A quick howdy-do

There is a lull at the railroad -- drizzling outside -- and I am on my laptop trying to locate vendors for engineer caps. So I am taking a sanity break to say hello. Tom has decided to cut back on his time at the railroad so that he can do some other things, too, so he is at home mowing or something in the drizzle.

This place does have a way of absorbing every ounce of energy and every second of time. I have to give some thought to how to deal with that myself. The previous store manager told me when I came on board as a volunteer that the place would suck me dry if wasn't careful. My problem is I will be too generous with my time and pretend it is okay, but then one day someone will look at me cross-eyed and I will get less than polite. Better not to let it get to that point.

Today, for example, I am alone in the shop. That means I am the ticket agent, the sales clerk, the telephone receptionist, the receiving department, the pricing-and-displaying department, the radio dispatch person, the weather radar officer and general jack-of-all-whatever. All this amid screaming children and oblivious parents while model trains rattle around on tracks overhead and railroad songs play on the CD and a railraod video is playing in the back room. In my spare time I have been designing a new membership application brochure.

Did I mention that lunch was an apple cinnamon muffin gulped down behind the counter because there is no one to give me a lunch break? The restroom is in another building (nearby but across the tracks) and I have to lock the door to get over there. And at my tottering old age, I have to make that trek a lot!

All I can say is that it's a good thing I'm not one to complain, right?

Peace out.