On the job for MCT Painting Inc.

(61) shakes it up

Fulltimers return

Mandatory meeting: SATURDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER, is a MANDATORY meeting for all department employees. Those who have a conflict and cannot attend must contact Erin. Time and location TBA.

Friday, 21 August, we'll have a POTLUCK and BBQ, celebrating the return of all our friends and fellow employees, and concluding a very busy and profitable summer. Bring what you can and maybe a buck or two to help pay for the BBQ essentials, and have a grand time! We'll be setting up about 11:30 am Friday.

Point Of Our Policy: Clean the washbay after washing any of our vehicles. If you don't have the time to rinse out the floor and put all equipment back after washing a vehicle, then schedule the wash for another time. Under no circumstances should we leave the washbay dirty.

Van driver certification training will be taking place during all of next week (first week of school) as well as 31 August and 01 September. This means the south portion of the Dome parking lot will be coned off during that time. Please respect those who will be van training and leave them plenty of room to maneuver around that parking lot.

Those van drivers working for MCT who do not yet have a University van certification card will be expected to complete the course themselves as soon as possible. You can sign up for that class by going online to nau dot edu, looking up Transportation Services Center, and clicking on "Van Training."

Major detour: A major detour is coming to Route 2 when San Francisco will be completely closed off to traffic at the Rec Center beginning 14 September and extending for the next several weeks. Transit plans regarding Route 2 buses and Route 2 Express Vans will be discussed soon.

We have been practicing the new Staging departure scheme under 50's direction the past few days. More drills will be taking place with the new hires and returning FTEs this week.

Time cards are due Thursday, 20 August, no later than 10:00 am.

If you have any items for The Slack Adjuster, please submit them to 61.

We finally got the last major striping and curb painting job finished last Friday. Tinsley pullout got the white exclusion line painted after the resurfacing of Knoles adjacent to Tinsley Hall was completed. The final line at Tinsley is dedicated to 77, who loved painting and really misses it.

This offset driveway entrance will be the Communications bus stop for our transit when all the construction is done with the Comm building extension.

In driver news, we've had two more former bus drivers tie the knot. Drivers formerly known as 79C and 84 (was it??) were married over the past weekend. Pictures to come.

In other news, 67 was injured while unicycling last Friday. Luckily, the injury was to her left foot, so she still hasta drive haha. Close one, 67.

Also, current driver and newlywed 84 (pictured below) had surgery to remove some malignancies on his forehead. He is doing fine, and boasted of receiving (how many was it now?) something like 26 stitches during the operation. Ahh, war wounds!

All of our returning summer workers and drivers and our newly returning FTEs, plus the new hires, met with our department manager Erin on Monday. She welcomed us all back and encouraged us to emphasize good customer service as we go about our routes. Thanks for stopping by, Erin!

Finally, driver 96 made a chilling discovery when a massively monster beetle decided to take a hike on him on Monday.

Panicking slightly, he quickly decided to remain calm and to provide the best customer service possible, recalling what our department leader had encouraged us to do earlier this morning.

Nevertheless, 83 found the challenging situation for our slighly panicking driver highly amusing.

In the end, 96 realized it was nearing lunch time, and decided to dispatch the critter in Rambo fashion.

Newbie; plus sittin' around

Our new fellow employee this week is 106 (amazing, doesn't look a day over 30). He hails from Vermont by way of Tucson. From all of us at the barn, welcome!

Here I am slaving away on my knees in a hot sun practically feinting from odorific paint fumes ...... while everyone else watches! I tell ya! ...

Actually the pictures are reversed ... and I wasn't slaving ... and the sun wasn't that hot ... and there were no paint fumes ... and I wan't close to feinting. By the time the last picture above was taken, we had already finished painting. (sorry, couldn't resist lol) We had great help painting curbs with the assistance of 92 and 78 today, and 82 drove. Others also helped paint at various locations around campus. Great job, people!

SBS and McConnell hit

Not all fun 'n games

Sometimes we have a bit of fun ...

Then there's toiling in the hot sun preparing our routes for the anticipated multitudes ...

A little more of this

83 seems to have a thing for Route 1.

84 and 78 began the process of testing and cleaning the wheelchair lifts.

98 and 91 unearthed, just outside the barn, the decomposed clothes our soon-to-be corpsed skeletons will wear for their moment in the ... um, full moon. (You had to be there.)

Mirror dots were painted to aid drivers in setting mirrors properly. Then the wet paint had to dry. The job of guarding the wet paint from errant community drivers, who seemed to think this was some kind of serendipitous slalom, fell to 99, 91 and farther back 78.78 guarded the other end of the roadway as well.

91 works a tough technical portion of VAST (the Van Advanced Skillz Trail).

Then 84 takes a go at it.

Finally, we had a real nice surprise visit from old-timer 65, her sister and friend. Thanks for stopping by! It was great to see and meet you!

Fates were smiling

You know how when you wash your car it rains? Outdoor painting is not exempt, either. But the Fates were smiling on us today.

99 applies a second coat.

Then we all tackled the van box. From left, 61, 74, 91 and 98.

When it was slipped that painting only paid $4/hour, we thought they would mutiny. (jk)

79 on a lunch break, with 91 in foreground.

A pause before returning to painting lines. From left, 79, 74 & 84.

Nearly complete.

Luck held ... ground stayed dry.

Good job today, thanks for the great work!

That other Friday
This must mean it's PAYDAY! Splurge on yourself!

This Monday, May 25th
May 25th is Memorial Day, a holiday. No transit service, and our offices will be closed.

Update on office repainting
Our offices are still being painted/carpeted/tiled, and this work has been extended through at least Wednesday of next week.


Some highlights of week #2 include --
84 applies a first coat to the poles. Unfortunately, this simple act guaranteed rain this day, lots of it.

Our intrepid 83 supplies us with tunes during lunch. Very nice!

Another surprise visit!

First it was 63 popping to say hello. Then good ol' 68 came rolling in on his bike and found us all having our lunch. He filled us in on his latest adventures. Thanks for stopping by!

Hard worker 87 took on the task of repairing a broken desk, and did a great job!

All I can say is, they waste no opportunity ... (and he's going to be a CDL driver)

Nabbed!

Time for another caption, I think. Add a caption to this photo in the comments.