Safety: RE: [R-390] Now *this* is a really nifty idea...

[wb5uom at hughes.net]

A sad story, but Ohhhhh so true. and getting worse.

And I see myself not fitting in to the general scheme of Business today.
If I could get out, I do beleive I would be in a small cabin in Alaska with
my radios and a cup of coffee.

How many R-390A's would it take to keep the place warm I wonder?


Bill, I understand completely.

David/WB5UOM

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "William J. Neill" <wjneill at consolidated.net>
To: <W9RAN at oneradio.net>
Cc: <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2009 5:36 PM
Subject: Re: Safety: RE: [R-390] Now *this* is a really nifty idea...


> I can't resist any further.  This has carried me over the edge.
>
> I spent 35 years in the railroad business between 1965 and 2000,
> beginning at age 19 as a telegrapher and yes, I did Western Union
> business as well as railroad business.  That being as it may, I went
> through a remarkable transition of technologies over 35 years into a
> significant level of computerization of operating control and
> communication processes, including real-time status reporting of
> locomotive conditions from anywhere on the system to a centralized
> mechanical desk that was alerted to anything varying from design
> specifications.
>
> Following service as a telegrapher, I also ran locomotives for a few
> years and then settled down to the craft of train dispatcher and
> later chief dispatcher, supervising operations on increasing lengths
> of railroad.  Ultimately, I ended up overseeing operating policies
> and practices for half (6,000 miles) of the system and four years
> later, the entire system.  All with nothing but a high school diploma.
>
> Now, in the railroad business, men can and do get killed and I was
> witness to two deaths, both of which were ghastly and one due to a
> case of dumb ass and the other a case of management stupidity.  The
> first 27 years were relatively stable with the business being run by
> those who came from the ground up and therefore there was a hands-on
> familiarity with was was required to run the railroad at 245AM on a
> cold and rainy Sunday morning.  And, 31 years, nine employee
> fatalities occurred.  However, in mid-1995, the MBAs showed up and
> began running the railroad by "metrics" with everything packaged
> neatly to fit on very pretty and colorful spreadsheets.
>
> And in late 1996, as a high school graduate at a senior level of mid-
> level management, I was demoted and replaced by an MBA who expected
> me to reveal all of my techniques that allowed me to work my magic
> learned over some three-plus decades.  Four months later, two
> additional MBAs had been added to the roster, trying to do what I had
> been doing and many of my tasks were eliminated because they could
> not be measured and made to fit within computer programs that could
> be "connected" to other programs that ran in other company departments.
>
> However, during calendar year 1996, two employee fatalities occurred;
> 1997, six; 1998, five, 1999, three; and 2000, three.  I left with a
> suprise early retirement in April, 2000, because I was a trouble
> maker and not a team player (I know this because my supervisors told
> me this).  In so many words, the MBA management viewed employee
> fatalities as a public relations fiasco rather than as a failure
> internal policies, practices, and knowledge.
>
> End of  my story.
>
> Bill Neill
> Conroe, Texas
>
> On Jan 4, 2009, at 4:43 PM, Robert Nickels wrote:
>
> > Bill wrote:
> >> It is not just freshly minted engineers.
> > I'll second that!  Not to pick on MEs, but years ago I was a pretty
> > new employee and was sent to talk to a senior ME about a design
> > review issue.  He evidently wanted to make sure I knew the pecking
> > order as when I pointed out a problem in a prototype housing, he
> > assured me that the drawing was fine.  I asked if he had  a
> > prototype so I could try to assemble it, and he said "See now,
> > that's the difference between us and you sparkie types.  We don't
> > spend half our time messing around in a lab with prototypes, we
> > just *think* things out".
> >
> > It was my pleasure a few days later to take him a prototype that
> > couldn't be put together so he could *think* up an ECO to fix it!
> >
> > 73, Bob W9RAN
> >
> >
> >
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