March 2011

Safety Rewards

In January 2010, the leadership of our company issued a promise to reward all eligible full-time operations employees with a chance to win fantastic reward money if there were no lost-time accidents and no more than 25 first-aid accidents.W ell, you came through, and on February 9, 2011, a drawing was held to select the winners of the reward money. Epitacio Aguilar won the grand prize of $10,000!T om Muth, Harry Hoberek, Joe Maurer, Kevin Jankowski, Alejandro Barragan-Garcia, Victor Perez, Ramon Vaca-Valdez, Richard Passmore, Cameron Edwards, Lawrence Craig, Bryan Payton, Andy Yciano, Jose Ortiz, Carlos Carmona-Mendoza, and Rogelio Rodriguez-Ramirez each won $1,000. In addition, all other eligible employees each received $250. This is a terrific accomplishment on the part of all employees!

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Contact Information

Female Heart Attack Experience

Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing heart attack (Myocardial Infarction) ... you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor that we see in the movies. Here is the story of one woman's experience with a heart attack.

'I had a heart attack at about 10:30 PM with NO prior exertion; NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might have brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking, 'A-a-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.'

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A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed ago lf ball going down the esophagus in slowmotion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize yous houldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach.T his was my initial sensation - the only trouble was that I hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 PM.

After it seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed tobe racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably a ortaspasms), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR).

This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws.' AHA!!' NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening - we all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven'twe? I said a loud to myself and the cat, 'DearGod, I think I'm having a heart attack!'

I lowered the foot rest dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step, and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself,' If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else... but, ontheother hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may notbe able toget up.'

I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly in to the next room and dialed 911... I told her It hought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to un-bolt the door and then sit down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.

I unlocked the door and then sitdown on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me on to a gurney or getting me in to their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to the ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the radiologist was already therein his surgical blue sand cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions, but I couldn't make my mind interpret what he was saying, or for man answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist hadal ready threaded the teen yangiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side-by-side stents to hold open my right coronary artery.

I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and hospital are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents.

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1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body, not the usual men's symptoms but inexplicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn't know they were having one and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation and go to bed, hoping they'll feel better in the morning when they wake up ... which doesn't happen. My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you've not felt before. It is better to have a 'false alarm' visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be!

2. Note that I said 'Call the Paramedics'. And if you can, take an aspirin. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER - you are a hazard to others on the road. Do NOT have your panicked husband drive you ... he will be speeding and looking anxiously at what's happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call your doctor - he doesn't know where you live and if it's at night you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics ... He doesn't carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your doctor will be notified later.

3. Don't assume it couldn't be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it's unbelievably high and/or accompanied by high blood pressure). MI's are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there.

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Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive...

"I am an ER nurse and this is the best description of this event that I have ever heard." - Diane K.

A&K Railroad Materials, Inc.

Employee News

Congratulations to Drew Weimer, son of Russ and Abby Weimer (Toledo, Ohio). The following article appeared in the newspaper:

The National Football League remains a distant dream. However, for Springfield's Drew Weimer college football, which has been on his radar, has become a reality. The Blue Devil 6'5", 245-pound senior recently committed to continue his grid-iron and academic success at Ashland University. The Eagles, who are a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference finished third last year in the South Division with a 8–3 overall mark and 7–3 GLIAC record. Weimer, who has accepted a full tuition scholarship, currently holds a 3.875 grade point average at Springfield. He has been on the honor roll since enrolling in the district during his middle school years.

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At Ashland, Weimer plans on majoring in either Athletic Training or Education."Drew is a great student and a great athlete," Blue Devil Athletic Director Robb Brown said. "He will be very successful at Ashland both on the field and in the classroom." Weimer, who will play offensive line man for the Eagles, has been a member of the BlueDevil football programs in seventhgrade. During his tenure at Spring field he has spelled time on both side soft he ball as both a defensive end and offensive lineman. Here corded 16 tackles, onesack, and one blocked kick his senior year as a Blue Devil. When opportunity knocked for the Blue Devils, Weimer, a Blue Devil captain, was there to answer the door. He is the recipient of the team Iron Man Award, while receiving Second-Team All NLL accolades." With his football smarts and work ethic Drew is going to succeed at Ashland," Springfield Head Football Coach Rob Materni said." He is a very intelligent football player and when you watch him on film he is almost flawless."W eimer also has been tabbed Springfield swimming Athlete of the Week as well as boys swimming Most Valuable Swimmer. He has lettered in basketball, swimming, track and field, and band.

An ankle injury during week four of his junior year cost Weimer six games and maybe turned a few bigger schools heads the otherway. He also played his senior season with a broken wrist." Drew is a tough kid," Coach Materni said, he has played through the injuries and the pain. He is legit. He has far from reached his potential and when he does it will be good for Ashland University."

Besides sports, Weimer is actively involved in many school committees including Student Government and the Youth Jefferson Awards Committee. Drew is the son of Russ and Abby Weimer and brother to Mallory and Logan.

(Ashland University is located in Ashland, Ohio and participates in NCAA Division II for athletics.T he University has recently constructed a $23 million athletic complex that features a 5,200-seat football stadium; a 1,000-seat stadium for track and field and soccer, and a state-of-the-art training facility.)

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SnapShot

On February 11 the employees in the Stockton, California yard had a combined birthday celebration with lunch, cake and gifts for Kimberli Blomberg's birthday,

# February 8th and Andy Yciano's birthday,February 10th. Kimberli always makes a cake for each birthday throughout the year. This year for Andy it was strawberry with whipped cream.

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New Faces

Welcome Tyson Christensen, Corporate Headquarters

I grew up in West Jordan, Utah and have lived in the Salt Lake Valley my entire life. I started with A&K in October of last year after finishing a Bachelor's Degree in Economics at the University of Utah

#in June. My responsibilities include assisting with Legal Administration and financials for short line entities. I married my wife, Abbey, in July of 2009 while we were both attending the University. I enjoy playing baseball, basketball and tennis. I also enjoy hiking, fishing, reading and visiting Disneyland.

Top Performers
Always Moving Forward
Calendar

The Seed

A successful business manwas growing old and knew it was time to choose a success or to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together." It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO," he said. "I have decided to choose one of you." The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued." I am going to give each one of you a seed today– a very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from to day with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks some of the other executives began totalk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure… Six months went by – still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone elsehad tallplants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – he so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick at his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When he arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful– in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of the others laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him.

#When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO." All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot, He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought," The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired." When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed. Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives," Here is your next Chief Executive! His name isJim." Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new CEO the others said? Then the CEO said," One year ago, I gave everyone is this rooma seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead– it was not possible for them to grow. All of you except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that these ed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed init. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!"

Moral:

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment.
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.

A&K Railroad Materials, Inc.
Always Moving Forward

Copyright 2011 A&K Railroad Materials, Inc.