[PRCo] Re: patservicecuts__2007.01.23-changed to 2/1/07

Mon Feb 5 12:34:52 EST 2007

Except we cooked the shrimp too long.  (:>)

>From: Fred Schneider <fwschneider at comcast.net>
>Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>Subject: [PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to 2/1/07
>Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2007 12:05:38 -0500
>
>But he was our Dave and we loved him.   I still miss him.   He was
>the only person who ever invited me for Sunday dinner and then put an
>apron on me when I got there and directed me to the stove.
>
>On Feb 5, 2007, at 11:41 AM, John Swindler wrote:
>
> >
> > The worst part about Fred's stories, below, is that they are true.
> > (:>)
> > Dave was a character.  There's a few other stories he hasn't related.
> > Perhaps because no one would believe them.  (what about the left
> > over pepsi
> > in the secretaries flower pot?)
> >
> > I know Fred didn't enjoy some aspects of his last few years.  At
> > least he
> > was by then in a position to do something about it - like retire.
> > (and
> > collect more stamps in his passport)
> >
> > John
> >
> >> From: Fred Schneider <fwschneider at comcast.net>
> >> Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> >> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> >> Subject: [PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to 2/1/07
> >> Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 19:08:03 -0500
> >>
> >> I was once in a position where my boss and I were both having a lot
> >> of fun but the people over us thought they were penalizing us ...
> >> John Swindler knows the whole comical story.   So for seven or eight
> >> years we acted like we absolutely hated what we were doing so they
> >> would leave us alone.   In truth, we were having a blast.   Dave and
> >> I both loved to travel.   We performance audited offices all over
> >> Pennsylvania ... all 67 counties but it only consumed about 30
> >> percent of our time.   It also allowed a lot of free time to practice
> >> German lessons and other useful things.    I remember one evening we
> >> were in Washington, Pennsylvania and I walked over to Dave's hotel
> >> room and suggested that I hadn't had dinner in the Hotel Lafayette in
> >> Marietta, Ohio in a long while.   He remarked, "Why not." And off we
> >> went.   And when we got back to Harrisburg he proceeded to tell a
> >> story about how I had kidnapped him and drove and drove and drove for
> >> dinner.   He saw the state signs change to West Virginia and I kept
> >> driving.   Then they changed to Ohio and Fred kept driving.   Truth
> >> was we both had a great dinner.   (The man who owned the hotel at
> >> that time was a local historian who had decorated the hotel in a
> >> steamboat motif.   My father once talked about dumping his younger
> >> sister into a waste basket when they were children.)
> >>
> >> And when we were stuck in Bradford, Pennsylvania, our favorite
> >> restaurant was a little German place in Niagara Falls, Ontario.   I
> >> think he really blew that one up when he got back one time.   (That
> >> was a real event ... Dave had a condition requiring him to take water
> >> pills to prevent him from congestive heart failure.   The restaurant
> >> owner saw him taking pills and asked what are they for.   He said,
> >> "Cuts down the water weight."  She grabbed three of them without even
> >> asking him and popped them in her mouth.   Dave remarked to me in the
> >> car on the way back to Bradford that about an hour later she would be
> >> going to the bathroom like she had never gone in her entire life
> >> before.  One would be enough to do a number on her but three.  Wow.
> >> <VBFG>
> >>
> >> I don't think he ever told his boss about the time I kidnapped him on
> >> a Sunday or was it a Saturday and we went to Toronto on the weekend
> >> in route to working in Erie on Tuesday.   That would have sounded
> >> fishy and they wouldn't have believed him.
> >>
> >> Nor would his boss have believed the day we were in Sharon, Pa. and I
> >> remarked at lunch time that it looked like a nice day to photograph
> >> the trolleys in Shaker Heights in the evening rush hour.  It was one
> >> of those crystal clear October days with a sky like a blue screen
> >> saver on the computer.    About ten minutes to three that afternoon
> >> Dave started packing up.  He looked at me and said, "What are waiting
> >> for?   Close up shop.  We're not going to get to Cleveland by 5:00 if
> >> you keep working."  I think we found someplace for dinner out in the
> >> Shaker Heights area.   And he seemed to enjoy riding an evening MU
> >> PCC train on the Shaker Rapid going to the ball game.
> >>
> >> Eventually I had to take a job that was work.   That was fun too
> >> because it was work that I liked.  I was back again in labor
> >> statistics.   I guess I was lucky because I enjoyed almost all of my
> >> working life.   I feel very sorry for those who do not.  I actually
> >> even enjoyed most Fridays.
> >>
> >> Garrison Keilor had a great line about statisticians last night ...
> >> about the one that had his head in the oven and his feet on ice cubes
> >> but average he was comfortable.    Terrible isn't it.   As bad as the
> >> one fly who said to the other fly, "Your Dude's open."
> >>
> >> Good night guys.
> >>
> >> On Feb 4, 2007, at 4:20 PM, Herb Brannon wrote:
> >>
> >>> Yes, I have enjoyed "the journey" for many years now and hope to
> >>> keep enjoying it for many more to come. Yes, a few of them (co-
> >>> workers) do think I am insane for "driving a public transit bus"
> >>> and enjoying it. Oh well, maybe they should get another job.
> >>> Herb Brannon
