ROMPEX, The Rocky Mountain Stamp Show is Denver's big yearly stamp show. It was held May 18-20 at Holiday Inn at DIA.
I went on Saturday and didn't buy a thing. It saddens me, I would really like to get back into stamps, but everything seemed too expensive, too organized. I began selling off my stamps simply because I needed the money. I still have a bunch of stamps, and I will start big collecting again, but for now my spare time is spent in working overtime. If I could spend time selling stamps, that would be much more pleasurable, and maybe I could then add to my own collection as well.
Maybe after the death of Everett Maddock has passed further into history I will be able to get back into stamps on my own. I am building a page of old pictures of Everett.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Everett R. Maddock
Everett R. Maddock was my best friend. Everett died May 4 from Cancer effecting his esophagus. He had not smoked in many years. He was 1 month younger than me.
We collected stamps together. Stamp collecting has become an old man's pastime, and Everett always liked to encourage young people to collect. He encouraged everyone he knew to collect, he felt that sharing his hobby would enrich our lives. He was right. We had very different collecting interests, but in the end we collected the same things: just about everything.
When I first knew Everett, he was a Dispatcher at Yellow Cab. He knew every nook and cranny in Denver, he encouraged me to do the same, and since we first met in 1988 I have lived and experienced Denver from its lowest to its highest. He went on to work with computers, and I consulted him whenever I had problems. He had worked earlier in the Medical field, and I consulted him whenever I had health problems.
Everett was a mountain. He was very tall, very large, he was more ethical than anyone else I have ever known. I will always miss him.
We collected stamps together. Stamp collecting has become an old man's pastime, and Everett always liked to encourage young people to collect. He encouraged everyone he knew to collect, he felt that sharing his hobby would enrich our lives. He was right. We had very different collecting interests, but in the end we collected the same things: just about everything.
When I first knew Everett, he was a Dispatcher at Yellow Cab. He knew every nook and cranny in Denver, he encouraged me to do the same, and since we first met in 1988 I have lived and experienced Denver from its lowest to its highest. He went on to work with computers, and I consulted him whenever I had problems. He had worked earlier in the Medical field, and I consulted him whenever I had health problems.
Everett was a mountain. He was very tall, very large, he was more ethical than anyone else I have ever known. I will always miss him.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
It is true that ATU is trying to change the law.
We would like to make it so that the RTD Board of Directors can decide for themselves how many of our routes are given out to subcontractors and how many routes we run. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Unfortunately, there are knee-jerk Republicans out there who are horrified at the thought of a Union actually doing something that would help the public.
I have written about the subcontractors before (see my old blog), and the truth is that a subcontracted route saves money only because the drivers are paid about 1/3 less than a unionised driver, and they receive no benefits like health insurance. On the other hand, their company makes a profit, which RTD does not, and their managers are probably paid more. Any actual savings that RTD makes depends on your accounting and who you talk to.
We have said for years that if the subcontractors and the divisions of RTD were on an equal footing, we could compete very well. If they really want to privatize us, why not convert the entire RTD fleet to private business. They could even sell off the divisions, that would leave the Dispatching and Customer Service and actual administration of RTD in the hands of the Board of Directors.
I do not know if it would be necessary to require all the subcontractors to pay decent wages and give health benefits. That is being done for many subcontracted entities in Denver, including the "prevailing wage" clause that Denver has always required of its subcontractors, and RTD has applied this to some of its subcontractors as well. Most of the subcontractors cannot come even close to hiring enough drivers, and any mechanics they hire soon leave for better jobs. This is the main reason they have always done so poorly in serving the public. They have more complaints, more lates, more missed runs.
We would like to make it so that the RTD Board of Directors can decide for themselves how many of our routes are given out to subcontractors and how many routes we run. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Unfortunately, there are knee-jerk Republicans out there who are horrified at the thought of a Union actually doing something that would help the public.
I have written about the subcontractors before (see my old blog), and the truth is that a subcontracted route saves money only because the drivers are paid about 1/3 less than a unionised driver, and they receive no benefits like health insurance. On the other hand, their company makes a profit, which RTD does not, and their managers are probably paid more. Any actual savings that RTD makes depends on your accounting and who you talk to.
We have said for years that if the subcontractors and the divisions of RTD were on an equal footing, we could compete very well. If they really want to privatize us, why not convert the entire RTD fleet to private business. They could even sell off the divisions, that would leave the Dispatching and Customer Service and actual administration of RTD in the hands of the Board of Directors.
I do not know if it would be necessary to require all the subcontractors to pay decent wages and give health benefits. That is being done for many subcontracted entities in Denver, including the "prevailing wage" clause that Denver has always required of its subcontractors, and RTD has applied this to some of its subcontractors as well. Most of the subcontractors cannot come even close to hiring enough drivers, and any mechanics they hire soon leave for better jobs. This is the main reason they have always done so poorly in serving the public. They have more complaints, more lates, more missed runs.
Info Ride BusMonday, April 16, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Who is Simon Bolivar?
