So, just where the heck have I been...

It's been a week since I posted and for that I apologize. (eh, not so much, but if there are hard core THFH fans out there please let me know. We could get t-shirts made.)

So anyway...work has been absolutely awful. I am ready to change jobs at any moment. It's very frustrating when you hear about problems and don't know why they are happening or how to fix them. All one can do is send them to the technicians and hope they tell you what happened. So that was Monday through Thursday.

Friday I escaped to a mini-convention by way of Altoona and a trip home by way of Cumberland. Good times. Check out the photos.

Trip to Medina

Home...

I'm home, and I have pictures of the trip back!

Charleston, Day 2...

Well, our trip to Charleston is winding down. The Archives Crew completed their second day of captioning the photos of JJ Young's that were at the State Archives. We really had a good crew and fortunately or unfortunately, we need to come back. We didn't finish. So, once more unto the breach dear friends...but I think I'll take the train this next time.

I've updated my picasa link with photos from the session today. Tomorrow is a trip along the West End of the B&O. More photos should be forthcoming.

Blogging a trip...

Well, the Archives Team is in Charleston, WV. I'm guessing they, like my co-pilot Jim, are asleep in their rooms. It's been a long day. But a good day.
I have a new album of photos on my Picasa Page with pics from Burnsville, WV. It was the first place we saw some good quality sunlight. So, check out the new Album. More will be added to this as I get a chance to snooze and recharge.

The Expedition...

Tomorrow I leave for Charleston, WV for a special archival/historical expedition. A crack team of archival volunteers will be helping the WV State Archives caption their photographs by noted railroad photographer J.J. Young Jr who died in 2004 and left all of his Wheeling area photos to the state archives. Unfortunately he didn't caption them because he remembered all the captions himself.

The B&O Railroad Historical Society has put out a calendar of his photos with the permission and assistance of his widow so that's why I'm going deep into West By God Virginia.

I'll have my digital camera, laptop and a hotel room with free internet so I may try this whole blogging on the road bit.

Okay...

I have reached VT Saturation. Any more news about this horrible tragedy and I'm going to give it the same dismissive nod I give the other overexposed horrible tragedies in the world, Iraq, Darfur, Global Warming, Lost, I hear or see a story and go, "meh."

I'm beyond caring about Iraq. We lost, get over it.
Darfur? No, it's nearby, you just turn left after you take the next exit, you can't miss it, really it's darnear.
Global Warming, where is that new catalog of SUVs? If I just park one at Al Gore's house will he come out to lecture me? If so, could I get him to autograph a copy of "An Inconvenient Truth?"
Lost, I'm glad a TV show accurately describes its audience. For gods sake, find the professor, make the radio and just live there. Hilarity will ensue, trust me.

Seriously, please please please can someone in the FCC just send out a shut the F*** Up notice to the networks and local stations and cable news networks and crap. I'm done. Any more and...I will actually not care about the entire episode. I will be so numb that it will be a story that I just turn off or change the station to. It will be so omnipresent in my daily routine that I will not care at all about it.

Please someone tell the President to go on TV and say, "Alberto, you're doin' a heckuva job here" so the network lemmings can all run somewhere else.

What I've been up to...

Well, work, railroad stuff, and some more work. That's about it.

I just got a new book that was mentioned on another blog I read. Called "Conquering Gotham" about the building of Pennsylvania Station. So far it's been pretty good, though the PRR management is getting off pretty easy. Andrew Cassatt, president of the PRR was not as super nice as he's being shown here. Though he was better than his old boss, Tom Scott.

Still, pretty good reading.

People, people...

Look, I think it's great that they're going to save the Tasmanian Devil. But, this concern about the other wildlife...people, WE ALL KNOW that a rabbit is generally smart enough to save himself by putting a bear trap in his mouth, putting on a dress and lipstick and pretending to be a Tasmanian She-Devil.

Hello? Duh! You know these scientists would be a lot less uptight if they knew the capabilities of the humble rabbit and duck. (I'd say its even money with Daffy alone. 8-5 in Daffy's favor if Porky is with him.)

