That’s a great idea, Fife. How do you do that? Start with an address?
Good Morning All:
We did not get the amount of snow that Doug saw up north. Still, everyone around here is ready for spring.
I hope everyone has a good weekend and a good Easter.
Regards,
John
cnw1995 - Rarely do I have an address. I usually start with a town that my track runs through (say, Meyersdale,PA). From there, I can “fly” south to Keystone Viaduct, then onto Cumberland, MD. Then I can “fly” north past Salisbury Junction and onto Pittsburgh,PA. If you can’t find tracks, check river banks, as railroads tend to follow these routes. It’s a beautiful tool to have when planning a layout…
Well good morning from Vermont. Got a nice $151 souvenier from Vermont this morning. Not the kind you really want. Let’s just say the state is a little wealthier this A.M.
Looks like my Legacy diesels are not shipped yet. If they are not in by Monday I’m canceling and going to find 'em somewhere else. I was told they’d be in that’s why I ordered them from where I did. Call FED EX and get 'em in.
Hope Kooljocks taxes go down a little now.[B)]
**fifedog and Doug…**You may want to take a look at MSN maps instead of Google Earth. The resolution is much better for many rural areas of the country and the birds eye view feature is very clear.
Feel much better today. All cleaned out.
Working on bridge piers and abutments using a paint from RustOleum named “stone”. Looks decent so far. A black wash should bring out the joints in the stone. I built the piers/abutment about an inch higher than required and then will use the miter saw to set the correct height.
Buckeye - thanks for the heads-up on the MSN site. I’m going to be using KRYLON SUEDE and TEXTURED ELEGANCE on some of my new tunnel portals, viaducts, and retaining walls.
Ouch!!! You must have been really moving. [;)]
Regards,
John
I would have described this forum as having “textured elegance.” [:D]
Regards,
John
No points on my PA license so thats OK. And if I got it in PA it would probably be twice as much. Could have been worse.
GOOD MORNING
That figures, just when I was going to say something nice about the Chief,he played the snow card. Not as bad as some we got about 3 inchs. Maybe less as I can see the cracks in the sidewalk. Bright sun this morning, middle 30s today. house still smells from the caulk. Wife fried bacon this morning to see if that helps. wouldn’t give me any just fried it.Kidding. Have a great day where ever you are,S.J.
Tough luck, Marty! It’s getting sunny and warm (40s) here too - melting everything already. After shoveling, I took my youngest to our town’s biggest sledding hill - no one was there - I couldn’t believe it. Maybe because it was 930 on a Sat. morning. What fun! Great to see it through the eyes of a five-year old. Now I have to rest. LOL.
John, glad you’re up and about. Hope your back is better this AM. Thought of you whilst pushing snow.
There is a reason that the KSAs (knowledge, skills and abilities) listed in Federal job vacancy announcements are written to cover a very broad spectrum. Such job descriptions serve a dual purpose for the managers. In addition to listing some of the actual skills needed for a particular job, they intentionally list a broad menu of desirable skills, in order to afford the selecting official the greatest amount of flexibility when choosing a candidate.
Many years ago, written civil service exams were required for most federal jobs, and these tests provided a numerical score with which to rank all the applicants. Consequently, selecting officials were under great pressure to choose candidates with the highest scores, or spend a lot of time and effort justifying why they choose someone farther down on the list of eligibles. However, there were complaints that placing such a heavy reliance on written exams penalized certain segments of the population, and eventually, the use of written civil service exams was eliminated for most jobs.
The current system gives selecting officials much greater latitude to pick almost any of the available applicants, by subjectively emphasizing one or more of the many KSAs listed in the official job description, in order to justify their selection.
Hello Doug:
Thanks. Fortunately, all we received was a dusting. It has turned into a beautiful day here, with the snow melting. We may see spring yet. [:)]
Regards,
John
Good afternoon, coffee potters.
Yeah, what EDW said. Actually, I have been on panels evaluating KSA’s many times. There is a simple trick to maxing out your scores in all areas, since many times there are members of the panel who don’t know the job for which you are applying. If it asks you to describe your ability to communicate in writing with people from diverse backgrounds and levels of understanding (this is paraphrased from an actual requirement for an old job o’ mine), then you repeat the “question” in your “answer”, but preface it thusly: “I have the ability to”… So, I have the ability to communicate in writing with people from diverse backgrounds and levels of understanding… THEN, give some examples.
Say something like “My former supervisor relied on my ability often, as a [position description], giving me the complex cases, because he knew that I would fully inform the claimant of the reasons for our decision including the evidence we considered; explanations of the actual laws, regulations and rules that we applied in reaching our decision; and, a rationale explaining how those same laws, regulations and rules combined with the significant facts or evidence to result in our decision; etc…” Point out that you did so in a manner that guaranteed that the claimant would understand our decision and that this communication would include all relevant information, so that it would stand on “four legs” or “on it’s own” without a need for further information. You would be amazed at how many applicants never answer the first and most basic question – can they do it? As you can imagine, this cuts down on their points.
No snow in STL. Just water! How high’s the water, Mamma? She said 40 feet and rising! LOL
With all the rain that south Florida is getting reminds me of the flooding in the midwest areas. I will only worry if Lake Okeechobee bursts a dyke, as it is about 35 miles wide and up to 17 feet deep, in plain English lots of water!!
Try not to get a traffic ticket here in Florida as it may come back to haunt you a few years later as people down here are verry corrupt in the public and state offices. You will pay the ticket the first time and get a receipt but they keep sending you threatening notices four to six years later saying that you will be fined or have your license taken away by state of Florida.
Went to train show today and bought a few parts and some American Flyer cars, spent about $75.00.
Lee F.
Afternoon Folks
Bright sun has wiped away almost all the snow. I hoped for that, and didn’t shovel. I think my cable co. is having problems today. Digital cable box out for about five hours,phone out off and on. And some of my fav. web sites are not working at all. Spent some time today reinstalling the alarm switches to the new windows so all is well. I’ll be back to say goodnite. If everythings working…S.J.
Nothing much going on here. Wife picked up some supplies for me while she was doing a whirlwind shopping spree today. 5 Minute epoxy, new hobby knife (can’t find old one) and emory board. Except for paints, I’m ready to go on my new station. Just ran out and got dinner and we’re watching a family movie now, so we’ll see - probably get started tomorrow afternoon.
We lucked out again. The little bit of snow that we got this morning, melted when it hit the ground. Did a little shopping with wife today & going to Son’s tomorrow for Easter Dinner. Hope to get some time to run trains tomorrow evening.
Hope all are improving that were ill.
Thanks for the tip on MSN Maps Buckeye, will have to give that a try.
Well Yanks. Busy day here. Trees and flowers blooming. Disked and broke up [with the plow Southerners use. not snow plow] garden. Did neighbor’s [the one who has been so ugly to Pam and I]. Then re-disked his. Now he is my buddy again. Pam agrees. Be nice to someone who is ugly to you, if he is still ugly, its on his head. Thent o MIL’s to cook chickens on grill. FIL and I cooked a pile of chickens. She already had turkey and ham. Too much food. Fife is a walking railroad encyclopedia. Now to bed. God bless and Happy Easter to all.
Good Evening
I still cannot get on some of my websites Glad this one is working. It has to be the cable co. as you can see this works, that other place doesn’t. I just stopped for a decaf and to tell Chewy goodnite. HAPPY EASTER I hope you get the egg that you wanted…S.J.