If you are old enough to have worked in an office back in the 1970s and 1980s, you might remember those humorous memos that were passed from one workplace to another. They’d be faxed and copied over and over, to the point where they could no longer be read (fax and copy machines were rather primitive back then). Eventually some enterprising soul would sit down at a typewriter and make a new document, which would in turn get shared all over the country.
One of those memos started out: “You know you’re having a bad day when...” Then there’d be a long list of bad day scenarios, such as, “You know you’re having a bad day when you show up for work and the crew of 60 Minutes is waiting for you.”
Guess what. People are still having bad days. Technology has improved to the point where the rest of the world can see how bad your day is. Video and all.
A few days ago, I happened upon an online article from Popular Mechanics titled 21 Trucks That All Lost Their Tops to the Same Vicious Bridge. I couldn’t resist; I had to see what it was about. It seems that a railroad trestle in Durham, NC, is notorious for taking the tops off trucks. Despite all the warning signs and flashing lights, truck drivers go underneath that bridge with 11’ 8” clearance. Depending on the truck’s height, perhaps a bit of metal gets sheared from the top — or the entire trailer section gets ripped apart.
An enterprising citizen named Jürgen Henn set up video cameras to capture the truck wrecks for posterity, posting the videos to his website 11foot8.com. He has documented more than 100 crashes. It’s a gawker’s paradise.
Imagine being the driver of a rental truck that is now six inches shorter than when you signed the rental papers, having to inform the rental company what just happened. Bad day. A very bad day.
Up the road from me in the town of Forsyth, Georgia, is a busy junction that includes railroad tracks.
Very recently, a new sign appeared at the intersection. Let’s look closer to see what it says:
63 feet between tracks and highway
It’s a very gentle reminder to drivers of long rigs that, just because their cab is in the clear, it doesn’t mean that their trailer is.
Will every driver heed the warning? Or will somebody slip up, and have yet another bad day?
How has your day been so far? Have any tales of woe to share with us? As always, this is an open thread.
RSVPS
1. navajo
2. Meteor Blades
3. citisven
4. kimoconnor
5.
MAYBEES :
dsb
jpmassar
|
RSVPS
1. ColoTim
2. Leftcandid
3.
MAYBEES :
|
RSVPS
1. navajo
2. sidnora
3. kathny
4. belinda ridgewood
5. joanbrooker
6. aoeu
7.
MAYBEES :
Missys Brother
kishik
Avilyn
|
RSVPS
1. Thinking Fella
2. Ojibwa
3. state of confusion
4. jakedog42
5. MotherMags
6. MTmofo
7. Done4nau
8. Boise Blue
9. Mrs. Boise Blue
10. Mhosz
11. Mrs. Mhosz
12.
MAYBEES :
pucklady
Simple
woolibaar
Back Porch
philosopher
bleedingblue
angry marmot
Kitsap River
Charles Curtis Stanley
paradise50
smileycreek
dsb
NormAl1792
Winifred
Maudlin
Mr. Maudlin
|
RSVPS
1. Bill in Portland Maine
2. Common Sense Mainer
3. navajo
4. markm667
5. vicki
6. vicki’s recruit 1
7. vicki’s recruit 2
8. smileycreek
9. paradise50
10. Ed Tracey
11. side pocket
12. Mrs. side pocket
13. Richard Cranium
14. YellowDogInGA
15. DebtorsPrison
16. brillig
17. mik
18. thatkid
19. K2
20. LuLu
21. moodyinsavannah
22. norm
23.
MAYBEES :
SanDiegoDem
|