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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
- Start date
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- club thunderbird
I had a very strange morning. I went kayaking about 0830 as I usually do. But I was cut short as I picked up a hitchhiker.
On the Hamilton side of the bay (where it is all seawalls) I saw something furry swimming. Thinking it was a beaver (ahem) even though it seemed too light, I went to take a look. It turned out to be a little chihuahua; cold, tired, and swimming for its life.
Once in the kayak, he just wanted to cuddle (probably because he was cold and wet, because once I have been paddling for 15-20 minutes, I ama little malodiferous). Well, I wasn't going to finish my planned route - I just paddled back to where I started.
I got him home and borrowed a cup of kibble from a neighbour. He ate a huge amount for a dog that weighs 2-3 lbs then curled up on the floor to sleep a little. After many calls to find out what to do with a lost dog. I took him to the humane society. He isn't chipped (and no collar when I got him out of the lake). They will make some efforts to locate the owner. I said that if they fail to locate an owner, I would take him. If that happens, his name will be Splash.
On the Hamilton side of the bay (where it is all seawalls) I saw something furry swimming. Thinking it was a beaver (ahem) even though it seemed too light, I went to take a look. It turned out to be a little chihuahua; cold, tired, and swimming for its life.
Once in the kayak, he just wanted to cuddle (probably because he was cold and wet, because once I have been paddling for 15-20 minutes, I am
I got him home and borrowed a cup of kibble from a neighbour. He ate a huge amount for a dog that weighs 2-3 lbs then curled up on the floor to sleep a little. After many calls to find out what to do with a lost dog. I took him to the humane society. He isn't chipped (and no collar when I got him out of the lake). They will make some efforts to locate the owner. I said that if they fail to locate an owner, I would take him. If that happens, his name will be Splash.
Heart warming story and a cute pup. Let’s hope Splash Mellon is reunited with his loved ones, and if not, maybe you.
You’re an exceptionally wonderful human being!
Well done! And if he comes back to you, dogs seem to love watermelon.
EDIT: I have no idea howinnahell all that wound up in italics.
That's awesome that you plucked him out of the water and most likely saved his life. There has to be a worried owner or more looking all over for their pup. I wish them well to be reunited but if not, looks like you may have to get a lifejacket for your new paddle-buddy.
I think I did what anyone would do. I don't think anyone could leave him there to drown.
I really do hope that there is an owner frantically looking for a lost dog. I let the police marine unit know I had found him in case he had fallen off a boat - they may receive a call from someone.
If not, I think I have a new little buddy.
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,894
- 142,211
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
I think there's a bit of Duran Duran going on here, they were much more the international fashion statement for men in the New wave '80s. I absolutely mean it as a compliment.
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,894
- 142,211
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Big time, two of the members were euros and Notorious was still hot…you are absolutely right on the money….also keep in mind Robert Palmer’s Powerstation (Taylor on bass) had performed on the show…..
More testing.
This is vinyl on a pickguard scrap with no coating. I used a fair bit of pressure with the edge of a key. This abuse should not normally happen to a bass:
This one is gold foil. It’s a bit tougher:
The multiple scratches on outer section the left wing are more realistic - made with a pick:
This is vinyl on a pickguard scrap with no coating. I used a fair bit of pressure with the edge of a key. This abuse should not normally happen to a bass:
This one is gold foil. It’s a bit tougher:
The multiple scratches on outer section the left wing are more realistic - made with a pick:
On the topic of shipping gear, and receiving damaged goods....
I worked one Holiday season at the local UPS hub as a temp (not a card-carrying union worker). The things I saw really enlightened me, if not frightened me. Trailers are parked at the loading doors, and conveyor belts/waterslides run down from the second story (maybe higher). I never asked why things were coming down from above - but maybe that's were the sorting occurred. Anyway... you'd get a signal that the floodgates were opening up on your lane. (I called them waterslides... they weren't actually... but at times boxes slid down faster than the belt speed).
We had the little "tricorders" on our belts that had a curly phone cord running to the top of your pointing finger. This was the bar code scanner. Packages came down the belt/chute... and two guys would scan each label code... and another guy or two in the trailer would stack them. Sounds simple, right?
