Lemons = Lemonade

There was a compelling story in yesterday’s Billings Gazette about the Stillwater Mining Company laying off employees. Particularly interesting to me was the story about the young man who moved from New York to Montana and spent one whole day on the job and was then laid off.

His situation brought back memories. Many years ago as a young man, I applied for a job with the Chicago and North Western Railroad (C&NW) in the Midwest. They were hiring people because the C&NW had purchased tracks from the bankrupt Rock Island Railroad.

After putting in my application, I was called and asked to show up at a hotel in Des Moines, Iowa. They gave about 300 of us a couple of tests. Those two tests cut the 300 down to about 40-50 applicants. Then we had a personal interview with one of the Human Resources people. After that, they said they would call me if they wanted me to take a physical.

A day later, I was called to take the physical exam the next week. I passed the physical and was cleared to start work.

The call came and they told me I would start “brakeman” school in two weeks. I was going to school to be a brakeman for the C&NW out of Des Moines, Iowa! The money was very good, so I was looking forward to a new life.

I gave my two weeks notice at my current job, and I prepared to move a few hundred miles to my new job. The day before I left, the railroad called and told me my class was delayed for a week. That was no problem. At the end of that week, they called me again and said school was delayed two more weeks. At the end of the two weeks, they called me again and said I was officially laid off.

I attempted to obtain unemployment benefits but because I had quit my last job voluntarily and never worked even one day for the C&NW, I was out of luck. I called the head of the Human Resources department for the C&NW and begged him to let me work there for one day, so I could at least draw unemployment. He said, “Sorry, I can’t do that.”

Hopefully the young man who was laid off from the Stillwater Mine on Monday will at least be able to obtain unemployment benefits.

As for me, the C&NW never called me to go to work. I guess after almost 25 years, I should give up on ever being a brakeman for the C&NW. After being laid off, I enlisted in the Air Force, which was by far a much better choice.

But every so often I hear a train in the middle of the night and think, “What if…”

Nice

We often hear about professional athletes getting into trouble. Today there’s a story roaming around the internet about a good deed done by Dallas Cowboy’s Quarterback, Tony Romo.

Romo recently took a homeless man to the movies. I know this is not as earth shattering as coming up with a cure for a disease or something like that, but it was just nice.

It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice in this world!

Good job Tony Romo!

58

That’s the number of Democrats in the U.S. Senate. That includes two independent Senators who caucus with the Democrats (Lieberman and Sanders).

Wow. This is historic. The Democrats gained seat number 58 last night when Democrat Mark Begich was declared the winner over long-time Republican Senator Ted Stevens. It was Stevens’ 85th birthday – a long and historic career ended by not disclosing items on the Senate's annual financial disclosure forms. The 40 Republican Senators left are probably breathing a sigh of relief that Stevens was not re-elected, so they would not have to deal with his convictions. Stevens plans to appeal, and from what I have read, he stands a chance of winning on some of the seven convictions. That is all he can get is his name cleared. But in the end, that’s all that really matters. Now his Republican colleagues can cast him away like a piece of trash and feel OK about it.

So now the question is can the Democrats get to the magic number of 60? Some political “experts” are saying it does not matter because some moderate Republicans could be counted on to vote with the Democrats on many issues. 60 votes are important in the United States Senate to move legislation, especially if it’s controversial. In the House of Representatives, the Democrats have 255 seats to 175 for the Republicans. Five seats are undecided, according to CNN.

Two races in the Senate are yet to be decided; Georgia will have a run-off election December 2 and Minnesota will have a recount.

In Georgia, I would look for record money to be spent in the next couple of weeks. In Minnesota, look for it to be called, “the land of 10,000 lawyers” as the political parties will be sending every lawyer they can get their hands on to Minnesota to “monitor” the recount.

Political races are coming down to the wire. There’s jockeying for positions in the Obama Administration. The holidays are fast approaching. Football season is winding down. I like this time of year. God bless America!

