Quote:

See now, Mark, you can be civil after all.



Consider that my "special" way of getting one's attention

Coming from the heavy construction industry, everything is viewed as either black or white, right or wrong, possible or downright ludicrous. From the time I get up in the morning to the time I crack my 6th beer of the evening, my world is governed by safety acronyms. MSHA, OSHA, NIOSH to name the popular ones. Heck...I always have my OSHA part 1926 open on my desk.

Our main goal is NOT to get the job done, but to make sure everyone goes home at the end of the day under their own power. Historically the rule of thumb for tunnel working has been "a man a mile"...meaning a man dies for every mile of tunnel mined. In the past 4 years, I've seen 7 miles of tunnel constructed as well as sinking over 5,000 feet of shaft. No lives were taken...the worst injury I've seen at work has been a shattered spine from a rock the size of a softball which hit a man 650 feet underground. In the past year and a half I have been directly responsible for sinking over 700 feet of shaft and about 1400 feet of blasted invert tunnel...the worst injury being a man losing a half of his finger.

What I'm trying to get at here at full fledged "yute" status, I have no problem drinking myself to oblivion or putting my own life at risk. Although, when it comes to the men who work for me or unknowing public, absolutely no corner will ever be cut, period.

If the elevator costs $200k, then $200k it will be.

Mark