I was talking to a fellow the other day who said he was Simon Bolivar. Okay, maybe he wasn't, but I was shocked at how many people had never heard of him, or just vaguely had heard his name. This guy was the biggest National Hero in Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, much of South America. Bolivia was named after him. He was the South American George Washington. And how about Joachin Murieta in Mexico? These guys should be known to everybody if we really have a global society. Maybe we are still more isolated than we ever realized.
I was talking to a fellow the other day who said he was Simon Bolivar. Okay, maybe he wasn't, but I was shocked at how many people had never heard of him, or just vaguely had heard his name. This guy was the biggest National Hero in Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, much of South America. Bolivia was named after him. He was the South American George Washington. And how about Joachin Murieta in Mexico? These guys should be known to everybody if we really have a global society. Maybe we are still more isolated than we ever realized.
Monday, April 9, 2007
HANDICAPPED PARKING FINE IS $100.00
Yes, they got me! I did not know that you have to have an actual VAN when the sign says "Vans Only" (even if it is very tiny). If it says "Van Accessable" then you can park there with your handicapped sign. You can't park on the striped area no matter what or who you are. So what do you do if there are no parking spaces (look at the Broncos Stadium)? You drive around and around until you run out of gas. Any violation is one hundred dollars. You have to park and walk a long ways to go to the Parking Ticket Judge.
Yes, they got me! I did not know that you have to have an actual VAN when the sign says "Vans Only" (even if it is very tiny). If it says "Van Accessable" then you can park there with your handicapped sign. You can't park on the striped area no matter what or who you are. So what do you do if there are no parking spaces (look at the Broncos Stadium)? You drive around and around until you run out of gas. Any violation is one hundred dollars. You have to park and walk a long ways to go to the Parking Ticket Judge.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
HANDICAPPED PARKING IRRITATES SOME PEOPLE.
I don't like parking in the handicapped spaces because it makes me feel... well... handicapped. I have a charcot foot, which is the result of Diabetic Neuropathy. I have been very lucky that it has healed very well, but that is because I baby the foot. I do not wear a special boot, but I have to wear expensive shoes that accomodate my deformed right foot. The charcot foot came about because I broke my foot, and because I had no feeling in the foot, I broke it over and over again. Blood rushes to the foot, it heals very rapidly, but it breaks again. You walk on a tiny rock, your foot twists, and because you don't compensate for the twisting like normal people do, your foot will break again. X-Rays showed that the bones in the middle part of the foot where chipped, shattered and collapsed. By then, yes, I did have pain, but not nearly as much pain as the "phantom" shooting pains that I'd had when the neuropathy began years before. The arch of the foot is gone, it looks like I have two left feet.
At the same time, I need to walk on my feet fairly often to keep the blood circulating. I can walk a couple hundred feet, and in fact walking is easier than standing on the bad foot. Climbing stairs or even a step is fairly difficult. The main potential for trouble other than breaking the foot again is that I can develop ulcers on the foot if too much pressure is put on it in any one place. I drive with my left foot, I can no longer drive with a clutch.
And so, I try to park in a normal parking space, as long as it isn't too far from the door. Of course, bad weather, when I can't see what I'm walking on, means I need a handicapped space. If you see me walking from my car and you cannot tell that I am handicapped, then thank you! That is what I have tried to achieve. It just looks like a slight limp, and the foot goes off at a slight angle. But, yes, I really do appreciate a handicapped space at times.
I don't like parking in the handicapped spaces because it makes me feel... well... handicapped. I have a charcot foot, which is the result of Diabetic Neuropathy. I have been very lucky that it has healed very well, but that is because I baby the foot. I do not wear a special boot, but I have to wear expensive shoes that accomodate my deformed right foot. The charcot foot came about because I broke my foot, and because I had no feeling in the foot, I broke it over and over again. Blood rushes to the foot, it heals very rapidly, but it breaks again. You walk on a tiny rock, your foot twists, and because you don't compensate for the twisting like normal people do, your foot will break again. X-Rays showed that the bones in the middle part of the foot where chipped, shattered and collapsed. By then, yes, I did have pain, but not nearly as much pain as the "phantom" shooting pains that I'd had when the neuropathy began years before. The arch of the foot is gone, it looks like I have two left feet.
At the same time, I need to walk on my feet fairly often to keep the blood circulating. I can walk a couple hundred feet, and in fact walking is easier than standing on the bad foot. Climbing stairs or even a step is fairly difficult. The main potential for trouble other than breaking the foot again is that I can develop ulcers on the foot if too much pressure is put on it in any one place. I drive with my left foot, I can no longer drive with a clutch.
And so, I try to park in a normal parking space, as long as it isn't too far from the door. Of course, bad weather, when I can't see what I'm walking on, means I need a handicapped space. If you see me walking from my car and you cannot tell that I am handicapped, then thank you! That is what I have tried to achieve. It just looks like a slight limp, and the foot goes off at a slight angle. But, yes, I really do appreciate a handicapped space at times.
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