New GM Ad

Future Papermaker?

Ever Worked For A Guy Like This? by E. Mobley

If you've ever worked for a boss who reacts before getting the facts
and thinking things through, you will love this!

Arcelor-Mittal Steel, feeling it was time for a shakeup, hired a new
CEO. The new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers.

On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning against a
wall. The room was full of workers and he wanted to let them know that
he meant business.
He asked the guy, "How much money do you make a week?"

A little surprised, the young man looked at him and said, "I make $400 a week.
Why?"

The CEO said, "Wait right here." He walked back to his office, came
back in two minutes, and handed the guy $1,600 in cash and said,
"Here's four weeks' pay.
Now GET OUT and don't come back."

Feeling pretty good about himself, the CEO looked around the room and asked,
"Does anyone want to tell me what that goof-ball did here?"


From across the room a voice said, "Pizza delivery guy from Domino's."

THE TINY CABIN - From EM

A social worker from a big City in  Massachusetts recently transferred to  the Mountains of North Carolina and Georgia and was on the first tour of her new territory when she came upon the tiniest cabin she had ever seen in her life. 

Intrigued, she went up and knocked  on the door. "Anybody home?" she  asked. 

"Yep," came a kid's voice through the  door. 

"Is your father  there?" asked the social worker. 
  
"Pa? Nope, he left afore Ma came in," said the kid. 
  
"Well, is your mother there?" persisted the social worker. 
  
"Ma? Nope, she left just afore I got here," said the kid. 
  
"But," protested the social worker, "are you never together as a family?" 
  
"Sure, but not here," said the kid through the door. "This is the outhouse!"...... 

The Fix:

There recently was an article in the St. Petersburg, Florida TIMES. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on:  "How Would You Fix the Economy?"

I think this guy nailed it!

  _____

Dear Mr. President,

Please find below my suggestion for fixing America 's economy.  Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.  Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire.  Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.

2) They MUST buy a new American CAR.  Forty million cars ordered – Auto Industry fixed.

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage – Housing Crisis fixed.

It can't get any easier than that!!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes....

Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto!

Find Land/Homes For Sale

Click here for a cool tool for finding real estate for sale.

The TSA Song

Empathic Civilisation

Ethical Capitalism?

Did You Know 4.0

Can Retired Papermakers Fix The Budget?

Everyone knows that a group of retired papermakers can fix the US budget over lunch - especially when there is a large group that watches Fox. Test your skills - click here - balance the budget and share your results.

A Picture Is Worth How Many Words?

Competition?

A Message On Energy - A Must Watch

Click here for video.

Keep Trying?

New Airport Security Measures

A Hazard of Rewards

Maintenance - First Jobs - 1954, by JF

The mill was completely shut down.  It was near Christmas and that was the time most mills in the south had what is known as a cold shutdown to do maintenance. Since it was a time to do major maintenance, there were many jobs.  “Everyone was trying to get into the act” as Jimmy Durante would say.  After the “real” mechanics, welders, electricians, etc were hired, almost anyone was hired.  For the big mills and for my little town, it raised the population by about 20 percent for a few days; there were a thousand or more people hired.   There were barbers, shoe salesmen, farmers, forestry workers, college folks in attendance and others hired for the shutdown jobs.  All were there to make an extraordinary wage.

I was put with Al, a mechanic, and I was to be a helper.  Al took me to an outside building that made chlorine.  He told me that it was dangerous when running, but it was now shut down.  He took me to the operator’s station and said to wait there, he had to go someplace, and he’d be back soon.  Well “soon” turned into an hour, two hours, three hours, four hours etc. I wandered around talking to operators and mechanics to see if they had anything for me to do but they didn’t.  I learned a little about the process; mainly that some of the cells would explode if not run correctly.  I sat in the control room and waited for Al.  Finally he came back after eight hours and said, “Do you want to work over?”

I began my second quarter at East Carolina College with my second course in chemistry.  Mr. Dunning was the teacher, as he was in the first quarter.  He made sure we all knew he was a Mister and not a doctor.  He made sure we knew who was in charge and that we learned chemistry.  He didn’t mind shaming those who didn’t learn or made some infraction.  He didn’t  hit anyone - that I saw.  Many girls cried and I thought about doing so myself.  In short, he was one of the best teachers I ever had.  He cared.

One day, early on, he asked how many people were from Plymouth .  Several hands went up.  He then asked for a volunteer to give an oral report on the chlorine plant in Plymouth .  I quickly looked away and slid down in my seat, ever so slightly.  After a long tense pause, he said, “All right, I’ll select a volunteer” and got out his attendance book and selected…me.  My heart went to overdrive but I could think of no excuse in that short time to get out of it.  I had about two weeks to prepare.

I called the mill and finally got a process engineer who was in charge of the area and he agreed to show me the process.  It was called the DeNora process (Italian) and was basically electrolysis of salt (NaCl) water.  The salt solution flowed into several electrified cells.   The chlorine gas came off at carbon electrodes on top of the cells and the sodium formed an amalgam with mercury flowing at the bottom of the cells.  The chlorine had some hydrogen gas accompanying it which could cause an explosion if not handled correctly as it is highly flammable…I can’t wait for hydrogen powered cars.  It was separated and sent to a hydrogen burner outside.  As an aside, if the plant was shut down for any reason, the burner went down and had to be lighted again.  It was lighted with a long pole with fire on the end.  Only one particular employee would do it and he got a lot of overtime.  The sodium was removed from the mercury and was combined with water and made into sodium hydroxide and used in the bleach plant.

I gave the  presentation a few days later, with knees shaking, and I answered the questions suitably, I believe.  Mr. Dunning thanked me and I made a really good grade that quarter.  In the end, the whole process was very enjoyable including the speaking.

