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hipower

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Everything posted by hipower

  1. These secondary boxes are a joke. If you want to vote by mail or absentee use the USPS who has hundreds of thousands of boxes that have been adequate for as long as I can remember. I surprised some radical idiot hasn't set any of these boxes on fire or blown them up yet.
  2. Keep the faith Bon, we're all praying as hard as we can for all of you.
  3. Continued prayers Bon. Let Brandy and her hubby know we are with them in spirit. My granddaughter talks to me about them quite often. She worries about all of the challenges they and Faith have and are continuing to face.
  4. Quarter midget racing in our area began on a track that was to the left of the entrance gate at the drive-in theater on 322 south of town. That track was dirt surface. From there the racing moved to Falls Creek, across from the Eagles Club where the current Miller Brothers operation sits. That track was paved. When the FBC store was built on that property the racing moved to a track behind the old fairgrounds dirt track that was a little further back into the woods. I'm fairly certain that track was also paved. It may have been built on the site of a small dirt track that was used for go kart racing before the quarter midgets moved there. At that point I was more involved in racing stock cars and lost track of the smaller car activities, so my memories are not very pertinent from that point forward. This racing began at the Drive-In around the1958-1960 time frame and continued into the 1980's if my memories are completely correct, possibly even longer.
  5. You might also find some photos of when that track was cut down to 1/4 mile and used for auto racing. I believe the time frame for that was late '50's to mid '60's. That use was stopped, according to stories of the day, by complaints about dust and noise by the Maple Avenue Hospital. During that time frame there were still some people who trained and boarded their horses in the stables there. I believe the stables were under the grandstands, but old memories can't always be trusted. It may have been a separate building too.
  6. Thanks for the update Bon. I'm beyond words and wiping tears away. Keeping the FAITH.
  7. When we connect stories to the area of the Boy Scout Camp during that time frame (probably any time frame) I would take all of them with a big grain of salt. In my experience as a Scout during the late 50's and early 60's I recall many stories of things in the woods that would be designed to scare the unsuspecting campers. I'm pretty sure there were never mountain lion or bear attacks, etc. I would believe the tales told around the campfires at night were more designed to keep the curious campers from straying away into the night creating mischief as kids are inclined to do. Keeping things in context and understanding the time frame we have to believe that young people of that era and from our area were not big travelers. Most had not been more than 50 miles from their homes and had seen very little of the world outside their local area, An area that might be quite small, certainly by today's standards. I respect the feelings some people get that they attribute to spirits. I have felt things that I will say are similar when visiting places like the Vietnam Wall in DC, and the Murra building in Oklahoma City. When you get a knot the size of a football in your stomach and the hair on your arms and the back of your neck just tingles, it gets your attention. I can't say I've experienced anything remotely close to that anywhere else. It begs the eternal question, do spirits or ghosts exist? I don't know, but if they do I wish I knew how to communicate with a few. I would love to have conversations with my Dad, my Son and my Sister. There may be a lot to learn from them. If nothing else I may be able to know about the afterlife while there is still time to change my evil ways.
  8. Before McDonald's, the Mr. Donut building housed our first fast food enterprise, Winky's. Where the McDonald's building was an in ground trampoline business operated where folks could pay to jump up and down by the hour. The Hitching Post didn't exist until the Army Reserve center moved their headquarters over to their last site off of Maple Avenue. The face of DuBois has changed a lot over the years, yet much remains the same.
  9. Over the years the cruising loop got shortened a lot. In the early 60's we traveled Long Ave, Brady St/Boulevard/B-Line and back again. One end was at Bailey's with the other at the rear of the old train station on Franklin St, now the Cherry Law offices. Far fewer traffic lights to contend with in those days. I'm not sure there was a traffic light from one end of the Boulevard to the other. The drag races across there were interesting as well as those from Bailey's going either direction. The interstate was just being built so the traffic on 255 was much lighter in those days. Different times, maybe not all for the better. Apologies for the digression from the original topic and the trip down memory lane.
  10. I graduated in 1965 and have no memory of it being called anything but Mansell Stadium.
  11. I never heard of Pancoast being over toward Wayne Road. I lived in a house on the corner of the crossroad of Rt. 950 and Pancoast Road about 65-68 years ago that is no longer there, and recall Pancoast being along 950 only. I'll have to go back a lot further in history to see if there were any houses between 950 and Wayne Road since I don't recall any ever being there. There were a few the other direction, toward the Smithtown Road and some have been built in that area since. There are a number of houses that have been built on the back side of the old Fred Smith farm in the last 20 years or so that are accessed off of that road also.
  12. It would be hard to pay for entertainment like you found here.
  13. Makes me wonder if they aren't missing an opportunity to do a joint venture or even a stand alone landfill which accepts other materials on a for profit basis?
