March 31, 2023

Rain, which means the steam shovel will block my drive all weekend. I proved to myself that I can get out well enough, but some things stick in your craw whether they ought to or not.

Talked to the workers at the end of my drive. One young fellow manipulated the remote control that operated the steamroller that smoothed out the dirt. I said “Oh, that’s remote control; I thought it was moving on its own,” and out came his life story. He lives in Shelton Laurel, his home place, after having traveled a while working with the railroad. He explained the recent train crashes by outlining the way the railroads do everything on the cheap. If you get hurt, the railroad will try to cheat you out of compensation. According to him, that’s the origin of to phrase “to get railroaded.” He and I spoke different dialects, and my brain felt the way it does when I’m trying to deal with German or Italian. It was before the Trump arrest, so I didn’t get to ask him what he thought about that. Does he keep a diary? Did he mention the old guy hobbling down the drive to watch?