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ----- Original Message ----
> >>> From: John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com>
> >>> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> >>> Sent: Sunday, February 4, 2007 1:17:25 AM
> >>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to 2/1/07
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I was amused by your last paragraph, Herb.  Far too many people have
> >>> condemned themselves to jobs in which they are there just there for
> >>> the
> >>> paycheck, and can't wait until retirement.  How much better to be
> >>> able to
> >>> enjoy the journey.
> >>>
> >>> For most on this list - we have made our choices, either by choice
> >>> or by
> >>> circumstances.  But for the Joshua's and Derricks, find something
> >>> you enjoy
> >>> so that you will be able to enjoy the journey.
> >>>
> >>> I've been told that if you work at your hobby, you'll find another
> >>> hobby.
> >>> Not necessarily so.
> >>>
> >>> Of course there is a downside - many co-workers will be
> >>> suspicious and
> >>> wonder why you are not miserable like everyone else.  (:>)
> >>>
> >>> John
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> From: Herb Brannon <hrbran at sbcglobal.net>
> >>>> Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> >>>> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> >>>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to
> >>>> 2/1/07
> >>>> Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2007 16:48:44 -0800 (PST)
> >>>>
> >>>> If you ever come here you will soon see that I am "known" to the
> >>>> RTA
> >>>> management  and also to the operators/mechanics  . I have been
> >>>> known to be
> >>>> called "The Watchdog." I tend to keep an "eye" on things. Also,
> >>>> as a
> >>>> statement of fact, I am a good operator. No accidents, no passenger
> >>>> complaints, get commendations from riders, etc. These days you
> >>>> have to keep
> >>>> an eye on them or they will steal you blind and sell you down the
> >>>> river!
> >>>> Also, this job, to me, is not work. It is fun! Today's managers
> >>>> really hate
> >>>> to see a member of the working class having fun and doing the job
> >>>> correctly. Too bad for them..............they are the fools.
> >>>> Herb Brannon
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> ----- Original Message ----
> >>>> From: Fred Schneider <fwschneider at comcast.net>
> >>>> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> >>>> Sent: Saturday, February 3, 2007 6:51:41 PM
> >>>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to
> >>>> 2/1/07
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Mein Gott.   Herb is just as cynical as John and Fred.   Watch the
> >>>> business long enough and you get that way.
> >>>>
> >>>> On Feb 3, 2007, at 4:21 PM, Herb Brannon wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> ----- Original Message ----
> >>>>> From: Several List Members
> >>>>> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> >>>>> Sent: Friday, February 2, 2007 7:19:47 PM
> >>>>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to
> >>>>> 2/1/07
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> John Swindler wrote:
> >>>>>> why did PAT need more space when system
> >>>>>> ridership was declining.
> >>>>>> He thought they did it so the upper management could
> >>>>>> have the rarefied atmosphere of the Duquesne Club nearby.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Public transit upper management, in many U.S. cities, are really
> >>>>> "full of themselves" these days. The guy running GCRTA came here
> >>>>> from Syracuse, NY. There he headed up a system with one operating
> >>>>> station (garage) and 102 buses. Immediately up arriving in
> >>>>> Cleveland he changed his title from General Manager to Chief
> >>>>> Executive Officer. His head swelled even before the ink got dry on
> >>>>> his contract! He forgot GCRTA is a public supported transit
> >>>>> authority, not a private company. Many times during public
> >>>>> meetings
> >>>>> he has told elederly and disabled individuals who require public
> >>>>> transit that 'they should find another method to get around.' This
> >>>>> occured at at least two public meetings reguarding service cuts
> >>>>> and
> >>>>> was reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Cleveland Call &
> >>>>> Post. On one occasion tv channel 5's investigative reporter called
> >>>>> him to task on improper use of the taxpayers money for things such
> >>>>> as $100.00 per plate lunches, out of state golf outings and
> >>>>> excessive personal
> >>>>>  telephone bills. He was so blatant that he acutally got in front
> >>>>> of the tv cameras and said he "would spend money as he saw fit"
> >>>>> and
> >>>>> they (tv channel 5) should "mind their business."
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I can see where the upper management of PATransit would
> >>>>> probably be
> >>>>> no different. Too many of them are not in touch with the needs of
> >>>>> the public they are supposed to be serving.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> the West Busway opened, the East Busway extension
> >>>>>> and Overbrook reconstruction were ongoing, and 24 hour service
> >>>>>> began
> >>>>>> on a few buses.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Interesting to note that 24-hour service is beginning again.
> >>>>> When I
> >>>>> worked at PATransit 24-hour service was offered on both the 42/38
> >>>>> and 35 car lines as well as many bus lines.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Herb Brannon
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
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