  14. Are they building landfills like yours and Greentree, or ones to handle just the fly ash?
  15. Unless a way is found to stir up the media or the workers find a way to keep this moving I fear the whole thing will fade into obscurity. That is extremely sad. From a media view, this isn't the hot headline of the day and we are in a very small market for them. We aren't dealing with the first string players. I'm not even sure those who report locally could be the "B" team. If a motivated reporter could get immersed in this and make it national news it could be a career making story. I don't see any indication of that happening currently. From the workers side they need to find a way to keep the media interested and investigating deeper and deeper. That may require someone, or several someones, to put their jobs at risk. Not an easy thing to do or expect someone else to do.
  16. Have you actually used these laws or are you just expressing your opinion? I have been on both sides of labor-management issues and negotiations and seen these laws used more than once. The results always favor the employee when the employee is acted against without additional proof of misconduct or some other allowable firing offense. In those cases where the company prevails they have proven other causes that would have resulted in firing under a union shop also. The only time these laws don't work for otherwise good employees is when they don't use them for their benefit.
  17. I understand and appreciate the concerns of the employees when they say they fear for their jobs and their livelihood. What LFG posted above should address those concerns just as much as a union does or can. Unfortunately the protection offered within those rules does not react as quickly as would a union presence on a job. It takes at least two sides to make improvements and the old adage frequently comes to mind, It's not what you say it's how you say it. Good working relationships are built over time and require solid communications from all involved. I've never seen a business succeed, long term where management didn't listen to worker concerns. That doesn't mean that the worker is always right, but management must allow workers a voice and at least respond where it is within reason. People's concern that the fine issued wasn't enough is valid on the surface and can't be discounted in the larger picture. What many seem to be overlooking is the significant possibility of much larger settlements still on the table for the family of Mr. Pierce. We may or may not know what those are based on the terms of any settlement. Using a little experience as a guide I believe the settlement will be quite significant and paid by an insurer if the company has one or from the corporate treasury if they are self insured. My hope is like LFG's, that this will result in improvements in landfill operations across the country, not just a bump in the road for the industry to move past and continue to do what has become somewhat of a standard practice.
  18. True, but even a waterfall started with a single drop of water. In most cases eliminating one or two people swings the pendulum the other way. I had a location where the work rules were costing significant dollars and during the negotiation of a new contract the union would not allow them to change. After months of negotiation we made the decision to shut down a multi-million dollar facility and move the work to another existing site 40 miles away. Same union, different local, and members who would work with management for the good of the business. The employees couldn't believe that their stubbornness could result in 30+ lost jobs, but it did. Every employee there was making in excess of $60K annually and had a benefit package that was well beyond the industry standard. Unions have good as well as bad, but they are not a cure all. Good, flexible employees and responsive management make a far better working environment than adversarial workplaces.
  19. Supports my point. Don't you think? Matt Gabler represents Elk County and I don't recall any statements from him either. If I'm wrong I apologize in advance for throwing Matt under the bus..
  20. I've been on all sides of this, union, non-union, hourly employee and management. I can assure you that if I wanted to get rid of a union employee there are ways to make that reality. You rarely hear of the failures of a union to protect employees, only their successes. There are plenty of good examples of both sides, but there is no absolute security blanket from paying union dues. In the case of the Greentree employees, I would suggest that should they want to push for change, they get their info assembled and their support lined up, then get this to the news media anonymously. I say that since I have seen no evidence thus far that the government agency(s) responsible for effecting change are doing their jobs. While everyone may be playing a waiting game there doesn't seem to be much activity from the political side either. That makes me nervous as to the agenda of our elected officials. That would start at the Fox Township supervisors and go through Elk County, Harrisburg and beyond.
  21. I've worked in both union and non-union businesses and in union and non-union positions within them, and have had safety committees in every one of them. I can't say a union environment today is universally better for employees with all of the laws and agencies involved and available to protect workers. What I do see is people who fear for their jobs find comfort in expecting union protection to keep their jobs. The other side of that is I see unions protecting employees who should not be working at the expense of better workers. It's a two way street and I personally was better served working in a non-union position, where others may not have been.
  22. Overall great job Steve. I am also experiencing the last post read bit on an intermittent basis. An item I miss is the numbering of the posts in the threads. I found it easier to refer to a post number at times, rather than quoting a previous post. Usually when I read completely through a thread and then went back to find something I wanted to reply/respond to. Would seem to be something that would save bandwidth especially when responding to posts that are rather long or include photos. Certainly not a big deal, but just one of the little things that come to mind.
  23. When the targets are small and quick along with old shooters like your hubby and me resort to "snakeshot", it covers up a lot of our slowly fading skills. '.
  24. That's the irony of life. Even though we get older and supposedly smarter the bull $hit is still the same.
  25. And a steer too. I wasn't completely oblivious. Although I was in heat a lot back then.
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