We're Going Down...Not just me Brother, YOU!

[slowp]

Well, since I am they. I go to work in the morning with plan A. I see if the phone is lit up, what with the market so bad, it usually isn't. Then I check the e-mail and delete a lot of junk. Sometimes I don't check the e-mail cuz I want to stay in a good mood. Then I find out that I need to do Plan B so I have to wait, and wait, for the Plan B co-worker to show up. But, if I can escape, I climb into my was brand new pickup that the FS gets a bulk price for so it might look like $50,000 but actually cost $18,000. I escape to the woods and I drive and follow the snow line. I cut out the blowdown. I don't change toilet paper, it looks kind of gross anyway cuz it's been rolling around on the pickup floor for a while.

A woodcutter pulls up, and begins to tell me exactly how screwed up the government is and how he could fix it all, and by the way, can I mark that off the road 300 feet old growth DF that is located in LSR (owl) territory? He really needs the wood, he's retired and on a fixed income. I've seen him hauling load after load to his house, and he isn't starving and should have his limit of wood. His pickup probably did cost $50,000. (see, I make assumptions too.) I get to control my emotions and calmly explain the rules of woodcutting, which he darn well knows already. Then he will reply with more of the same criticism. I will point out that the large hemlock blocking the road is legal to cut and much easier than rasselling the DF chunks down/up the hill, but he doesn't want hemlock or anything smaller than 48" diameter. So he drives off and I proceed to clear the road.

The day continues. When I'm too tired to safely run the saw, I might go see how much repair is going to be needed on another road--it might get hauled on this year, might not. I have to figure out whether to get the engineers involved--that makes for more complications. I avoid the office, bad things happen there. If it is a drier day, I'll wander through the Fell and Buck that got left in a hurry when the market collapsed and has just shown up out of the snow. I'll notice things to bring to the attention of the loggers, like longbutting for a pitch ring a couple inches in diameter, or note those 5 gallon buckets of some kind of petroleum product left behind along with some used filters. When I come back in and the phone is lit up, I shudder.

Right now, I'm doing plan B. Laying out timber sale units. And although I'd like to wander about with a full coffee cup in one hand, phone in the other, post holing through the snow makes that a little bit treacherous. Yup, I'm happily skipping and hopping through the snow, which ranges from bareness to waist deep, thinking of more conspiracies to foist on the unsuspecting public.

They don't let us carry guns so I can't disarm everybody, and I'm near sighted and getting hard of hearing and so I can't spy and eavesdrop. So, my plans for controlling the world must be put on hold. Sorry about that.....

 

[bullbuck]

Well, since I am they. I go to work in the morning with plan A. I see if the phone is lit up, what with the market so bad, it usually isn't. Then I check the e-mail and delete a lot of junk. Sometimes I don't check the e-mail cuz I want to stay in a good mood. Then I find out that I need to do Plan B so I have to wait, and wait, for the Plan B co-worker to show up. But, if I can escape, I climb into my was brand new pickup that the FS gets a bulk price for so it might look like $50,000 but actually cost $18,000. I escape to the woods and I drive and follow the snow line. I cut out the blowdown. I don't change toilet paper, it looks kind of gross anyway cuz it's been rolling around on the pickup floor for a while.

A woodcutter pulls up, and begins to tell me exactly how screwed up the government is and how he could fix it all, and by the way, can I mark that off the road 300 feet old growth DF that is located in LSR (owl) territory? He really needs the wood, he's retired and on a fixed income. I've seen him hauling load after load to his house, and he isn't starving and should have his limit of wood. His pickup probably did cost $50,000. (see, I make assumptions too.) I get to control my emotions and calmly explain the rules of woodcutting, which he darn well knows already. Then he will reply with more of the same criticism. I will point out that the large hemlock blocking the road is legal to cut and much easier than rasselling the DF chunks down/up the hill, but he doesn't want hemlock or anything smaller than 48" diameter. So he drives off and I proceed to clear the road.

The day continues. When I'm too tired to safely run the saw, I might go see how much repair is going to be needed on another road--it might get hauled on this year, might not. I have to figure out whether to get the engineers involved--that makes for more complications. I avoid the office, bad things happen there. If it is a drier day, I'll wander through the Fell and Buck that got left in a hurry when the market collapsed and has just shown up out of the snow. I'll notice things to bring to the attention of the loggers, like longbutting for a pitch ring a couple inches in diameter, or note those 5 gallon buckets of some kind of petroleum product left behind along with some used filters. When I come back in and the phone is lit up, I shudder.

Right now, I'm doing plan B. Laying out timber sale units. And although I'd like to wander about with a full coffee cup in one hand, phone in the other, post holing through the snow makes that a little bit treacherous. Yup, I'm happily skipping and hopping through the snow, which ranges from bareness to waist deep, thinking of more conspiracies to foist on the unsuspecting public.

