Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Slip sliding away...

Tuesday 10:10 am


Wednesday 10:10 am (And DPW workers make how much per hour?)

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Larry,

They get paid whether they do this job or not, so quit being a spoil sport.

Larry Kelley said...

Hmm...

And there's no other road maintenance or snow removal or leaf pick up (ooops, wrong season) they could be doing?

I still remember when Czar Awad lamented the time it took for the DPW to put up the flags in the downtown when they could be cleaning leaves out of sewer basins.

I actually tried to get a photo in the early morning last 9/11 of them putting up the flags (I live next to the DPW so I heard the truck backing out.)

But I made the mistake of running to the Hess Station in front of my Club for coffee; and by the time I got to town center they had already completed the task (in about a half-hour).

Anonymous said...

throughout my career i have witnessed every single state and local road crews/etc slacking off, chatting, having too many men for the job, and certainly never working very hard.

look at the crews who install the downtown walkways....slower than death...a private firm would actually get the job done in a timely fashion.

there is no oversight there. and i bet if someone actually busted his butt, the boss would tell him "slow down, your making us look bad." one day i saw an amherst crew parked at the 5 college credit union. one guy waited in the truck while the other did business(presumably private) in the bank. hell, that ain't even amherst, it is hadley.

i am sure this kind of abuse is commonplace. there is no fighting it. lazy is as lazy does.

that is how it is. i wish i had a cushy job where i barely had to work.

Anonymous said...

lazy slackers

fat slackers

Anonymous said...

getting paid to play pocket pool

Anonymous said...

Hard to patch roads in the snow.

Larry Kelley said...

Well, I spied a large DPW "Tree Division" truck hauling snow a few minutes ago in town center.

In the private sector, if you can't think of REAL things for employees to do you lay them off.

Something that happened to MILLIONS of workers over the past 5 or 6 months.

Anonymous said...

Or send them on the bosses personal shopping as in the transportation department.

Anonymous said...

"Well, I spied a large DPW "Tree Division" truck hauling snow a few minutes ago in town center"

This is a real thing to do. You can't just let the snow pile up in the center of town.

Larry Kelley said...

Yeah, that was my point: Tree Division guys/gals can (and should) do snow removal.

So water guys trying to create a rink to sooth the savage town mangler could also be doing snow removal.

Anonymous said...

"Or send them on the bosses personal shopping as in the transportation department."




HAHA, you know about that?!!?

Yeah, old Peter Crouse runs a nice little operation out of that office. No wonder he's such a slippery little bugger...


Oh well, I guess no one cares, especially Elaine Brighty who's knows all about it.

Right, Elaine?


Gibber

Anonymous said...

Why isn't the FIRE DEPARTMENT doing this?

Didn't the town mangler publicly say something about how the deputy FIRE chief is showing them how to do this, that it has almost become "a lost art" and all?

Well, it looks like it used to be the FIRE DEPARTMENT that did this, how else would a FIREMAN know how to do it?

And experience with hoses, particularly in a place like Amherst where it is mostly medical calls and fire extinguisher sized fires, is good training exercise.

Anonymous said...

Ed, they are to Damn busy to do that! The don't even have enough on duty to cover the ambulance without calling in off-duty force.

Anonymous said...

As I understand it, they have a long line of qualified students wanting to join the Engine 3 crew of unpaid volunteers.

Seems to me that the solution to short staffing would be to let a few more students join the force. You may incur a few costs for training and equipment but you aren't paying them a salary and it is a whole lot cheaper than overtime....

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, lets see. Unqualified Umass student or skilled PARAMEDIC?
No brainer.

Anonymous said...

1st of all, the DPW workers don't get paid much if it makes you feel any better, and they are really not the ones you should be pointing the finger at.
2nd of all, in response to Bach's comments "fat and lazy slackers"-this is incredibly juvenile and demeaning, couldn't you think of anything better? I would like to see how you would hold up working in their jobs.

Larry Kelley said...

I'm not pointing the finger at them (only the camera--and it's a public place) or their immediate boss.

Anonymous said...

Larrys right, its not the workers its the decision maker.
And Bachs comments were totally out of line. Rude.

angry guy said...

Dear Mr. Bach, After reading your comments on the lazy D.P.W workers i thought i'd comment on that. It seems as though you have a vast knowledge in the area you commented on. According to your profile you are a welder fabricator landscape contractor ect. Would it be correct in assuming that when one hires you to build one of your pieces that it goes for a pretty penny yes? Is it also safe to assume that you take your sweet ass time and probably charge some ungodly amount of money for that as well? So with all that being said you sit back on your prestigious throne and comment on people you have absolutley no business commenting on. Take the sidewalk crew of four,for instance they are arguably under paid grossly under appreciated doing a good job on a shoestring budget alotted in a cramped over crowded street. Yes a private contractor could do it faster but they would never do it for the amount that they are doing it for. Instead of being one of those educated idiots and being part of the problem why don't you become part of the solution and get your self a hobby and start directing some of your anger toward the people that deserve it. For what they get paid an hour isn't enough to put up with idiots like you. P.S. whatya got against fat people!!

Anonymous said...

ha ha, i didn't know there were lines to cross on larry's blog.

nice opening pic larry.
"hoser and hoseholder"

Larry Kelley said...

Actually there are: threatening my family.

And I'm not overly fond of the N-word or the C-word.

Anonymous said...

"Instead of being one of those educated idiots and being part of the problem why don't you become part of the solution and get your self a hobby and start directing some of your anger toward the people that deserve it....

Is it also safe to assume that you take your sweet ass time and probably charge some ungodly amount of money for that as well?"


angry guy, are you saying since they don't get paid much, they shouldn't work hard?

they chose their jobs, they should work hard. period. else they should go somewhere they are not chewing up tax dollars.

i have been part of the solution, by working hard and caring about my work in the private sector, with many completed projects done at reasonable rates. i have never taken my sweet ass time as you assume, and would appreciate some lines on ungodly rich clients so i could actually charge ungodly rates....i am tired of having good business ethics!

Anonymous said...

hey lk, with you on all 3 accounts.

Anonymous said...

i'm ok with the a-word,b-word,d-word,f-word,g-word,h-word,j-word,l-word,m-word,p-word,r-word, s-word,u-word,V-WORD, w-word,and z-word

i absolutely abhore the e-word, yet oddly enough i adore the t-word!

mother trucker said...

bach, darling come to me for we shall tango for we are one with stone but not asphalt or mack trucks

Anonymous said...

will tango only if you're a hot chick stoneworker, with nice t-words

mother trucker said...

i like guys with strong big bls , lets not be dreamig my sweet or not have any at all show your self