Well, remember the I Love Lucy chocolate factory episode...? Sometimes without warning, the boxes coming down came a bit faster. If you had a messed-up bar code that wouldn't scan, you began to hold up the whole process. The guys in the trailer are waiting... going "C'mon... let's GO..."
The belts/chutes were kinda like a train set track, with curves in addition to straights. There were simple pipe railings along the edges... no banked raceway curves... no smooth barriers. Just a low curb a few inches tall. If a long narrow box came down the straight belt, and hit the curve, invariably it would catch on a vertical pipe rail, and get held up. Creating a log jam. Literally. Boxes behind it would bump against it and become a dam. In the time it took you to get to the alarm switch and stop the belt, there was a cluster of packages, heavy and light getting squashed against the long box that was caught in the railing. On a steep slope, that's a lot of weight. This is how a neck can get broken, if the bass is not in a hardshell case. I don't care how much bubble wrap was used.
Now one of us had to monkey up the belt/chute and free the boxes. Mainly the first one. There was a pipe or a crowbar tool hanging nearby, which you could use to "pry" things apart. The idea was not to mess around or do it "carefully". I believe that when you receive a box that has holes punched in it, that it was a box that was "freed" from a log jam. And when you got them un-clusterfied... it was a jailbreak! Boxes tumbling at speed. And that's with the belt still stopped. It's just plain gravity at work. On any shift, I would say someone went to free a jam several times per hour. I know, because I was there. I saw my share of mangled long boxes. In a perfect world - those boxes would be pulled aside for inspection. I'm here to tell you that wasn't always the case.
Also, as I mentioned, while there was a lip or a curb on the belt/chute, the pipe railing did not prevent a rogue box or two from going off the edge during a log jam, and it dropped to the concrete floor below. Sometimes an 8-10 foot fall. I would see boxes on the ground, burst open, and contents scattered under foot. Guys hurrying by would just kick things out of their path. My Dad always taught me to pick something up rather than walk around it. So, one day when the belts were going at a slow speed, I jumped down and picked up VHS tapes and put them back in their shipping box. Took me less than a minute. But the supervisor/safety fellow with the clipboard and pen saw me, and I got scolded, and a checkmark in the "bad" column. All I could think of, was what if that were my shipment of tapes? Would I want guys kicking them like hockey pucks across the floor? Or would I want a guy to pick them up. Apparently the rule was to leave spills until the trucks had left. So your spilled items go the next day. Hopefully.
The other thing, was the loading procedure. Basically, none. You filled the trailer, as fast as you could. Not like it was moving day, and you were loading a U-Haul. There's no time for sorting heavy from light. Fragile from Non-fragile. Just stack it up and start on the next row. TV sets on top of Grandma's dishes...? No time to stop and read "FRAGILE" on boxes. I always would, because that's me, and I would hold up the process by moving something bulky to the bottom and putting fragile items near the top. More clipboard "bad" checkmarks for me. Needless to say, when the temp gig was over, I was not given an opportunity to hire on with UPS. Too fussy.
I worked one Holiday season at the local UPS hub as a temp (not a card-carrying union worker). The things I saw really enlightened me, if not frightened me. Trailers are parked at the loading doors, and conveyor belts/waterslides run down from the second story (maybe higher). I never asked why things were coming down from above - but maybe that's were the sorting occurred. Anyway... you'd get a signal that the floodgates were opening up on your lane. (I called them waterslides... they weren't actually... but at times boxes slid down faster than the belt speed).
We had the little "tricorders" on our belts that had a curly phone cord running to the top of your pointing finger. This was the bar code scanner. Packages came down the belt/chute... and two guys would scan each label code... and another guy or two in the trailer would stack them. Sounds simple, right?
Well, remember the I Love Lucy chocolate factory episode...? Sometimes without warning, the boxes coming down came a bit faster. If you had a messed-up bar code that wouldn't scan, you began to hold up the whole process. The guys in the trailer are waiting... going "C'mon... let's GO..."
