I got myself a new pair of running shoes on Tuesday, but that's not the really interesting part of the story....
So, Curtis (my stepson) is in town, between his AIT and his assigned duty station in Texas. and he wated to see us, go out to dinner, that sort of thing, and in talking to him I mentioned that I needed to get a new pair of running shoes. He said that he needed a new pair too, so we made some plans to go shoe shopping before we went out to dinner.
I took him to a local running store, where I just happened to have a 25% discount coupon, which turns into 30% if you donate a pair of old shoes so he could be fitted. We get there, and I know exactly what I want, but say that Curt needs to be fitted. I should also mention that he is wearing his army uniform, and he was very cute walking around the store...
So we start talking about what he has had and what he would like. I say that we got him a pair of Asics in December, a stability shoe. Curt says that he wears a 9.5. I pipe in and say that the shoes we bought him were a 10.5. The lady helping us has him walk a bit to see how he walks to get him in the right type of shoe, then goes to get three different brands of shoes for him to try on. In a 10.5. As he is trying on shoes, I am talking to him about how he sould really get some good socks along with the running shoes, because socks really do make a world of difference. The store helper agreed with me.
After Curt had decided on a pair of shoes, a pair of Saucony's this time, she says to him: "if you like this shoe, but don't remember what kind it is, we keep the information in our store computer, so you can just tell your mom to pick you up another pair of shoes".
Yep. I'm a mom. I guess it had to happen sometime.
~a
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Work
So I was intereviewed at work, about a visit we made to another railroad, and they sure made me sound good!
Sharing industry best practices makes railway operations safer for all
It is common practice for railway companies to share industry best-practices -especially those that work to improve the safety of our employees and the communities that are close to railway tracks. One such instance recently happened on August 18 and 19 when Norfolk Southern hosted CP in a benchmarking session designed to identify best practices and areas of improvement.
Some of the areas that were covered included:
* Management/Supervisor accountabilities and responsibilities related to safety
* Proven safety practices to lessen train accident and personal injury frequencies * Practices and rules used to prevent collisions between on-track maintenance equipment
CP shone brightly with respect to the quality of our safety programs and processes. One area of opportunity was in the consistent delivery and execution of safety programs and processes. This is currently being reviewed and will be incorporated into our 2010 Safety Plans. "Having the chance to observe Norfolk Southern's industry-leading safety practices and processes was reassuring in that our focus on safety is very similar. While NS has the lowest frequency of personal injuries, we know that with time and consistent effort and dedication, CP too, can attain similar levels," explained Anneke S, safety advisor, based out of St. Paul, MN.
"Fundamentally, all railways are similar in that they try to do everything possible to ensure the safety, health and well-being of their employees. At CP, we will continue doing what we've always done: strive to do better." Working together and sharing best-practices not only benefits our employees with safer working conditions, it also makes the communities along our right of way safer. S added, "the sessions are about everyone sharing information and helping each other out -they're not about being critical, or laying blame; ultimately, these sessions exist to make the work environment safer for everyone, regardless of which company you work for. In the end, it's not about us vs. them; its about the railway industry being safer as a whole."
--------------------
thought I would share...
~a
Sharing industry best practices makes railway operations safer for all
It is common practice for railway companies to share industry best-practices -especially those that work to improve the safety of our employees and the communities that are close to railway tracks. One such instance recently happened on August 18 and 19 when Norfolk Southern hosted CP in a benchmarking session designed to identify best practices and areas of improvement.
Some of the areas that were covered included:
* Management/Supervisor accountabilities and responsibilities related to safety
* Proven safety practices to lessen train accident and personal injury frequencies * Practices and rules used to prevent collisions between on-track maintenance equipment
CP shone brightly with respect to the quality of our safety programs and processes. One area of opportunity was in the consistent delivery and execution of safety programs and processes. This is currently being reviewed and will be incorporated into our 2010 Safety Plans. "Having the chance to observe Norfolk Southern's industry-leading safety practices and processes was reassuring in that our focus on safety is very similar. While NS has the lowest frequency of personal injuries, we know that with time and consistent effort and dedication, CP too, can attain similar levels," explained Anneke S, safety advisor, based out of St. Paul, MN.
"Fundamentally, all railways are similar in that they try to do everything possible to ensure the safety, health and well-being of their employees. At CP, we will continue doing what we've always done: strive to do better." Working together and sharing best-practices not only benefits our employees with safer working conditions, it also makes the communities along our right of way safer. S added, "the sessions are about everyone sharing information and helping each other out -they're not about being critical, or laying blame; ultimately, these sessions exist to make the work environment safer for everyone, regardless of which company you work for. In the end, it's not about us vs. them; its about the railway industry being safer as a whole."
--------------------
thought I would share...
~a
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Dear Blog
No, I am not breaking up with you... it's just been a long time, and I thought it was time to spend a little time here.
One of the reasons I have stopped chatting, is that I feel like I don't have a lot to say.
Of course another reason is that I have cheated on you a bit, with that thing called "Facebook".
So what has been going on? Really, this and that. Seems like my time gets put somewhere or another...
But really my life as of late, has consistede of mainly three things: Work, Running, and Jaycees.
Work:
It's been busy. My counterpart in the U.S. decided to go back to his old job, so I have been trying to do some work on that service area, and keeping tabs and calm the two people that they have working a temporary assignment in our department. And they keep throwing more projects at me. And my managers have finally decided to take my advise, and have me help them out with their incident investigations. Shocker of shockers - do it right the first time!