Getting back to the evening with Al, I asked him where we were going to work.  He said, “The paper machine area.”  When we arrived there, several of the younger folks came up to me and asked where I’d been working.  My clothing was a little tattered and torn (normal) but spick and span as it was when I came to work.  They however looked like they had jumped in a pool of oil and grease.  They didn’t look happy.  I did hand Al several tools during that eight- hour period but I went home afterward and slept really well.

At the end of January 1955, I joined the army.

The Trouble With Rankings

Typical Paper Mill Shift Change?

Interesting Way to Get Headcount Reduction

Games For Retired Papermakers - And Other Old Fart Sayings

1. Sag, you're It. 
2. Hide and go pee. 
3. 20 questions shouted into your good ear. 
4. Kick the bucket 
5. Red Rover, Red Rover, the nurse says Bend Over. 
6. Musical recliners. 
7. Simon says something incoherent. 
8. Pin the Toupee on the bald guy 

SIGNS OF MENOPAUSE : 
1. You sell your home heating system at a yard  sale. 
2. You have to write post-it notes with your kids' names on them. 
3. You change your underwear after a sneeze. 

OLD IS WHEN: 
1. Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face. 
2. You don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go a long 
3. Getting a little action means I don't need fiber today. 
4. Getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot. 
5. An all-nighter means not getting up to pee! 

Thoughts for the weekend: 
Wouldn't it be nice if whenever we messed up our life we could simply press 'Ctr Alt Delete' and start all over? 


If raising children was going to be easy, it never would have started with something called labor! 


Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever. 


Ponderisms 
I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes. 


Garden Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant. 


The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement. 


Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to? 


In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal. 


How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire? 


Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink whatever comes out?' 


Who was the first person to say, 'See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta its butt.' 


If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him? 


Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if he's going to look up there anyway? 


Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle? 

Sometimes You Have To Wonder?

What Did You Do This Year?

Help Out Back The Pack

Vote For Sue Kutz and Back The Pack

Sue Kutz (and Back The Pack) is one of 10 finalist for the L'OREAL Women of Worth  contest. If Sue gets the most votes, Back The Pack will get $25,000 from L'OREAL. Click here to vote for Sue.

Read below to see why Sue has been nominated:

Sue Kutz 58 - Rock Hill , SC

"Imagine children, kindergarteners on up to seniors in high school, who are right here in my community, going 66 hours between a meal in school on Friday, to eating something healthy on Monday! I couldn't bear to think that approximately 1,300 local students faced this dire situation. We talked about it as a family, and we decided that we had to help get a program started. I often hear about individual cases that show how “Back The Pack” touches the youngsters we are helping. My hope is that some day these students will be outstanding young adults who are giving back to our community." 

Sue Kutz believes no child should have to leave school on Friday with the knowledge that they won’t be having another meal until they return to school on Monday. Sue helped spearhead community efforts with the Rock Hill School District Foundation to establish Back The Pack, a program which ensures that students in her region do not have to face hunger every weekend. What began as a personal mission has evolved into a program that serves more than 600 elementary and middle school students. 

In the spring of 2008, the Rock Hill Schools Administrative Staff researched external reasons why all students are not achieving at greater levels in the district's public schools. Administrators surveyed Teachers, Counselors, Nurses, and other Support Staff to collect data. Information collected from surveys revealed a number of astonishing external problems that hinder student achievement every day across the district. Identified problems ranged from students not having appropriate medical care, a lack of proper hygiene, and surprisingly, many students displayed consistent symptoms of chronic hunger. Undernourishment negatively affects student’s health, ability to focus, and overall well being. A lack of food can cause headaches, stomach pains, stunt growth, deter thinking, sap energy, and contribute to learning disabilities. Sue's outstanding service helps provide food to undernourished students in elementary and middle schools. 

During the 2008-2009 school year, weekend food packs were discreetly distributed to 550 elementary age students in Rock Hill Schools on Fridays. 1,300 students were identified as needing food from the Back the Pack program during this school year. Due to limited resources, we are currently serving 675 elementary and middle school students. The local community has embraced this cause and has provided $98,500, thousands of food donations, and hundreds of volunteers have invested thousands of hours to support the program. That's why Sue is a 2010 Woman of Worth.

Nothing Like Pulp To Put You To Sleep

Kids Today Have It Easy

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot...BOTH ways. Yadda, yadda, yadda 

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!  

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of forty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.  You've got it so easy!  I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!  

And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it! 
1) I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet.  If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!   
2) There was no email!!  We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!  Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there!  Stamps were 10 cents! 
3) Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us.  As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe! 
4) There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes!  If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! 
5) Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!  There were no CD players!  We had tape decks in our car.  We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless.  Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby!  Dig? 
6) We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting!  If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it! 
7) There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOSH !!!  Think of the horror... Not being in touch with someone 24/7!!!  And then there's TEXTING.  Yeah, right.  Please!  You kids have no idea how annoying you are. 
8) And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was!  It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... You just didn't know!!!  You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister! 
9) We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics!  We had the Atari 2600!  With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'.  Your screen guy was a little square!  You actually had to use your imagination!!!  And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever!  And you could never win.  The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!  Just like LIFE! 
10) You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing!  You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!!  NO REMOTES!!!  Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!
11) There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning.  Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!
12) And we didn't have microwaves.  If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove!  Imagine that!    

13) And our parents told us to stay outside and play.. All day long.  Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort.  And if you came back inside... You were doing chores!  

And car seats - oh, please!  Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on.  If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!  

See!  That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten!  You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1970   or any time before!