I am so glad to be home, this was a long trip. I basically got home today since it was such a late flight I slept so much this morning, it felt nice. I woke up with a slight headache, but not too bad.
Paul and Carlos will be out today, but I think it is going to rain all day. Hopefully it holds out a bit.
I played with the puppies several times, they acted like they could not get enough We played in the breaks of rain showers.
The boys brought over fried chicken so that is what we had for lunch and dinner. Lazy Tomorrow we MUST cook our own food because I am sick of eating out.
Tomorrow is going to be a busy one because today was so lazy!! Ha ha ha, worth it
Last night I went to sleep with a horrible headache and it is still very bad this morning. I ran out of medicine last night and didn’t think much of it, well – bad idea
I called in the prescriptions this morning at like 04:00.
I went to the store before going to work, it was like 15 minutes the other way so I didn’t get to F Tower until like 09:30. My headache is still very bad. I hope it clears up soon!
Alright, now I am at the Detroit airport and I still have a headache… This is horrible.
So, I decided yesterday that I was going to leave my current employer because I feel very unappreciated. I don’t ask for much and when I do it must be important and they just refused to work with me so here we go on a new adventure Not sure where I am going yet, but all I know is that I am going to be better off and happier!! Let’s GO!!!!
First, something I forgot to mention that happened the other day, I spilled an entire cup of water on my Macbook! Luckily everything is fine, but I had a slight heart attack as I watched the water covering my keyboard. Oh yeah, my phone was soaked too, but it is NOTHING compared to the computer!
Now, for the rest of the story
F Tower. I walk up to this old brick building in the middle of no less than 4 sets of tracks (not sure the exact count). I see in the upper left corner a simple monogram in stone weathered from all the years of service F. We go into the door and you can smell the age of wires and equipment that has been running for so many years. I am there no more than 5 minutes and the amazement and terror of this location is realized, a huge freight train blows by the building at maximum track speed. The entire building shakes and you realize that you are at the absolute mercy of the railroad!!!
Ok, that’s my shot at a dramatic writing style But seriously, I have been scared – legitimately frightened over only two things in my career and I have experienced BOTH in the last 2 years. The first is high railing over a bridge and the second is being inside F Tower. High railing for those who don’t know is when you ride in a vehicle, truck, on the tracks. The thing about the railroads is that a train isn’t like a car and it doesn’t need guardrails for bridges. It can’t accidentally veer off to the right and need a guardrail to keep it above the water. It is very scary to ride over a bridge – especially one of any height
Now for the second, F Tower. You may not have ever heard of Fostoria, Ohio, but “railroad” people have. it is a very busy area for trains and there are multiple railroads crossing each other and while it is not the fastest speeds, it is fast enough for such tight spaces. There is a place you can see from F Tower that is called The Iron Triangle where railroad watchers go to take train pictures and just watch the trains go by. It is kinda a big deal
Anyway, this place is actually one of the first projects I worked on when I started in the business. I started in 1996 and we did this job in 1998. It is nice because I am a month away from my 20 year anniversary being a railroader. I think it is kinda cool
This morning on the way to the office, we had a little bit of extra time so we had breakfast at this diner in town called Dell’s. It’s been here for 75 years!! It was probably the best biscuit and gravy I have ever had, and I have a recipe y’all!!!
Then I worked all day helping get this location all right. It’s not that it was wrong, but because it is so big and complicated it needed to have some special attention to organize it a little better.
We had lunch in town at a Chinese place, not great, and back to work I got back to the hotel, grabbed me some Subway and watched all my YouTube people and now I am in bed doing this
I am going to wrap it up though because I haven’t managed to find a new book yet and I have a long flight tomorrow.
Enjoy the pics and see you tomorrow 😉
Looking from the tower.Another set of tracks.The F stands for Fostoria (dirty minds)This is an old set of plans!I drew this whole sketch.
Today is the last day for training here in Indianapolis. I am finished with the morning class and as soon as I finish the afternoon one I will be off on the road trip
I got me some coffee this morning, they do pretty good here – almost like a real Starbucks. I am about to grab me another muffin!!!
I have like a 3.5 hour drive this afternoon so I am hoping to get out of here before 14:00. I really don’t wanna be on the road in the dark, but it has actually been very light here until like 21:00. Must be a Yankee thing ha ha ha.
