With all the rain we’ve been having…
September 9, 2004, 2:06 AM
I’m going to Washington DC today, and it’s probably going to be a soggy day, based on the looks of things.
Doesn’t bother me. Means I’ll get to see a lot of Mode 2 operation (Mode 2 is manual with speed protection).
Mom was concerned about all the rain. So I cited that strange dream I had back in February (according to this journal, February 19, entitled “Your assignment: Figure out where this dream came from”). It’s the one where I went Metro kayaking. I still think that’s one darn strange dream, and if I recall, at the time the people on SubTalk thought it was off-the-wall, too. And in that dream, if I recall, paddling a Breda down the water was for the less-experienced while rafting with a Rohr was the more challenging.
What’s odd, though, is how much that matches the actual trains. According to a few train operators I’ve spoken with, the Rohrs have some really weird quirks that make them more challenging to operate. Bredas are much less quirky.
Ah, well.
Meanwhile, I’m just amazed about how much progress I’ve made on the Web site recently. Realize I got the whole section on Charlottesville set up and opened in my Transit Center site in about three hours. That’s amazing considering that we set up the database, prepped the images, linked everything to the Web site, and wrote all the introductions and did some research on the bus types and such in that short of time. Usually I do these things in a few sessions. This one took three hours. But now I have a new bus section beyond Washington and Harrisonburg. And Hampton Roads is coming soon. From my vacation in August.
Meanwhile, I need to clean. This place is a mess. Things all over the place, things disheveled, things piled up, things just kind of everywhere. I think a run-in with a dumpster would make things a whole lot easier around here. Seriously. Since I think I could probably trash half the stuff in here and not miss it. Especially the closet, which I’ve not gone near for ages. The word “junk” comes to mind.
Speaking of “junk”, that’s one word that’s a no-no at work, since we don’t sell junk. Reminds me of when I was in Staunton, and a coworker said, “So you want us to clean up the junk around the registers?” and they were corrected with, “It’s not junk, it’s merchandise.” That’s why I love the Service Desk. Because I can be a little loose on the “J” word. JUNK. Because half the stuff I get up there is junk. Broken this. Missing this. Spoiled that. That makes it capital J-U-N-K.
Speaking of stuff no one needs around here, you remember my old plum-colored office chair? The one with the wooden arms and legs? I’ve probably seen it for the last time. Since after I didn’t need it and the parents took it over, and then after they gave it up this week, they gave it to Roxie Megginson, one of the teachers on her team at the middle school. Since I think Roxie’s using it at home. Of course, if I see it at the middle school, then great. It will be like seeing an old friend. Of course, that’s like seeing most of the people at the middle school. And while we were pushing the chair down the walk to the garage, I don’t remember how Mom prompted it, but I sang the “Rollback” song from the year Wal-Mart did a cowboy-themed thing with the happy face. I’m like, “Rollin, rollin, rollin… rollin, rollin, rollin… ROLLBACK!” My mother said, “You’re such a company guy!”
I think that goes less with where I work than the fact that with me, songs go in, but they don’t come out. I can pull the strangest songs out from TV and such. In a slow moment at work yesterday, when no customers were up and we were organizing our mess, we somehow got started singing “Where oh where has my little dog gone”. I took it to my usual wackiness, singing it with a high kiddie-sounding voice (actually imitating a voice on TV). The voice came from the ViewMaster “Kidsongs” series from the 1980s (everything from the 80s), where we have a copy of “Cars, Boats, Trains, and Planes” (transit!). Everyone got a kick out of it when I started singing one of the verses that was made up for that show, and didn’t quite know all the words:
I last saw him by the bulldozer,
Playing and running around,
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blaaaaaah, blah blah,
I wonder, what could it be?
I was amused, too, so there you go. That whole Kidsongs video was interesting anyway, obviously done on a budget. You can tell that the on-screen actors were obviously not singing the songs, and just mouthing along. This is most painfully obvious when you notice that the guy running the merry-go-round, the construction worker, and “Uncle George” amazingly all had the same singing voice. And in Uncle George’s case, where he had lines outside the songs and we heard his actual voice, we find out that the singing voice doesn’t even sound anything like him. Not a problem, though, since it’s a classic and we like it anyway. Though its flaws are still really amusing.
So that’s that.
Anyway, I’m getting ready to go to Washington now. If you’ll be in DC today, look for me on a Breda near you.
Song: Where oh where has my little dog gone, of course. Sung like Kidsongs.
Quote: "I've never heard that verse before!" - Coworker on that bulldozer verse I don't know all the words to.
Categories: Television, Walmart, WMATA