Friday, May 23, 2008

Where'd that damn horseshoe go?

My railroading luck ran out on Tuesday. It turns out that the crew-caller made a mistake and I should have been called to work as an "SSA" and not for the dome car, so I got demoted at the last minute and wound up waiting tables in the diner, for the first time since the spring of '05. This is by far the physically hardest job on the train, and I'm far from in top railroading shape. That, combined with my greenness as a waiter, made for a taxing trip, tho it went pretty well, all things considered, and I didn't screw up any orders, which amazes me. I haven't left the hotel room since getting in yesterday afternoon--too weary and worn. Fortunately, I'll be working in the dome--for sure!--on the return to Vancouver. Unfortunately, a few hours after I get back in, assuming the train's reasonably on time, I have to go back out again. I got my summer schedule two days ago, and my first run starts on Sunday; if I don't pick it up, then I'd have to stay on the spareboard until the next run starts on June 6. Given the unpredictability of spareboard work, doing back-to-back trips seems the lesser of two evils to me now.

In other news, looks like there will be a Jailbreaks launch in Toronto on June 4 at the IV Lounge. Colin Carberry is graciously organizing it for us, since I'm incommunicado much of the time. Stay tuned for details.

1 comment:

GM said...

That's the problem with tucking a horseshoe away like that... sometimes you lose track of it, like a pen in a cluttered purse. Bestto just hang it on a tree next time, like B did.