Would you drive a dump truck if you had a fused ankle?

[wildmaninal]

Re: Would you drive a dump truck if you had a fused ankle?

OK, so we are not talking about your average "pay-ter-built!" I actually had to look up Euclid dump trucks to see what you are talking about. The first thing that I noticed is that they are "rigid frame end-dump" trucks, and that they come in a bunch of sizes, including one that grosses out at over a million pounds! Holy moly! I hope you aren't driving that one!

I do hope it all works out but I will join a couple of the others in saying that you need to adjust your attitude at this point. Let's just say that I notice a pronounced tendancy to empahsize the negative. So, you have a $12/hour job that apparently has a lot of overtime - that seems like a good thing as long as your health holds up. That being the case, just go for it and see what happens. If nothing else, you will have put a little "jingle" in your pockets to pay the bills while you find something else.

Best of luck to you.


As to those that think "no one" works 66 hour weeks, I think you are blessed to be that uninformed - it only means that you have never had to! When I was carving out my place in my first career in business, I routinely worked 70 hour weeks for months on end. I even had one job in which I ran an 825 acre facility with many commercial buildings on it, and traveled around the country as a consultant in the same field. Getting off of an airplane at 8:00pm, only to get back on another one at 6:30am the next morning was routine, all the while trying to keep up with my normal responsibilities! And, while this happens to be my personal experience and perspective on things, I am far from alone in terms of the numbers of people who do such things.

Remember also, the single parents who work like dogs, and then go home to make dinner for their kids and do homework with them. Frankly, these are the folks that I admire the most because the daily routine can be exhausting, but they just keep doing it for the sake of their kids. To all of you single moms and dads out there, you have my utmost respect!

"as long as your health holds up". You got that right. The Euclid I will be driving (and have driven earlier today) has tires that are taller then me. I can stand inside of the wheel well. I always try to stay positive on the job, it is off the job that I don't have to stay positive and I get to look out for my own health and well being, and using $20 topical medicine to ease the pain on a daily basis can also be pretty expensive. I haven't had to use any medicine in a while but I can feel my legs starting to throb.

I have also worked 6 and 7 days a week at my previous job. I didn't do to many 7 day a week but I have done them, plus I had overtime already because of my position I had to be there in the production area to setup by myself. So...... I'm no stranger to work and unfortunatly I'm no stranger to pain. I have worked sense I was 16 years old.

 

[zaroba]

Re: Would you drive a dump truck if you had a fused ankle?

sorry for the late reply, but oh well.

anyway, good luck with the job.

as for the fused ankle, early in the topic you said it often gave you trouble right? you couldn't stand for long periods of times or walk or drive well as a resault of it. i'm guessing your back is also affected due to not being able to walk correctly or have good posture. you also said if it got hurt again you might loose the foot.

not to sound sadistic or anything, but have you put any thought into the pros or cons of that?

i mean, it seems that the foot and ankle are giving you a hard time and effecting your lifestyle and activities. if the foot was to be cut off, then you could get a prothesis and be able to enjoy a somewhat normal lifestyle again. you'd be able to walk, stand, etc without any of the bad effects that you suffer from now.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: Would you drive a dump truck if you had a fused ankle?

sorry for the late reply, but oh well.

anyway, good luck with the job.

as for the fused ankle, early in the topic you said it often gave you trouble right? you couldn't stand for long periods of times or walk or drive well as a resault of it. i'm guessing your back is also affected due to not being able to walk correctly or have good posture. you also said if it got hurt again you might loose the foot.

not to sound sadistic or anything, but have you put any thought into the pros or cons of that?

i mean, it seems that the foot and ankle are giving you a hard time and effecting your lifestyle and activities. if the foot was to be cut off, then you could get a prothesis and be able to enjoy a somewhat normal lifestyle again. you'd be able to walk, stand, etc without any of the bad effects that you suffer from now.

Depending on who you talk to (even doctors) some say that a prothesis could be just as bad as a fused ankle if not worse. You half to wory about sores from the limb rubbing on your amputated spot etc etc. The thought has crossed my mind though. The doctor I was seeing here local wanted to amputate but my father and mom would not let him do it so they brought me to a world renoune doctor 70 miles away. Yes it does affect my back and sometimes my hips. I haven't had an alignment check lately , seriously though it wouldn't hurt to have that checked out so see how bad it is. Once I get insurance again I might got to a doctor to see what he says. I am 2 inches or more shorter on my right leg sense all the surgeries.

