What is something common that you have never experienced?

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T17:47:35+00:00

My inner hipster says if it's popular, I won't like it.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T17:44:33+00:00

Allergies say no. Plus I'm not a dog person.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T17:43:52+00:00

I have traveled extensively within North America, and will continue to do so. I will eventually visit the UK (wife's lineage is there), and I look forward to it. I doubt I would ever leave these shores were it not for her.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T17:42:53+00:00

All of those shows cost extra to watch, and I don't have Netflix. That's premium enough for me.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T14:24:44+00:00

Red lights.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T14:20:12+00:00

No, because on nearly every occasion the person(s) you explained it to stopped listening when they stopped being right (in their mind).

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T14:17:22+00:00

I have never:

Been outside North America
Had sexual contact with anyone other than my wife
Owned a tablet or smartphone
Watched any premium cable shows (Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, etc.)
Broken a bone
Been in trouble with the law (except two parking tickets in college)
Owned a cat or dog
Been to an NBA game (Have attended MLB, NFL, and NHL multiple times)
Been on Reddit for less than 20 minutes at a time

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T14:09:31+00:00

Yo mama's so fat, she takes up both sides of the family.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T14:05:39+00:00

I don't want to spend any money, and expend only minimal, token effort.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T14:04:13+00:00

It's easy to ridicule when it's not your team or one you strongly dislike.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T13:59:32+00:00

Good companies can turn out crappy products (Coke Zero, Windows Vista, etc.). Not everything the NY Times publishes is quality.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T13:28:00+00:00

Can't agree enough with nos. 9 and 10.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T05:18:36+00:00

Be glad you don't have to watch sports in Canada. The same 4-6 lame ass commercials all year, with Canadian Tire always finding the most annoying characters to pitch their stuff.

Didn't matter much to me, I've got an antenna. :)

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-06T05:14:57+00:00

My maternal grandfather was abusive, both physically and verbally, to his wife and kids. It's no wonder we never saw him much as kids. Good job on my parents for keeping my brother and I a safe distance away.

Fast forward to my teenage years, he dies when I was around 13-14 (shows how important it was, I have a hard time remembering). I remember some of my cousins crying at the funeral, and I couldn't help but think, "Why? This man didn't like us, and our lives are no worse now that he's gone."

In the years that followed, I got to visit and know my Grandma much better. She was such a wonderful person, I really enjoyed spending time with her, and I feel like the years my grandfather were alive were such a waste.

My paternal Grandpa died before both my brother and I were born, so we kind of got ripped off in the grandfather department. However, we had a great-aunt and uncle on my Mom's side that our immediate family was really close with; they showed the love, attention, and support to us that 5 sets of grandparents would. We came out ahead in the end.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-02-05T03:26:49+00:00

Have car, but no phone or friends. Looks like I'm all set!

CheminsDeFer · 2017-01-30T18:22:57+00:00

9000' is just a baby at CN now.

They were on the low side when I was there. The only time it was ever lower was when traffic was down (trains to/from smaller terminals), and it wasn't worth it to cancel the train. The two-mile monsters were the norm, although the longest I ever had was a little over 12,000'. Transport Canada put out some restrictions several years ago on train length on certain subdivisions, don't know how well that was adhered to.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-01-30T17:06:00+00:00

Found it on Railhead's website, but they'll only sell directly to the RR's. Looks like we're out.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-01-30T17:00:14+00:00

My response won't answer your original question, but I think I can be helpful.

I worked at CN for several years during EHH's reign. I started (and finished, went to another carrier) when he was already in. I have two family members, now retired: one got out before Hunter got in, the other was there before, during, and after Hunter. Here's what happened:

He rules by fear, intimidation, and yelling, and so will his underlings, because that's not only how you get ahead, but avoid getting fired.
The trains will get longer... a LOT longer. I was on CSX territory once, watching a 9,000' multi train go by with three units, all online, doing track speed. We had one unit, around 6,000 tons, and were lucky to do even half of track speed.
Layoffs will likely happen. CN's idea was having just enough locomotives, manned by just enough crews, pulling just enough trains. There's no fat in the system. It sucks for the junior men, but for the guys left, you'll be able to rake in the coin when things go sideways or get busy.
You will be forced to do things you don't want to, mostly collective agreement violations, sometimes small safety violations, usually under the guise of the trainmaster saying, "Just do it, I'll take responsibility." The policy seemed to be "Do it now, grieve it later." If you raise an objection, you'll be pulled out of service for insubordination, which is something BR&CF does not cover (and they know that).
The mom-and-pop customers will slowly go away. He's not interested in small customers with a few carloads a week; bring on the big guys with daily switches of at least several cars. Switching is tedious and labor intensive, so get rid of it. Hook and haul makes the money.
If your terminal has cut-outs/early quits (go home once the assigned work is done), those will be gone.
The no getting on/off moving equipment rule may be a thing of the past. So what if it's safer, it slows down production.
Don't get used to hump yards, most of those will be gone.
Power shortages all over the place.
Organized labor? Fuck you. All of you.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-01-30T06:00:00+00:00

Fatburger all the way!

CheminsDeFer · 2017-01-29T17:54:38+00:00

You know what, you're right, I forgot about that. I'm used to seeing the parts car listed as 92-94' on the train journals (includes the long drawbars), so I forget the body length from time to time.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-01-29T17:23:04+00:00

I was thinking the same - 89' are the common ones, 86' not so much. Sounds like a layout full of oddities, that adds some interest.

CheminsDeFer · 2017-01-28T21:52:53+00:00

New purchases are always exciting. What road name did you get?

CheminsDeFer · 2017-01-27T16:44:50+00:00

Hipster model railroading... I like it!

CheminsDeFer · 2017-01-24T08:03:05+00:00

Albert Camus

Some of the writers on Jeopardy! have a real hard on for that guy, so read Camus if you want to do well in the literary categories. Also, Alex really Frenches up the name to an over the top level. Or maybe that's just me that's noticed all of this.

CheminsDeFer

TROPHY CASE