Running:
Had a bit of a time there... the right knee has given me problems the last couple of weeks. Did a killer of a run about 5 weeks ago. 18 miles, in stinkin' hot humid weather. I was that girl with a fork in me, I was DONE. So much so that I managed to FORGET MY iPOD on the ground at the place where the running group meets. Luckly, one of my friends noticed it and I got it back. That would have put a topper on the day, let me tell you!
But back to the knee. Had a 19-mile run set up with folks from our group, doing a fair portion of the marathon route, for traning and all that sort of thing. My knee started giving me problems at about mile 14 or 15, but I preservered. At about mile 16, where some fabulous ladies from the running group had set up a water/encouragement stop, I debated if I should continue or not. And I did. The last mile was killer. Until my whole knee went kind of numb. But I got to 19 miles. I could have gone further, had it not been for the knee. It stiffened up, so I took it easy that week, and then I tried to run 12 on my birthday, the 5th of September. Not good. Ran 6 walked 3. Went to visit the chiropractor, who told me he could get me in shape to run the marathon... it was an IT band problem.
So, I've been seeing him 2 or so times a week, and I've kept exercising and running. The only thing that bothers me, is that I wasn't able to get in that 20-miler I should have done last week. I feel right now that I started my taper too early, and I'm not gonna be able to do as well as I should.
Saturday, when we were up at Lake Itasca, I went out for a long run - after doing a pretty good 5-miler on Friday. I did about 10.5 miles. Was expecting to do 12-15 miles, but holy hannah... the hills. I ran on the bike path.... I was thinking "bike path I run on those all the time... 12 should be easy peasy" but this was not your rails to trails path. It was a path in a state park where the lake was formed by glaciers. Hills, hills, with a side of hills. But that day, in addition to the run, we hiked at least 4 miles, and went up the stairs to look out the top of a fire tower.
Jaycees:
Since I'm on the board this year, I've kind of felt that I have needed to participate in more events than I have in the past couple of years. Not a bad thing, but it takes up time. And next year, I will probably be busier, since I will be the Administrative Vice President. (Basically the President's bitch, or right hand man, whatever you prefer.) I felt kind of guilty not volunteering at an event this weekend, but I gave up last weekend's activities and running for convention...
Throw in the mix some assorted projects: gardening, canning, freezing vegetables, doing some alterations on a frend's bridesmaid dress, working on an afgahn for a friend's wedding, and general houscleaning, and that is what I have been doing.
Yep. And starting to get a little freaked out.
The marathon is in two weeks.
~a
One of the reasons I have stopped chatting, is that I feel like I don't have a lot to say.
Of course another reason is that I have cheated on you a bit, with that thing called "Facebook".
So what has been going on? Really, this and that. Seems like my time gets put somewhere or another...
But really my life as of late, has consistede of mainly three things: Work, Running, and Jaycees.
Work:
It's been busy. My counterpart in the U.S. decided to go back to his old job, so I have been trying to do some work on that service area, and keeping tabs and calm the two people that they have working a temporary assignment in our department. And they keep throwing more projects at me. And my managers have finally decided to take my advise, and have me help them out with their incident investigations. Shocker of shockers - do it right the first time!
Running:
Had a bit of a time there... the right knee has given me problems the last couple of weeks. Did a killer of a run about 5 weeks ago. 18 miles, in stinkin' hot humid weather. I was that girl with a fork in me, I was DONE. So much so that I managed to FORGET MY iPOD on the ground at the place where the running group meets. Luckly, one of my friends noticed it and I got it back. That would have put a topper on the day, let me tell you!
But back to the knee. Had a 19-mile run set up with folks from our group, doing a fair portion of the marathon route, for traning and all that sort of thing. My knee started giving me problems at about mile 14 or 15, but I preservered. At about mile 16, where some fabulous ladies from the running group had set up a water/encouragement stop, I debated if I should continue or not. And I did. The last mile was killer. Until my whole knee went kind of numb. But I got to 19 miles. I could have gone further, had it not been for the knee. It stiffened up, so I took it easy that week, and then I tried to run 12 on my birthday, the 5th of September. Not good. Ran 6 walked 3. Went to visit the chiropractor, who told me he could get me in shape to run the marathon... it was an IT band problem.
So, I've been seeing him 2 or so times a week, and I've kept exercising and running. The only thing that bothers me, is that I wasn't able to get in that 20-miler I should have done last week. I feel right now that I started my taper too early, and I'm not gonna be able to do as well as I should.
Saturday, when we were up at Lake Itasca, I went out for a long run - after doing a pretty good 5-miler on Friday. I did about 10.5 miles. Was expecting to do 12-15 miles, but holy hannah... the hills. I ran on the bike path.... I was thinking "bike path I run on those all the time... 12 should be easy peasy" but this was not your rails to trails path. It was a path in a state park where the lake was formed by glaciers. Hills, hills, with a side of hills. But that day, in addition to the run, we hiked at least 4 miles, and went up the stairs to look out the top of a fire tower.
Jaycees:
Since I'm on the board this year, I've kind of felt that I have needed to participate in more events than I have in the past couple of years. Not a bad thing, but it takes up time. And next year, I will probably be busier, since I will be the Administrative Vice President. (Basically the President's bitch, or right hand man, whatever you prefer.) I felt kind of guilty not volunteering at an event this weekend, but I gave up last weekend's activities and running for convention...
Throw in the mix some assorted projects: gardening, canning, freezing vegetables, doing some alterations on a frend's bridesmaid dress, working on an afgahn for a friend's wedding, and general houscleaning, and that is what I have been doing.
Yep. And starting to get a little freaked out.
The marathon is in two weeks.
~a
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