Say What?

I got a phone call at 8:45 this morning to inform me that my medical certificate was being pulled pending a review of my condition. I was expecting that to happen but maybe not so quickly. It's a bit odd going back into the control room and having to explain to those I work with that I can't plug in and work traffic with them. Everyone is very respectful of my privacy but I know they're curious as to why I've lost my medical. I've gone into some detail with a few and expect the word will filter down to the rest. I came into work tonight on the mid-shift. There isn't much for me to do so I put up some new nav charts which go into effect tonight. I had to laugh...as I'm putting up the charts, John is coughing so bad he can barely get his composure to give clearances to the planes on freq. And I'm the one who isn't fit to work traffic? I came home from work and finished putting up Christmas lights outside. They look nice. As I was working on them la...

I had my meeting yesterday afternoon and it went about how I thought it might. Garry couldn't say much but did say that decisions would be made outside of our facility and it is most likely out of his hands. No doubt he will have some input but just how much I have no way of knowing. He did mention that I will most likely lose my medical and will be assigned other duties until I get it back. I'm relieved but I'm still concerned about my future. The tension between management and workers is at an all-time high for the nearly 23 years I've been doing my job.

Tomorrow is an important day for me and my family. It's the day I disclose at work my headache condition and leave myself totally exposed for whatever repercussions management may have for me. I'd first mentioned the headaches on my physical in the mid-'80s. They asked for specifics and I told them whatever I felt would help them to understand the headaches and how I coped with them. There wasn't any medication then that I was aware of (none of my doctors thought to prescribe prednisone for me). It's probably more the use of medication the past several cycles and my failure to disclose that than the failure to mention the headaches on subsequent physicals which will cause me problems. I met with my union president this afternoon and we discussed a bit about how we'll approach Garry with this news tomorrow. Garry is the number 2 man at our facility and we've known each other for nearly 20 years. I'm somewhat confident Garry will go to bat for me but I...

I'm afraid yesterday may have been our last warm day of the year. The temp got up into the upper 60s. I started doing some yard work and then I figured that was pretty stupid with my bike begging me to ride. I had a good ride. The wind was pretty stiff out of the west so I headed out 169 south toward Shakopee. I crossed the Minnesota River a couple miles north of where I usually do on the bike path in Bloomington. I picked up Old Shakopee Rd and followed that to where it turns into Homeward Hills Rd. There's a nice hill which was registering 7-8% and had my heart rate pegged for a time. There was a car behind me not wanting to pass and I was trying to keep the speed up. It felt so good to be working so hard and feeling fine. The feeling you get when your heart is beating so hard must be an addictive thing. I have to have it and I get anxious if I haven't experienced it in a while. That's usually not a problem for me. I picked up Flying Cloud Dr and followed that past th...

I got on the road this morning at 8:30 and headed into Minneapolis to stop at a lighting store which I didn't know if it even existed anymore. I came up Lyndale and turned right on Lake Street but didn't find it. I circled back and headed west toward the other side of Lyndale. Sure enough, there it was just before Colfax—Moen Electric, just as I remembered it the last time I was there about 8 years ago. I needed to buy a canopy and some fixture parts for the lamp we're making which will go above the pool table in our basement. I got there at 9:00 but they didn't open till 10:00 so I took a drive and headed toward where Noy and I used to live together 22 years ago. It was a little sad to see the house again as it hasn't been kept up well. The wood trim needs paint and it looked like the front porch was sagging and in need of maintenance. I got out and stood at the fence looking into the back yard and shot a photo looking toward the back of the house and the garag...

Tammy got us four tickets to see President Bush last Saturday at the Target Center. We began our day early as we headed out at 9:00am...trust me, that's early on a Saturday for us. We caught the light rail at the VA center and took it into Minneapolis where it dropped us off within a block of the Target Center. The train tickets were reasonable at $3 each for a round trip. I'm not sure I like the way it works though; it's on the honor system and there is absolutely nobody to check and see if you paid. By December the light rail will run all the way to the Mall of America and what's to stop anyone from jumping on the train and not paying. Maybe this would have worked 30 years ago in a different town but not today the way it's set up. We got to the Target Center around 10:00am. Large crowds don't do much for me but I was enthused to see such a large turnout so early in the morning. The lines were over 3 blocks long outside. Theresa (Tammy's sister) noticed ...