They don't let us carry guns so I can't disarm everybody, and I'm near sighted and getting hard of hearing and so I can't spy and eavesdrop. So, my plans for controlling the world must be put on hold. Sorry about that.....

well hey i did not mean to offend you sound like a government worker that makes it a point to fill out their day!kudos well that is great that the trucks that you guys buy are only 18,000 but who gets to eat the other 12,000 or so?does thatfall on detroit?oh well they are getting bailed out anyways?i have nothing against forest service workers it is the policies that they have allowed to be implemented when i like at our timbersale maps there is an overlay of either butterfly salamander or soon to be who knows what will be listed next leaving us the loggers a minimal window to get the wood moved,so your nightmare is passed on to us as well,unfortunately i do know a bit about the way the government operates we take our dozers on initial attack ff and in the first 48 we can really put in some line and see results but as soon as that window of oppurtunity ceases its time to either ping pong that biscuit back to life or milk that smoke for all its worth!it is not just me that is disgusted i have had this discussion with every one of my dozer bosses and they all agree if it seems logical or efficient dont you dare do it!but i am also guilty of milking the government they just pay too good!did not mean to offend. just another working class whore!

 

[Ske-bum]

Hey, I'm no expert on the economy for sure - One thing I see & think though is 'the economy' as we knew it was running on some false ideals. There were how many thousands of houses being built and sold to people that 20 years ago would not & could not qualify for a mortgage. Now these houses sit empty, reposesed by a bank or lending company because people were extended credit they could not afford. .

This is exactly right. The ecomony was drunk on cheap credit and greed. Point fingers wherever you want there is plenty of blame to go around. The U.S. is now de-coupling from this boom of credit and it is a long and painful ordeal.

Now will the ecomony come back, yes. It dropped so far so fast that it will come back to a more normal level as evidenced by the stock market coming back over the last two months. Will it come back to '06 &'07 levels; No, that was artifically high. Will it come back fast enough to help the mills right now, sadly, probably not.

Housing inventories are dropping and people are starting to spend money again, slowly. If you have GOOD credit there are deals out there, the key word being GOOD credit. People will start to build again, there will be demand for wood again, it just takes time, which a lot of people don't have.

 

[Matildasmate]

Well, I'm no fan of Bush. But if Obama keeps it up at the rate he's going, he will far exceed Bush at screw ups. But that's ok, our grandkids can pay for it.

Andy

Yeah I agree , we have the same crap going on here , with stimulus packages and bailouts . Obama is probably just as slimey as bush , but this sends a good message to the black people of America and the rest of the world , which will only be good for your country . We also are starting to have major problems over here with employment , sawmills , forests , car makers etc , all cutting shifts and laying off workers . I remember about 15-20 years ago when they really started all this bull about the global economy and competeing with the rest of the world and the speil about a closed economies , meaning to trade in your own country only would be a closed economy , well I reckon all it ever was about was lowering our wages , does anyone think we can compete with child labor or the poorest of poor and as for this closed economy bull , at the end of the day isnt earth a closed economy , do we compete with the martians next:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:Cheers MM

 

[slowp]

well hey i did not mean to offend you sound like a government worker that makes it a point to fill out their day!kudos well that is great that the trucks that you guys buy are only 18,000 but who gets to eat the other 12,000 or so?does thatfall on detroit?oh well they are getting bailed out anyways?i have nothing against forest service workers it is the policies that they have allowed to be implemented when i like at our timbersale maps there is an overlay of either butterfly salamander or soon to be who knows what will be listed next leaving us the loggers a minimal window to get the wood moved,so your nightmare is passed on to us as well,unfortunately i do know a bit about the way the government operates we take our dozers on initial attack ff and in the first 48 we can really put in some line and see results but as soon as that window of oppurtunity ceases its time to either ping pong that biscuit back to life or milk that smoke for all its worth!it is not just me that is disgusted i have had this discussion with every one of my dozer bosses and they all agree if it seems logical or efficient dont you dare do it!but i am also guilty of milking the government they just pay too good!did not mean to offend. just another working class whore!

Fires are where anything goes. I used to go on them and get mad. I don't anymore and I think things are worse now. I hear there is now laundry service and airconditioned trailers. So much for the whole crew sleeping under a thrown together tarp contraption and jokes about turning underwear inside out....nah, we had washboards and tubs for laundry in camp then. The dark ages.

 

[bullbuck]

Fires are where anything goes. I used to go on them and get mad. I don't anymore and I think things are worse now. I hear there is now laundry service and airconditioned trailers. So much for the whole crew sleeping under a thrown together tarp contraption and jokes about turning underwear inside out....nah, we had washboards and tubs for laundry in camp then. The dark ages.

thats funny about the underwear!sounds like you where fighting fire when you either went direct or ran for your life!real firefighting!yeah things have definately changed since those days,we have a standing joke we came up with and unfortunatelyis almost the truth,it is that the reason why they cannot fight the fire is because the t-shirts have not arrived yet!funny but i started looking around at camp and the t's really are for sale sometimes the first day!i have only been on a handful of fires on dozer but i have an interesting story we had been called to the capitans i think 3 years ago?cant remember anyways dropped my machine at d.p.1 at the mouth of capitan gap to await instruction about 5 in the evening(by the way im sure you know but this is the range where they found smoky the bear)...so anyways head back to camp to check out the t-shirts and we are starting to hear rumor tha they are going to'backfire'capitan gap next thing i know as i hold my plate of poached quail or whatever the fantastic meal was?the skies grow red and i mean camp is probably 8 miles as the crow flies from any smoke,needless to say very impressive sight!so i will get to the point!being as this was the only fire going in the nation at the time we had every resource in the lower 48 there,but somehow the fire only stopped when it reached the desert floor!go figure?i did not dare wear f.s.colors in the town of capitan,by the waythey smoked the gap including the tree that smokey the bear was found in!frickin classic!