Work work work...

Sorry I've been quiet for a while. Work has been busy and there are a couple of nice trips coming up for me. (YAY!)

Io...

NASA just released this shot of Io.

The eruption in the photo is from Tvashtar, the largest active volcano in the solar system. That's molten sulfur spewing out. The red dot is a fountain of lava.

Impressive, no?

Whump...

I'm 29 now according to blogspot. Wow. They update my profile and everything.

What an age we live in to see wonders such as this.

Goodnight Larry...

Calvert DeForest aka Larry "Bud" Melman
July 23, 1921 - March 19, 2007



Thanks for the laughs. We miss you already.

Spamalot...

Saw it Saturday with AP. Thanks to the younger brother and his friend the ticket issue was resolved and all went as planned.

A good time was had by all, especially the poor schmoe who was in seat D101.

The Problem of Canine Flatulence...

(We can't be highbrow all the time here.)

It's time someone really started marketing a Beano for dogs. Duff (see "Happiness is...") has horrible flatulence. Fortunately it's not a constant problem, but when it happens it's awful. And what's worse is that he has a gimmick about it.

If one is sitting in a chair and Duff lets one fly, he will jump off the chair at the moment of flatulence, land on the floor and look at you. In fact the look will be accusatory in that he appears to be saying "Good lord, what did you do?"

Now, this stuff happens. It's a natural biological function. I'm willing to accept it, but I'm not willing to have a "he who smelt it, dealt it" argument with a dog.

Not a sermon, just a thought.

Adventures in Commuting...

This has been a trying week to be a MARC commuter here in the DC Metro Area.

Tuesday we had a brilliant person leave their bags on the Capitol Ltd, Westbound to Chicago. This was discovered and the panic button was pushed. Bomb squad, fire, dogs, etc. My train was supposed to leave DC at 6pm. We left closer to 7:15. We sat at Silver Spring for 30 to 40 mins. I got home at 9:30pm, I left work at 4:30pm. That was a fun 5 hour commute.

Today, Friday, someone screwed up. Someone screwed up badly. MARC trains were running 30 to 135 (!) minutes late into DC. I don't know the exact reason why, but it's just bloody stupid that we can run WW2 levels of traffic for 5 years and be able to handle these things but when we have much lower levels of traffic nobody can dispatch the trains properly.

So, I took METRO into work today. It's raining, it's going to turn to snow later on. ugh.

Well, there's yer problem...

Pinched nerve, all the classic symptoms.

So I got a muscle relaxer and an anti-inflamitory (my old friend prednisone.)

Today...I can walk, sit and lay down without the crippling pain I enjoyed yesterday.

Better living through chemistry.

OW!

I pinched a nerve in my back last night. OW OW OW OW!

Dr.'s appt. today.

My first blog on Selection Sunday...

Normally, I'm not that into college basketball. There are so many games to watch and teams one could keep track of that I just don't want to invest the time in separating the wheat from the chaff.

However this changes during March Madness. 65 teams for the next three weeks will go down to 1 National Champion. They're all good teams to have made the selection and the games are filled with the potential for an upset.

Also they play these games during the week so there's something on TV that I can get into besides the last three episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

Brush with fame #2...

Last month it was Joe Biden, the senior Senator from Delaware at Union Station the night of the state of the union.

Last night...WUSA-TV morning anchor Andrea Roane at Union Station.

Worst Episode Ever...

Excuse me, but can I lame yesterday?

First: Got called in to take notes at a meeting on VERY short notice
Second: Found out my Spamalot tickets had been stolen before they could be delivered to me.
Third: Got called to a meeting for more note taking and informed that there will be more meetings from 4 to 4:30pm every day
Fourth: The computer system I work on the RefDesk for still is having trouble.
Fifth: Had to work late, missed two trains. Made the last one out of DC.
Sixth: George Mason lost. I had hoped they'd get another chance to be Cinderella, if for nothing else than to give Billy Packer a big F-U.