Just after I get done raving about the food here and lunch was a real miss… It was just not great. oh well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad
I have just one more demo to give and then hitting the road. Gonna meet one of the managers at the hotel and then we will go get this location straightened out. I will talk more about it tomorrow, but where I am going today is one of the first real big projects I ever worked on in the railroad. Memories
Made it to Findlay!! Going to go out to dinner with the manager here and then going to go to bed! I am still feeling a bit bad, nowhere near as bad as the beginning of the week, but the drive did feel very long.
Alright, we had some seafood which was very good. I have had crab cakes more in these last couple months then ever! Very good though. Going to bed – goodnight
Cool church by where we ate.Bobby photo bomb!Where we ate, Bru Burger – very good.
Dancing girl – should have done video very random.
So the website has been down for a while now. I am writing this on Wednesday so it’s a bit of a recap
Yesterday the classes went well. I am still not feeling great – very snotty. I think I am going to grab some over the counter stuff tonight to help dry out.
This hotel has good food – probably the best from any like buffet that I have had. We had meatloaf, yummy.
We went to a place called Bru Burger Pub – really good burger. It was so good I was so stuffed, but I wanted to finish it! It was downtown and Indy has a nice downtown
Paul and Samantha went to the house today so that is nice. The parents lost the remote and Samantha found it. I was just happy that Nickel didn’t get it again
This morning was a bit hard to get moving. I have wrecked my lips by being a mouth breather and my nose is killing me with these harsh tissues! I am in the class now, they are working on something else. The talk went well this morning, have another one this afternoon. I don’t suspect I will have very many questions but we will see.
They have really good muffins here I had 2
I did my expenses from the beginning of the year – we will see if I can get paid for them. I can see them being upset with me for not turning them in during the month they were for.
I am kinda just waiting on lunch
Lunch was really good. This hotel, the Crown Plaza at the airport, really does good work on the food offered – snacks and meals. I guess CSX does a lot of business here and I can see why.
I finished my afternoon session and it went really well. Had a bit more interest with this group
My co-workers are going out for dinner, I am so unsure if I want to go. I feel bad and want to go to sleep – ugh! I just don’t know. I was able to make my flight changes to come home on Friday and so I will be leaving here and driving to Fostoria Wednesday and then leaving out of Detroit that night. Lots of travel, but the flight home is direct and I am so happy I just can’t stand it
Today is a travel day to Indianapolis, IN. My flight leaves at like 11:45 so I am off to the airport!!
Well, the first flight went alright. My ears didn’t really wanna pop, but I was able to airplane sleep so that was nice. I am sitting in Atlanta now and just waiting for my next flight. I have a bit of time so I am just relaxing.
Sitting in my hotel now – whew, that was a long day of traveling. Not really but being sick has drained me. I stopped at a Subway on the way here and got me a sandwich and I am going to finish it up and go to sleep!
So, I fell asleep last night before I could post this I didn’t get any pics from yesterday so I will make a point to do it today!
Oh my goodness, I could not get off my booty today… Â I don’t know what the heck is wrong, I think it has to do with not feeling great and knowing that I am going out of town for a whole week. Â I just got back inside from playing with the puppies and I am really feeling it today. Â It is so freakin humid outside I am 100% GROSS when I get back inside, no matter how long I have spent outside.
Paul, Samantha, and Becky all came out today. Â I had plans on making Paul go to the grocery store with me, but I just couldn’t get into life today.
I said a while back in my blogs that my hands and feet were itching – I think I did anyway.  So Paul and I were looking the other day and I saw the plant that is getting me itchy.  I will have to get a pic and attach it here in a minute, but it is all over and not always easily visible, but even if it was with the balls rolling and being fuzzy there is no avoiding so I try just not to touch them.  The problem is that Nickel thinks it is a game when I use the thrower to pick up the balls and I end up having to struggle with him for a couple minutes with each ball  Also, these tennis balls smell so freakin bad.  Bad, horrible, gross, I don’t like it
I am in the middle of packing since about noon. Ha ha ha, I really just need to make it all fit, replenish my shampoo and conditioner and get it done. Luckily it is a bit casual, jeans and t-shirts are fine for the meetings and then I need to bring my PPE in case I go in the field at the second stop. That makes packing a little less stressful.
