[Hoot Gibson]

Quooter go ahead and tell yourself that I have forgotten more about coal mining than you ever learned. Now I bet the government helped you get your so called college education. You need to see if they can get you a refund unless you got a degree in DumbA$$
you are top of the class on that subject

You had a job in or around a coal mine that you probably managed to hold onto only with the help of the UMWA. Anybody reading your posts can judge for themselves your attitude toward honest work. It took a union and probably family connections to keep you employed and now you are obviously not employable. You have shown in previous threads in this forum that you really don't know much about coal mining. How many years did you work before filing an injury claim? Don't bother answering that question because I know you will reply with a lie.

Quooter after Reagan the Union's just about dried up all but northern WV and Penn. Quooter I worked almost 42 years underground worked through Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush Jr., Obama, and your King gave it up last August if I could have made it 2 more months would of have 42 years started oct 11 1978 quit august 15 2020 when they shut the last underground coal mine down in Ming County and NO injury claim filed except black lung. You have not done a hard day's work in your life would bet my house on it if you have even worked. Your on here all the time couldn't have much of a job if any at all.

You have already admitted previously that you are drawing disability checks and anybody can look up our posting histories and see that you post more than twice as frequently as I do. The first job that I had was as a general laborer in the UMWA during the summer after my high school graduation. From that job, I worked in nearly every department for Island Creek in its management training program. I supervised the use of Marion shovels and Lectra Haul trucks that Island Creek leased to contractors on several large strip operations. I also worked as a foreman at a large underground mining equipment maintenance shop for nine months, among other positions.

After four years, I became a registered professional engineer before leaving Island Creek to manage an engineering department for another large mining company for 15 years. In other words, while you claimed to be working in underground mines, I was designing underground and surface mines and supervising Autocad technicians and teams of surveyors. I also taught myself computer programming and now have nearly 20 years experience in my second career.

I am confident that you have not forgotten more about coal mining than I know. I am also confident that you have never worked any harder than I did as a general laborer. But I learned quickly that would rather get paid for my ability to solve problems than my ability to carry rock dust all night long.

As for getting a refund for my education, most of the cost of my education was covered by academic scholarships, and that education has kept me working for more than 40 years. I have no plans to retire either. As long as I am capable of getting paid for work that I enjoy doing, I intend to keep working. If I stop enjoying what I am doing, then I will start another career. As long as I can type and think, I am pretty sure that I can avoid becoming a government dependent.

Quooter you do know black lung is a disability ? Well I do remember you saying you setting spads but that's the first i have heard about all the other Bullshit you claim. The Island creek job you are talking about is the pelver complex middle fork ky. Jim Booth got his first contract mine there and ended up owning the place. In fact worked about 12 years for Jim and Roy until he got to where he didn't want pay much but he kept me working. But after Reagan took over he just about killed the mining jobs and did kill the union jobs. Quooter how do you think the government funds academic scholarships the tooth fairy. Quooter I have done pretty good without a college degree wouldn't change a thing except stay out of the dust more made a lot of money. I will admit know very little about mountain top removal but they sure done away with a lot of jobs I know that much.

Academic scholarships are competitive. Some were financed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, some by the federal government, and some through private donations. All you need to know is that I financed my college education mainly through summer jobs in the coal mining industry and by earning academic scholarships and maintaining them by keeping my grades up. As for Reagan, the coal mining has always had its boom and bust cycles and the industry was not booming and the economy was an absolute wreck when Reagan was elected - it was the main reason that he was elected. I never missed a day of work while Reagan was president and coal prices recovered while he was president. George H. W. Bush's administration, OTOH, was a difficult time for the coal industry because of Bush's policies.

Ted McGinnis was a contract miner for Island Creek before he joined Jim Booth. I recall meeting with Jim and Ted to discuss a possible lease but we were unable to reach a deal. Jim and Ted were outstanding mine operators and were able to turn profits when most other operators were going bankrupt.

As for mountain top mining costing jobs, that may be true to some extent but much of the coal that is mined by mountain top mining could not be recovered through underground mining. Anybody who owns coal reserves wants their coal mined by mountain top methods if at all possible because it results in much higher recovery rates. The second most desirable mining method is underground mining, with longwall mining being the most efficient deep mining method. Coal owners least favorite mining method is auger mining, which should always be a method of last resort.

I worked for a few months in a Logan County mine on Buffalo Creek where the Dorothy seam (same as the Coalburg or Elkhorn 3 and 3-1/2 seams in eastern Kentucky) was 20 feet thick. Before working there, I had no idea that there were unmined seams that thick east of the Mississippi River. They mined the top 7 feet of the seam on advance and then took the rest on retreat. The seam was too thick for safe pillar recovery. It was a shame to leave so much coal unmined. We had to inspect the ventilation system using a John boat.