Rotzy’s having some nostalgic moments as he sits in the truck…thinking back about producing trucks like it and waxing nostalgic about the good old days workin’ on the line. Then he wakes up and appreciates it all as just being a bad dream.
Readers Write
*One day“2020” will be a one-word catchphrase for anything/everything messed up and bad; like….”How’s your day”? “A real 2020”. “Say no more”. **People must NOT cough near you. Hence, if you hear someone coughing, tell them to ‘far cough.’
We Got Word….
….last mid-week via The Oshaworker….our monthly newsletter from the union (UAW/then CAW/now UNIFOR) at G/M….that ‘The General’ is gonna start building trucks again in Oshawa!! Actually they won’t ‘build’ them there, they will ‘assemble’ them…at the Oshawa TAP (Truck Assembly Plant)….just like before they closed it down several years ago. Yours truly spent the last 12 of my 15.1 year G/M tenure there in Chassis/Group #29, the last 9 of those as a ‘day-oner’ on steady nightshift. Well, in no tyme the ‘graveyard crew’ had set the high water mark for Oshawa. I don’t mean to brag….OK, OK, OK, OK…I lied….yes, I DO mean to brag!! While in fact, Oshawa TAP bested quality, numbers, and you-name-it for truck facilities company-wide. Rotzy ‘hung up my apron and work gloves’ in May 2000. Then, not that it was caused directly by my ‘departure’ (I’m ‘guessing’ here), Detroit shut them down around 2010. For all involved (especially the Osh ‘truckers’) it was a real shocker! Well, it says here that Detroit screwed up….maybe it was helped by a strong Cdn dollar? Well, the Canuck Buck is the s–ts in 2020, and Detroit has had a change of mind. Imagine. Beginning in Aug ’21 and production slated for Aug ’22. As to the olde guy returning to The Line? I’m thinking they’ll likely fone me, but I’d have to kick it around in my head a while. Hhmmmmm?…..OK….I’ve decided. No thanks.
Boycott Tyme?
I wrote a piece/semi-rant in the Nov 25th T-Star asking/telling Andrea Horwath to stuff a sock in her mouth in regards to her non-stop yapping at Doug Ford that he should fire his Min of Health Christine Elliott for her poor COVID-related performance…and whilst he’s at it, also dump Long Term Care Min Fuller. The driving force behind this movement to turf the two ministers is CARP….the Canadian Association of Retired People (Miz. Jo and Rotzy are NOT members) and the Head CARP is constantly making new commercials pleading with oldsters to ‘join’ CARP and sign the petition. Well, the olde media mogul Moses Znaimer got on board BIG tyme, and Zoomer 740AM (one of the radio stations M/Z owns) is running these damned ads like there’s no tomorrow, yet I rather doubt they’re bringing the results Head CARP and Moses were/are hoping for. As of last mid-week, including some ‘NEW’ commercials (!) 740AM has aired ‘revealing’ the annual earnings of PC’s who may (or may not) work with the two targeted ministers on COVID issues, the current number of people to sign the CARP ‘Dump The Ministers’ Petition had 2600 signatures! as read by Head CARP. Yes, 2600!….NOT 2.6 Million!….NOT 260,000! NOT EVEN 26,000! Imagine. Well, if Moses really wants to help, he could/should get one of his 740AM announcers into the booth to RE-READ the ads properly/professionally….and Head CARP can count the votes. Whatever. Hey, Queens Park is closed for two months, so what say if CARP put their energies into collecting stuff for The Food Bank instead of wasting it on something as foolish and petty as the route you’ve chosen. 2600 names? *Moses* Memo* I’m tired of cursing at Head CARP in Norm The Truck, hence if 740 Zoomer keeps running this trash Rotzy is goin’ back to CKPC The Jewell 92.
More Readers Write
This reader has some ‘attitude’! Check ’em out. *Accidentally went grocery shopping the other day on an M/T stomach, and now I’m the proud owner of Aisle 4! **They say you can’t fix stupid….turns out you can’t quarantine it either. ***Some people won’t admit their faults. I would if I had any.
I Started Having….
….some second (and third) thoughts about returning to the work force after General Motors announcement on the Truck Plant re-opening. Like the travel….can’t work from home if you’re ‘on the line’, so I’d have to ride in somebody’s van from Btfd to Oshawa…(I remember guys coming to Osh from St Catherines, so it’s do-able)….what about physically? since retiring I’ve had one knee surgery; two total knee re-placements; an L4/L5 Discectomy; and 2 or 3 other ‘incarcerations’. I believe my weight to be a little less than I was in 2000. One thing just struck me….MY LUNCH PAIL!! Where is my lunch pail?! The one I carried in from April 1985 to May 2000. The one with dozens of Chaquita stickers on it, plus Mickey and Minnie….AND not to forget Mr Hankey from South Park, and lastly, Lefty and Ed, my work gloves. S–t! I bet it’s in the garage up in Nakina (where it’s -23C today)….and that means ONE THING!….I’m retired. Still.
*Thought Of The Day...2020 Wisdom. This too shall pass. It might pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass.