As far as the job........I've been hanging in there with the other guys, I've even hualed more loads then the others. I unfortunately half to deal with my sister n law's father who use to be a forman at another road construction company, but now he came out of retirement to drive a bull dozer. I am working with him , and he is a PITA. We just got through having a meeting because a dozer operator got into a verbal fight with a Euca driver, then the next thing I know (yesterday) I have my sister n law's father jumping down on my case for no reason at all , he even threatened me.

Here's the thing, the only training that I have received was from a mexican man who really didn't explain much to me. I only drove the truck for 2 hours with this man, I never hauled a load durring that time. After that 2 hour "training", I was driving by myself and was clueless to what I had to do at first.

If I calculated this out right, that truck that I am driving weighs 211,200 pounds or 96,000 kilo grams . I know it will do around 30 mph or better. I got to work at 6am this morning (as I have been doing every morning so far), and I arrived to see nothing but pure mud and they still worked us. They bull dozed the haul road and the area we were hauling to, we were waiting for 2 hours for the areas to be cleared off, we will get paid for it though.

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: Would you drive a dump truck if you had a fused ankle?

I am pleased to see you have a job.
Something about having a job....apart from the money....it keeps people occupied and gives them some direction.
I am going to suggest something to you.....I am not intending to wind you up.

Personally I reckon you should start planning your future out in your mind while you are driving, and then at break-time, read or research your next move.
I heard a nephew, Eric,(don't really like the little richard) explain "incomes" to another relative.... Michael, maybe 15yrs back.
Eric had completed 8yrs at University to become an engineer.
Eric said, when you leave University with a profession, you start on around $70,000 yr.
When you complete a trade (builder/plumber or what-ever) you start on $30-35,000 yr
If you are a skilled labourer you start on $18-20,000 year.

He talked Michael in to going to University and become an accountant. 15yrs later, I understand that today Micheal earns around $150,000yr.

The point I want to make to you Wildmaminal, is that you got to get your butt out of where you are.
I am not suggesting you give driving away.....you need the income and other benefits that come with having a job.
You are in the Skilled Labour category right now, which is one step above being unemployed.

Why don't you assess your mental intelligence....am I capable of attending University and passing well......?? Dosn't matter if the answer is no....99% of us on this forum would answer No.
OK....next step....am I capable of completing a proper trade training course, suck as an apprenticeship???.....bet the answer is Yes.

Next pick a trade that:
there is a demand for......that emplorers have to have
that you can do for 40yrs with your foot.
what you think you may enjoy....not necessarily a big issue....amazing how you can enjoy something when the money is reasonable.

Now you have to get all the "correct" information together....not what you heard....or what you FIL says etc....hard straight facts.

There has to be training institutions.....you must be able to attend at nights, or weekends......you must be able to do the theory by correspondance.

Point is Wildmaminal, you got to better your future. If not, you will always be just above the poverty line when you have a job, and below it when you get laid off. It will be a never ending cycle of stress and struggle.

I got another nephew....thick as a brick....at school he couldn't count past 10, nor spell his own name... his father forced him to do an apprenticeship in the diesel field.
I don't understand it, but he does something with injectors or diagnostic or something. 12yrs later he is earning big bucks, has his own workshop and mobile truck, and works when he feels like it.

The secret to getting off the bottom of the ladder is education and "proper" training....so you choose which way you are going to go.

Good luck

One last point....if you don't have any kids yet, then DON'T, (no matter what she says)....get your future sorted first....and if she tells you she is leaving ....help her pack her bags....you need a secure future for yourself first.....and it is not going to come easily.

Cheers
Phillip

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: Would you drive a dump truck if you had a fused ankle?

I hear ya Kiwi Phil.

I am not saying it is impossible for me to take clases of some sort, but with the hours that I am working right now it would be very hard, plus I am having to adjust to working days and the long hours. If we get rain that may shut us down for a day at work if not longer.

I don't have a girl friend or wife, I sort of let that field/subject go for the past few years, maybe someday though.

