LA, CA Can Good Things Happen at Work? Of Course! - Part 2

You know, J_J, my father was a Civil Engineer also but when I was a youngling I knew he was an engineer and my only frame of reference was the train driving variety. One day I asked my dad if it was hard to drive a train and he kindly explained to me that he didn't drive trains, he designed breakwaters (Marina del Rey) and channels (San Gabriel River modifications), dams, and coastal related projects. It kind of burst my bubble.

 

OK, all this talk about trains has made me wax nostalgic. And when I wax nostalgic, I like to quote the lyrics of my favorite songs:

City of New Orleans
by Arlo Guthrie

Ridin' on the City of New Orleans
Illinois Central, Monday mornin' rail
15 cars & 15 restless riders
Three conductors, 25 sacks of mail

All along the southbound odyssey the train pulls out of Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms & fields
Passin' graves that have no name, freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of rusted automobiles

Good mornin' America, how are you?
Don't you know me? I'm your native son!
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done

Dealin' cards with the old men in the club car
Penny a point, ain't no one keepin' score
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
And feel the wheels rumblin' neath the floor

And the sons of Pullman porters & the sons of engineers
Ride their fathers' magic carpets made of steel
Mothers with their babes asleep, rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel

Good mornin' America, how are you?
Say don't you know me? I'm your native son!
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans.
I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done.

Night time on the City of New Orleans
Changin' cars in Memphis, Tennessee
Halfway home, we'll be there by mornin'
Thru the Mississippi darkness rollin' down to the sea

But all the towns and people seem to fade into a bad dream
And the steel rail still ain't heard the news
The conductor sings his songs again
"The passengers will please refrain:
This train got the disappea rin' railroad blues

Good night America, how are you?
Say don't you know me? I'm your native son!
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans.
I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done.

 

Yet you still became an engineer.

Well, JR's wish came true. I just got back from spending the evening with him and YG at the LA Auto Show. It was a lot of fun, and I don't even like cars really. The food was good too. I ate too much.

Thanks Sony! Even though working there recently has been a pain I'm still happy about the perks sometimes.

 

Yes! It was a dream come true!! I was in a dreamland. It was almost like having the Auto Show all to myself... well not quite.. but close. Cars, food, and celebs (and good friends) all in the place that now reminds me of good times at C4, what could be better. Thanks SR and thanks Sony!

 

I just got myself a Barnes & Noble credit card. That means I can purchase all the books I usually do for my library with it, get reimbursed, pay back the card then and keep the 5% kickback for using it at B&N for myself. Not a huge thing, but it's still pretty cool!

 

I love the car show. Lucky JR and YG! You were very sweet to bring them as your guests, SR.

 

JF that a great perk. At Sony we use American Express however all the points that are earned by all the employees each year are all combined and then used to pay for the trips that are raffeled off at the Holiday party.

 

I don't think I purchase quite enough books to get that big a perk. Great idea though!

 

Yeah, that would be a lot of books.

I think I'm the only one here today at work. It is super quiet. I hope it stays this way.

 

I have an Amazon.com credit card and I just got two $25 gift certificates for charging so much on their card. On second thought, I'm not sure if that's something I should be proud of.

 

This is good and funny but happened at work yesterday. We had the first meeting of the SSBP. The Secret Society of Birthday Parties. You see we are looked down upon if we have a party of any kind in our department. That's because there is this nasty woman who hates having a good time and eats children. Anyway she is always making a big deal if we celebrate anyone's birthday. So yesterday we did it secretly behind her back and everyone above her in command. It was fun and the ice cream cake was the best ever.

 

We have a sunshine club at my new office. We had November birthday cake yesterday. Today my new coworker Mary drove all the way from 3rd & Beaudry to Alpine & Hill and picked up lunches from Hop Sing's for everyone in our department. I am eating very delicious shrimp & honeyed walnuts as I type this. Yumm! This is completely different from my old office.

 

If she weren't above you guys in rank, I'd suggest throwing her a surprise "get well" (i.e. "quit being a stick in the mud") party and sing that "get well, get well soon, we want you to get well!" song from the Seinfeld episode where they're throwing multiple cake parties a day at Elaine's office. Imagine the look of surprise and fury on her face!

 

Glad things are looking up for you there.

 

Thanks, SR. And as a note to Mr. & Ms. DH & anyone else who works in the general neighborhood, they are having a lunch time Farmers Market every other Friday at the BP Building (across Hope St. from the KPMG building). The next one is 11/30.

 

Oh, I get it. Arlo Guthrie is too prosaic for you all. Should I sing Weird Al's "the Saga Begins" instead?

 

Get a Borders reward card. Now I haven't been reading as much lately, therefore not buying books, but you get lots of coupons and when Christmas hits, they give you credit. Last year I bought so many books I got 20 something dollars back to spend before Jan.1st. So I used it for Christmas Presents!

 

They are both cool, as are you, Jay.

 

You're so sweet, VK! But, shhh, or you'll make JT jealous!!!

 

I am always jealous.



I wish they had a happy face where the little face was flipping the bird.

 

This is the best I can do:

To get back on topic, I wish I had a job watching JT flipping the bird, because that would be a good thing!

 

You'd always be busy, JN.

Today, too many fires arose and I'm tired of JR's project. I hate it.

The good thing that happened today is a co-worker who was on leave resigned. I'm not saying it's good to resign but she really did not seem interested in our work and so did not always complete her assignments as she should. She is a good person but I guess our office was not a good fit.

 

I received a lot of compliments today for jumping in and helping my coworkers who were all on vacation!

 

I didn't have to work. Off all week! Yea! I love working for a school district!

 

Yeah! LAUSD does have some perks, too. We get 2 days off for Thankgiving & a whole "shut down" period at the end of the year. It's partial holidays & partial take your own vacation days but nobody can stop you from taking vacation that week. They even accommodate people who don't have vacation time & need the money by keeping some of the offices open for things like catching up on paper work & special projects.