Sidetrack – I have this desktop that is a time lapse of a train station, viewing the escalator and it is just a cool picture. I really wanna do some stuff like that myself, I just can’t seem to stop being in the moment to do it Good and bad I suppose
My new book is good so far. I went with the White House one. I am so gross. My feet are black and my hands are too. I am about to wrap this up and go get in the shower. Maybe I will have some ice cream tonight
Alright, goodnight and sweet dreams!!
Itchy plant!Nickel waiting for dinner.
Nickel waiting on Dad to come back with the golf cart!
I took dad to get his hair cut which is kind of like a huge task. First off, I should have taken a picture of his hair because it was out of control! Second, there was another person in there cutting hair, which is nice. Normally the lady is so slow, but like everyone goes to her. I don’t really understand. The second lady cut his hair, after sitting for a while and then realized he wanted a hair cut…
OK, then I am still not 100% and it is bugging the crap out of me. I really feel like I should be all better by now. My ears are still popping a lot when I blow my nose. Goodness.
I took Nickel with me to go get food for dinner, he likes the car a lot. Dad said that Dime was a little distraught when we left, but she will not get in the car. I have played with them and he is his normal evening self, barking in my face to go play. The only problem is that it is about to rain so he is gonna be out of luck.
I will be going to two locations next week, Indianapolis and also Fostoria, Ohio – or someplace close to there. I need to get in touch with my contact to make sure I know where I am going
I think I have found the next book I am going to read. I think it is going to be on the Brooklyn Bridge or the White House. For those who do not know, the White House was completely rebuilt during Truman administration. So either would be interesting. Will let you know how it goes
I really wish I could figure out how to get Nickel to feel fulfilled in the evening. He is just sitting here barking at me, we go outside, play a little, come back in and eh does the same thing. I don’t know what to do. I took him out again, but he is still very anxious… Wish the pets could talk.
I am going to get something to drink and get in the bed
So I was going to try to make it into the office today, but my mom had a procedure scheduled for today so I was going to take her. Well, she decided that she wasn’t feeling up to it so now I am getting stuff done at the house!!!! Laundry first and then I have to clean up my desk a good bit.
Random Rant: FedEx will never leave the package at the gate when everyone else will… Why do we put our phone numbers on the packages if the driver isn’t going to bother to call… FedEx is gonna have to do a little bit better!!!
OK, I am so sick of my ears popping when blowing my nose. Actually it’s like they get clogged when I blow my nose – the opposite, but it is very hard to blow my nose when that happens. Quality content right here y’all Lets stack on top of that with I gotta check on my clothes in the washer ha ha ha ha.
I am very close to the end of my most recent book and I am getting to the parts where it is hard to put it down. I will write a review of that when I get done – hopefully this week.
I need to figure out what we are going to have for dinner. I think we have exhausted the things I got for the last time I was out of the house. I really want some pizza – how lame is that, but sometimes you just crave stuff
Played with the puppies for just a bit. I got cut majorly by the palmetto plant… Only I can get bloody from playing catch with the puppies. I sliced myself like it was a serrated knife, right on the bendy part – AMAZING!!! Also, I just love how we play for 10 minutes and the dogs are passed out, but at night I had to take them out at like 10pm for a “walk” to calm them down. By walk I mean we walked to the gate and back. They are crazy.
The dogs are doing their thing now – right on time  Nickel is just bothering the crap out of me and we have been outside playing like 6 times already.  He needs sleeping pills…
Mom Update: Mom is feeling a little bit better this evening, she slept from like noon until dinner.  I am not sure what is going on, I hope she feels a bit better before I leave, but we might have to do like we did a couple weeks ago and have the boys come out  She keeps saying no one said getting older was like this, I don’t think she is enjoying her 70s as much as say her 20s
Alright, I am going out one more time with these dogs for a walk and then calling it quits – I want to finish my book!!!! Â Ha ha ha ha ha. Â Hope everyone has a great night!
A little love nip from Nickel :(Just Dime being Dime :)Penny and Nickel playing!!
I slept so much this morning, it felt nice. I woke up with a slight headache, but not too bad.
