while Foreign companies got by with paying much less.

The truth is that European companies have Unions which are much stronger than American Unions. The Asian companies may pay less in wages, but even they don't have to shoulder the tremendous expense of health care. 30% of the cost of workers at General Motors is for health care (and growing); it's about half that much in other countries. If you subtract the health care expense that American companies have to pay, and especially if you compare the cost of living for Asian countries, then auto workers are paid similarly in most of the industry. When the manufacturers moved to places without a Union, or a much downsized Union, they were just trying to save money on the back of the workers. Here is another reason we need Universal Health care.

The American Car Manufacturers problem has been Engineering. Somewhere they decided that they would make cheap cars instead of cars that work well. The car makers actually shared many aspects of manufacturing and personnel matters with the UAW, but they never let Engineering decisions be shared.

2007-07-01T23:59:00.000-06:00

DO YOU FAVOR A UNION?

The truth is that you will never become wealthy working at a job that might offer Union Membership. But in the United States the wages for those Union jobs (called the Union Premium)average 15 to 20 percent higher with a Union than without one. That amount is ALWAYS more than enough to pay your Union dues.

Some people say that the Union should not be involved in making decisions for the company. Think about it: you are saying that you do not have the intelligence that your Supervisor has. YOU are the Union. In fact, when it comes to a company approaching insolvency, it is MUCH LESS likely that a Unionized company will become insolvent.

If you think it is not right to require everyone to join the Union then you are making the argument for the "Right-to-Work" States. We call those the right to work for less states, and ALL their wages are much less than in other states. If you are in a Right-to-Work state then you may, in fact, be better off without a Union since you can save those costly Union Dues.

click here to see a good resource.

2007-07-01T22:00:00.000-06:00

OFFICE WORK

Let's say you work in an office, or a call center. People in your office occasionally get up to go to the bathroom, or get a cup of coffee. People read their newspaper or do knitting when there is time between calls. Sounds like a normal office, right?

Enter the Union. The Union contract says that you should have one unpaid 1-hour lunch break and two paid 15-minute "rest breaks" during your 8-hour work day. Enter Middle Management. Manager Joe Blow says all the other time during the day is "my time," so no more bathroom breaks, coffee breaks, newspaper breaks, or knitting breaks other than the prescribed 15 minutes. "I'm sorry," he says, "the Union has tied my hands."

As it turns out, state law prescribes "one unpaid 1-hour lunch break and two paid 15-minute "rest breaks" during an 8-hour work day." Manager Joe Blow is using the Union as his excuse to force the unnatural flow of the workday into his vision, tying the employees to their chairs for 7.5 hours a day. (See a later post on ergonomics for why "extra breaktime" is necessary.)

The result:
... Without a Union, people quit the dead-end job and move on. Since they are probably not paid much, it is for their own good. Manager Joe Blow is promoted and goes on to destroy other parts of the company.
... With a Union, a grievance is filed. The company denies the grievance, steps 2 and 3 are taken and finally, after about a year and a half, an Arbitrator says that Joe Blow is an idiot and perhaps he awards a small amount of back pay for all employees. Because the employees are paid fairly well, some people have moved on and some have stayed.
... So the customers have made out better with the Union since they had some experienced people to help them for longer. The company has lost some money with the Union, but hopefully better customer service has actually helped the company.