Elk County Employees

[Tobina+1]

W. Gray; yes, on TV they estimated $125,000 for the city losing the inmates work, but they estimated about $400,000 for the El Dorado lake losing the inmates work.  And Diane, there isn't really any minimum security prison close enough to Elk County to send them to work here.  El Dorado is about a 55 minute drive one-way (that's pushing the speed limit).

Billy; I really do appreciate a flexible job schedule; in some cases that's worth getting paid less.  The roads really have improved over the last couple of years, even with all the heavy rains we've got.  It can't be an easy job to answer to so many "bosses", and I hope you know that not everyone who calls in to report issues is complaining.  And I've never called in so I don't know how callers are treated, but I would hope that it's with politeness and a "thank you" (even if they really are complaining).

[pepelect]

I wish I had company provided tools, company provided equipment, company paid insurance, health care, time off, sick leave, retirement, and flexible scheduling... 
The rest of the country is at 10% unemployment.

Since when does the road crew answer the phone?   That is what we have voicemail for.  People call and gripe if you grade the road or not.  The public is very short sighted...Attention span of a gnat(nat was an employee of mine with a really short attention span). 
What I want is a thirty year plan for the construction of roads that will be viable.

The road crews are the ones that maintain the roads and they know the roads the best.
There is only three for an entire district. They have every mile of every road memorized.  Hundreds of miles given to memory.  Every pothole named and baptised.

If the patron on the other end of the phone has a road problem it should be looked at but action should not be taken until you look at the big picture.   Squeaky wheel gets the grease is not who is paying your salaries, buying the rock, or fueling the equipment.  If it is feasible to schedule a fix then by all means drop everything saddle up and go fix it.  But if the crew knows the road they would already know it needs fix and would have it completed.

The single family that rents a house in town doesn't pay a tenth of the taxes as the one or two people that are trying to get to their feed route of 2-3 thousand acres of taxable land.   Look beyond every minimum maintenance sign and you will see sections of land that have little or no roads yet are taxed at the same rate as one next to a highway.  We don't  just prorate the paying of taxes at the county shop and stop at the county line.  Federal and state money is paid for dead end one owner roads that are not accessible most of the time.  Most of the crappier roads have been neglected for a long time.  It is not a new problem is a consistent problem.

I  called in a problem to the county 11 years ago because there was a pond built by a nice grader operator at the  highway end of the road causing a traffic problem by closing a blind corner to one lane every time it rained.   I asked that signs be built and put up to advertise the new lake.  They didn't get the joke.  Several different operators have tried to fix it several times but it is still there. I still pay taxes to drive though it every time it rains.  When the grass is up the blind corner is quite thrilling.  It keeps the car wash in shiny quarters.  It saves gas going to a water park  for the log ride. 

I have a question what is the purpose of the gravel on the bridges?  Does concrete wash out or need extra back dragging the next time the grader comes along to save hauling more from the quarry?  Doesn't the blade go up and down?  Then why is there either a hump or a nice hole next to the bridge? 

I am trying to think of a piece of equipment that we could buy  along with paying an operator for the county to use to fix the ditch to drain water downstream instead of down the road.   It can't be a grader because we have those, they can't be used to crown a road because we just don't do it that way.   It can't be a back hoe as we have those but the operators are busy hauling rock......How about an excavator,   no got one of those...         Tractor mounted bush hog.  Ya that works.  Just push it into the ditch and drag it along every once in a while pull up.   Until you have to have the entire thing rebuilt with expanded metal  to replace the cockpit bullet proof glass...... 

How about a pick and shovel?  Use the shovel to open up the grader swath at the bottom of each hill as a method of relieving pressure on the  water channel.   Use the pick to dig the hole for the sign that the bullet destroyed that caused you to get off your grader, park your back hoe, reverse your dump truck, and escape from your excavator to climb aboard your keyboard to rant about my bitching about your job progress.


Teresa I think the tender feeling county guys are anti-gun.....they don't like bullets.... or target shooting sports.


Show me the road you are most proud of, I will go sit in awe of it, and stop complaining about all the rest. 

I will be your biggest supporter. 

[Varmit]

Hey pepelect, seeing as how you have all the answers to fix the county roads, why don't you get a job with roadcrew?  I mean afterall, you seem to have it all figured out.

[Diane Amberg]

Hey Pep, that's "gnat"...Oh look, is that Elvis?  ( short attention span)

[pepelect]

I will continue to bitch about the price of health care but I refuse to sell insurance.


You don't want my help.  You can't even handle my causal third party observations.  Just think of all the crap I could come up with if you could educate me on the ins and outs of everyday activity.   I would have all day Friday to vent on the forum about how wonderful my job is.
 
If I am going to work on the road crew who is going grind the hamburger?  What federal stimulus grant program are you going to tap into so that you can afford me?  I don't work for cheetos.   Sacking groceries isn't a skill you can learn from a heavy equipment vendor. 

[Jo McDonald]

You Go, PEP.........What a grin maker you are --- you certainly add some humor, and make sense all at the same time. 

  Refreshing, that is what you are.  So~~you misspelled a word...who gives a flip?!   
Keep up the "happy posts"  Welllllll,  happy for me, anyway.

[Diane Amberg]

Maybe I'll slip back to Delaware and hide.

[greatguns]

Diane, don't even think about it.

[S-S]

PEP, they couldn't handle you on the road crew.

[kshillbillys]

Keep it up Varmint...Every time you or I have a "casual third party observation" we get OUR butts ripped and chewed so turn about's fair play around here...