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

[William J. Neill]

Well, I've got five CY-1119/U racks One with two R-390As and a  
CV-116C (a complete FRR-38), an R-390A and a 51J4 in another rack, an  
R-389 and an R-220 in a third rack, the fourth rack with an R-391 and  
SP-600JX, and  the fifth rack holding a complete FRR-33 and can  
assure you that one rack with two R-390As and CV-116C fully alight  
keeps the house pleasantly want down here in the Great Dismal Swamp.

Further evidence of my technical obsolesence.

Bill

On Jan 4, 2009, at 6:14 PM, <wb5uom at hughes.net> wrote:

> 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
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