I ended up missing my 10 year class reunion , it was at 6:30pm and I got off at 6pm so I would of been in a big rush anyhow but I totally forgot about it. Bad enough my knee on my bad leg is bothering me on the job but I hit my good leg/knee hard on the corner of a counter top the other day and it has been sore , so I have been uncomfortable at work to say the least.

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: Would you drive a dump truck if you had a fused ankle?

Now I will tell you about this nephew in the diesel field.
He has a workshop (large garage at his home).
It is fully insulated with a pot-belly stove for the winter and an air-con for the summer.
He has a large stainless steel work bench and a big flash office chair. he sits there doing whatever desiel blokes do, radio on, all very, very, comfortable.

As I understand it, when a diesel motor goes down, it has to be fixed pretty quickly.....so this bloke has been known to work thru the night to get work done.....but having said that, he charges accordingly.
His repairs/rebuilds do not leave him until they are paid for.

His father tells me he gets lots of work because he is prepared to work long hours to get owners vehicles back going.
You have talked about small engine repairs. Personally I think that is more a skilled labourers job as opposed to a tradesmans job.
Considering your leg, then what better than to have a job:

1. in the mechanical field
2. where "they" need you more than you need them
3. where your enviroment helps your injured leg
4. where you make good bucks
5. where you have a sound future.

If I was you, I would start drawing up a plan of escape in my head....in other words, how you are going to escape your current situation and get in to a better one.
You have pleanty of time to think while driving.
Then start by getting information from the technical schools etc as to what is available and how you go about it.

Good to hear about the female side of your life, because unless you end up with someone prepared to do the hard yards with you.....you'll never make it.

Again....good luck..

Cheers
Phillip

 

[projecthog]

Re: Would you drive a dump truck if you had a fused ankle?

HUH? 11 hours a day 6 days a week? NO WAY.....No one does that.no one

We sure do! That's why I get whiney when it eats into my summer boating time. Money is very good, but time off sucks.
But that's how you end up with MBS!

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: Would you drive a dump truck if you had a fused ankle?

We sure do! That's why I get whiney when it eats into my summer boating time. Money is very good, but time off sucks.
But that's how you end up with MBS!

I no longer work at this job, the company sucked in alot of ways. My knees did bother the heck out of me because the one leg has a fused ankle and my knee was having to do all the pushing. My ankle did handle it very well either. I tried swapping legs, which I did but that wasn't very easy, and I had to lean over to one side of the seat to and back to try and ease the pain but that didn't help.

I was fired for knocking down a powerline, which there was no signs up warning me about the blessed thing, nobody to warn me. The last load and the only load going to this one area, I had only worked there a month of working there, I knock a power line down. They did not have anybody train me, besides the 1 day a hispanic man road with me, the truck was empty the whole time. The company layed off alot of people just recently anyhow. The man who fired me is now the big boss on the job, as for the one who was the big boss when I was working there quit after coming out of retirement for the job. When I went back to pick up my final pay stub, I asked if there was anything else they could consider me for, he said no.

Funny thing is my sister n law's father knocked down a line of some type with a bulldozer but he didn't get fired. Not to long after I got fired another man knocked down a powerline and brought the pole and all with him to his destination, they fired him but they let him come and mow the lawn every week.

 

[avenger79]

Re: Would you drive a dump truck if you had a fused ankle?

Having done the whole go to school to get a better paying job with better hours, after working like a dog in sweat shops thing, I would like to add a little to this.

the first step to success is stop whining, and moaning about everything that doesn't go the way you want. Do what you have to do to get where you want to go.

Yeah my nice easy office job has only required me to work 60 hours this week. Today is Sun and I should only need to be here 8 hours. I went to school while raising two kids and working at night. Very little free time, also known as absolutely none.

Figure out what you want to do for a career. Doesn't have to require college just figure out something that you would enjoy doing and get there. If you need classes then sign up. No excuses.

My son recently asked me if I would be bothered if he went to a trade school for mechanics rather than work in an office. I told him if that's what you want to do, then do it, but be as good as you can at it. If you enjoy your job you'll be good at it. If you're good at it, someone will pay you well to do it.

Every job requires long hours at some time, and hard work is part of an average day.

not to be harsh but you can always find an excuse not to work a particular job. It's finding the fortitude to do whatever job you have to do, to get where you want to go that is difficult.

Good luck finding your next opportunity. Hopefully it will have a better outcome for you.