Changes

[bobquasit]

My journal has been somewhat different, lately.

For one thing, the percent of friends-only and filtered posts has increased to about 50% in the past few months. But an even bigger change is the relative decrease in political posts (unsurprising, I suppose, now that the election is over) and the recent surge of book reviews.

Is this a good thing? A bad thing? Neither, or both? Feel free to tell me what you think, if you want.

By the way, I also just put up a very large post over on my Charlie On The Commuter Rail blog. The outer stairway to the commuter rail platform at Ruggles station is crumbling. I took my camera in today, and got some pictures and video. The resulting blog entry is pretty huge, but maybe someone will pay attention and forestall a tragedy.

Seriously, who repairs stairs with rust-susceptible parts? And after two years of the stairs being closed for repairs, couldn't they have fixed them well enough so that they'd last for more than sixteen months? I think you'll be surprised by the images.

Comments

[fibro-witch.livejournal.com]

I caught the post on the Charlie blog and made a comment there. It looks as if the cement was not properly cured, could be perhaps the weather was to cold when the cement was poured, or the mix was improperly made.

I was a safety professional, I should take a look. Darn, I wish I was healthy.

[bobquasit.livejournal.com]

I wish you were healthy too!

Did you see the response that some idiot made over there? Basically the gist of it was "Stop whining and get a life". I rather enjoyed responding to that one. :D

This morning I saw salt all over the stairs. Considering that the mortar (or whatever it is) on the sides of the steps is mostly broken or gone, I'm guessing the salt is under the treads already. If those stairs aren't closed for repairs by spring, I'll be quite surprised!

By the way, wouldn't you think that the T's repair people (or whoever did the repairs) would be professionals, and would know how to properly cure the cement?

I'm tempted to call or email the company that made the treads - Amstep - and ask them some questions. Such as "Are your treads safe to use if the underlying cement is compromised?" and "Do you supply the fasteners used with the treads? If not, do you recommend non-rusting fasteners?" and "Did you install the treads at Ruggles?". But I suppose that might not be wise...Teri has me paranoid about the possibility of getting sued.

I will say, though, that those stairs seem worse every day! They rattle and clatter and bounce around like mad.