I'm just a working stiff

Whew! Flagging is an interesting/mind numbing job. It's interesting in the fact that you have to be alert and you are in charge of many people's safety- both the construction workers and the drivers. The mind numbing part of it is that you can stand there, get dust blown into your face that all you can taste and chew is dirt, for 12 hours, rain or shine. For my first 5 days on the job (I took Monday Labor Day off), I was assigned to work in the Wilmington area (near the Massachusetts border- literally I could see the sign). It was an incredibly long day- 2 ½ hours down, 12 hours flagging, 2 ½ hours back. The construction crew we worked with was great, which helps. On Wednesday, I got to the site before everyone and no one else showed up to flag with me so I was on my own to flag an area where the crew was working. Not only did I feel like I was abandoned by my new company, it was POURING rain and my rain gear was crap.

Luckily, about at lunchtime, they were moving to a new site further up the road and I could go and get dry and buy some soup at the local store in Jacksonville. (to quote wikipedia "not to be confused with Jacksonville, Florida") While I was getting my soup heated (I had to buy a can of soup and the lady put it in a cup and warmed it in the microwave- it was the best!), the river/brook/stream right behind the building that goes right through town had overflowed onto the road (again) and the construction crew had to do some emergency work there to stop the flow. Here's 2 pictures-



main street, Jacksonville
The excavator in the back is
from the crew I worked with

 

there once was a sidewalk here


The clean up in this town and road was going to take a while to fix. I liked the crew I worked with, just not the commute. My boss came down Wednesday and had brought a new crew to work(at a different site) and told me he was working on getting me closer to Rutland (i.e. closer to home). And come to find out that my boss called me that night to report Thursday in Rutland. Whoo hoo!

But before the Rutland jobsite, I have to tell you about my ride home. Tuesday and Wednesday, I had decided to drive myself (safer that way). Wednesday, I decided to try to take a more direct route home, if I could. Mind you, many (most) roads in these parts are closed for various washouts- shoulders gone, half a road gone, and in some places, the whole road gone. Route 30 wasn't too far from where I was in Jacksonville which would take me on route 7 an open and fast road that I knew was open to get home. So, I went into Wilmington and asked how I would get there (had a free map that helped) and asked if the roads were passable. "oh yeah" was the response I got. Ok. Up the road I go- through mountains and valleys. There were some trouble spots, but no "road closed" signs (which we'd been going around on my other rides through Brattleboro to get to the worksite). I finally did come to a road closed sign and as always, went around it anyways. Well, come to find out there's a dang good reason why the road was closed. Take a look for yourself:

do you see a road? I didn't... last time
I go around a closed sign!



this home really was mobile!

I drove back and tried to figure out the detour around. The local store had just closed (I should have knocked), so I took my trusty map and figured if I go this way... I'd eventually get to the town I needed to be to get route 30 to get route 7 to get home! My trusty free map is only so good...the road I went on turned to dirt/mud and went up and over a mountain. I thought about stopping to ask somewhere were I was going, but was afraid I'd get stuck in the mud! Yes, it did get to the town I needed (Jamaica) where I found a store that was open to ask for directions. The lady that helped me was a bit frustrated (I think she was sick of giving stupid people like me directions). The detour through Jamaica was unbelievable. Seriously, Google or Bing Jamaica Vermont flood pictures. It was unbelievable the damage- whole house washed off a hill with only the pipes and half a cellar left. Up and over more mountains and valleys and finally to route 7. So much for a direct route. The Mainers have it right- you really CAN'T get there from here!

Thursday I got my new assignment in the Rutland area- in the town called Clarendon. It's a pretty easy job, but on a detoured road, which makes it scary. The hurricane washed out the bridge on route 7 (the main north-south route in Vermont) so traffic was diverted to the road I work on where fortunately, the bridge didn't wash out, but washed trees right onto the road and around houses. I met this guy Thursday taking pictures. I asked him what the area looked like right after the storm. He gave me his website to check out the pictures. They're unbelievable. See for yourself: www.mountainmanpics.com The Maine National Guard has been cleaning out the area of trees and brush that had been washed up and rebuilding the river to prevent this from happening again. My job is to slow down traffic through the construction area and stop traffic when the Army trucks come in and out of the worksite. Pretty simple for the most part.

Thursday, my walkie talkie worked for most of the day. Friday only half the day. Today, we didn't have walkie talkies at all, which wasn't too bad, but still. Also, today we had a Rutland County sheriff for a short time to help slow traffic. He had stopped up ahead of me (where I couldn't see him) and then came just behind me and sat with his lights. At one point, I had my stop sign up and visible, standing in the middle of the road, looking at traffic, and turning to look at the army guys leaving the site. This pickup truck comes barreling down the road, doesn't even attempt to slow down, and finally comes to a stop about 20 feet or so from me. The sheriff (bless his heart) got out of his car and pointed at him and motioned him up to talk to him. I wish he had given him a ticket for almost killing me (and the day after my birthday at that!) but he didn't. That scared me so much that I started to shake a bit. I have such a greater appreciation for flaggers and all road crews for dealing with crap like this. I know I'm inconveniencing people by making them slow down when they're already late and the detour is making them that much more late, but I'm in charge of the crew's safety and the driver's too. I was very happy to hear that we had Sunday off and were told to stop at noon as well. Some of these crews haven't had a day off since the storm. that's over 2 weeks! Much needed day and a half of rest for everyone!

I'm not sure how much longer I can or will be able to do this, but I'm making good money and I have bills to pay! My words to you all- be kind to the construction workers. SLOW DOWN or I will stick my tongue out at you and yell at you. And no one wants that.