The belts/chutes were kinda like a train set track, with curves in addition to straights. There were simple pipe railings along the edges... no banked raceway curves... no smooth barriers. Just a low curb a few inches tall. If a long narrow box came down the straight belt, and hit the curve, invariably it would catch on a vertical pipe rail, and get held up. Creating a log jam. Literally. Boxes behind it would bump against it and become a dam. In the time it took you to get to the alarm switch and stop the belt, there was a cluster of packages, heavy and light getting squashed against the long box that was caught in the railing. On a steep slope, that's a lot of weight. This is how a neck can get broken, if the bass is not in a hardshell case. I don't care how much bubble wrap was used.
Now one of us had to monkey up the belt/chute and free the boxes. Mainly the first one. There was a pipe or a crowbar tool hanging nearby, which you could use to "pry" things apart. The idea was not to mess around or do it "carefully". I believe that when you receive a box that has holes punched in it, that it was a box that was "freed" from a log jam. And when you got them un-clusterfied... it was a jailbreak! Boxes tumbling at speed. And that's with the belt still stopped. It's just plain gravity at work. On any shift, I would say someone went to free a jam several times per hour. I know, because I was there. I saw my share of mangled long boxes. In a perfect world - those boxes would be pulled aside for inspection. I'm here to tell you that wasn't always the case.
Also, as I mentioned, while there was a lip or a curb on the belt/chute, the pipe railing did not prevent a rogue box or two from going off the edge during a log jam, and it dropped to the concrete floor below. Sometimes an 8-10 foot fall. I would see boxes on the ground, burst open, and contents scattered under foot. Guys hurrying by would just kick things out of their path. My Dad always taught me to pick something up rather than walk around it. So, one day when the belts were going at a slow speed, I jumped down and picked up VHS tapes and put them back in their shipping box. Took me less than a minute. But the supervisor/safety fellow with the clipboard and pen saw me, and I got scolded, and a checkmark in the "bad" column. All I could think of, was what if that were my shipment of tapes? Would I want guys kicking them like hockey pucks across the floor? Or would I want a guy to pick them up. Apparently the rule was to leave spills until the trucks had left. So your spilled items go the next day. Hopefully.
The other thing, was the loading procedure. Basically, none. You filled the trailer, as fast as you could. Not like it was moving day, and you were loading a U-Haul. There's no time for sorting heavy from light. Fragile from Non-fragile. Just stack it up and start on the next row. TV sets on top of Grandma's dishes...? No time to stop and read "FRAGILE" on boxes. I always would, because that's me, and I would hold up the process by moving something bulky to the bottom and putting fragile items near the top. More clipboard "bad" checkmarks for me. Needless to say, when the temp gig was over, I was not given an opportunity to hire on with UPS. Too fussy.
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Thanks for the insight! I'm gonna guess that all shipping companies work similarly to this.
I cannot speak for the other shippers. Just what I went through at UPS about 19 years ago. The thing there, was time. They wanted the trailers pulling out at 3pm to hit the highway. (I wasn't filling the brown delivery vans). So from the minute the starting bell rang on the belt, you did not stop for a break, or go eat, or go the bathroom. I mean, yes, some guys DID run to the bathroom - but that meant you were one guy short for 5 min - and had to hustle even more in his absence. My wingman was a cool guy, but he did go on quick unauthorized breaks a lot. Too much Red Bull or something. But then he wasn't a Temp. You could not push the stop button until he got back. You just had to work through it. Otherwise the supervisor would come over, and ask what the frack the delay was.
Now, once the packages came off a trailer, and were sorted into the brown delivery vans, things were a lot more organized. They had to be set up for route efficiency. Perhaps loaded by addresses, I don't know for certain. So any freight damage happens before that point, in my estimation.
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I drove for 23 years for 2 different freight companies and a postal contractor. What I can say about your description of loading is:
yup.
4th of July bike rally weekend in Hollister where it all started and the town got christened “Birthplace of the American Biker”……happy 4th of July weekend all!….
I’m not surprised to hear this! I’ve been lucky with my online bass purchases. My VP was packed very well by someone at GC in Syracuse.
Big ahem on the sign in the first pic!