Violation

According to this story, it looks like the Commissioner of Political Practices has determined that Montana “Gov. Brian Schweitzer violated state law by distributing a public service announcement after filing for re-election last spring.”

It looks like the Commissioner will now try to decide about a fine or something.

I previously wrote about this issue in April 2008 and in August 2008.

Frankly, I really don’t care now. I still agree with this editorial.

Pardon

Political junkies may remember that on the TV show, The West Wing, President Josiah Bartlet gave Toby Zeigler a pardon. I believe it was the last official act by President Bartlet. I loved that show.

The final weeks of a President’s term are always some of the most interesting because of rumors flying around about Presidential pardons and commutations. Who will get one, who wants one, and what criminal act did they commit. Interesting stuff. Sometimes it is friends rewarding friends. Other times it rights a wrong.

The President can pardon or commute sentences at any time throughout their term (remember Scooter), but some of the juicer ones are done at the end because the President will be gone, and he won’t have to answer questions about it.

So, since we’re approaching the end of the President Bush’s term, if you are going to seek a pardon or commutation from him before he leaves office it’s time to get your ducks in a row. Time is wasting!

Of course, the information is available on the Internet! The best place to start is checking out the rules listed on the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s Website. The Application Forms are available on the website, too.

January 20 is fast approaching. Good luck!

Just Sports

Cat/Griz:

The annual Cat/Griz game is this Saturday. The state of Montana is divided leading up to the game. I watch both teams throughout the season and have no ties to either school.

In regards to Cat/Griz football, during the regular season, I wish the schedulers for both schools would schedule their games at different times so we neutral fans could watch both games on Saturdays. My hand gets a little sore running the remote! It would also be great to schedule the teams so that one team is playing at home and the other on the road as much as possible throughout the season. Oh well, at least they are on TV most of the time. Don’t forget to make your pick in my poll on the left side of the screen!

I like the Obama plan:

President elect Barack Obama wants a major college playoff system with eight teams. I agree with him, but I would like to see more teams selected for the playoffs and use the bowl games for the playoffs. Way back in January 2006, I listed my plan for college football playoffs. You can view it HERE.

NASCAR

The NASCAR season ended on Sunday with Jimmy Johnson winning his third consecutive title. Congratulations to Jimmy. Johnson is really a nice fellow.

I used to watch NASCAR a lot, but sometimes their “instant” rulings remind me of professional wrestling, like when the field is frozen as soon as the yellow flag comes out, except in the case of the Daytona 500 a couple years ago when Mark Martin was leading. That’s when my remote started jumping to other sports and flipping back to the race a few times during a commercial. Hey boys, you lost me.

Pro Football

The Brett Favre-led Jets are 7-3 and sitting at the top of the AFC East. The Green Bay Packers are 5-5 and tied for first in the NFC Central. Hmmm.

My Kansas City Chiefs (1-9) are fighting it out for the top pick in the NFL draft with the Detroit Lions (0-10), the Cincinnati Bengals (1-8-1), the St. Louis Rams (2-8), Seattle Seahawks (2-8), and the Oakland Raiders (2-8). The Chiefs play the Raiders and the Bengals during the last six weeks of the season. Get the popcorn ready.

Shout Outs

As a youngster, I attended many schools. One school, located in the small town of Princeton Missouri, has made the football playoffs many years. Last year, they made it to the semi-finals. This year they have again made it to the semi-finals. Congratulations to the Princeton Tigers! The playoffs for Class 1 in Missouri start with 32 teams. The first couple of week’s teams play on Wednesday and Saturdays. The championship for all six classes of schools playing 11 man football in Missouri are held the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving in St. Louis at the Edward Jones Dome (home of the NFL St. Louis Rams). They also hold the championship for eight-man that weekend, too.

Carroll College starts the path to their sixth National Championship in seven years this weekend when they host Dickenson State in Helena. Go Saints!