Senior Citizens

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

At the risk of being off-topic, I'd say hooray to Bill too, and if I see you 
at an N&WHS meeting or an NMRA meeting, I'll buy you a drink, soft or 
otherwise.

You're correct in that the world's certainly a different place than 70 years 
ago, or 25 years ago. I think you and i are arguing different sides of the 
same point on that, IMHO. For that matter, the world today is a lot 
different than when I grew up, when grown ups were still addressed as "sir" 
or "ma'am" by young' uns, etc., etc. That largely ain't the case today, and 
the world's worse for it.

My point was that, on a lot of things, we can't go back to a simpler time on 
a lot of things. When I talk with older customers for work, they sometimes 
remark they've been with my company for 60 years, etc., etc. and that change 
is usually for the worse as compared to the "old days." My point to them is 
"what product is the same as it was in 1945?" What competitors are the same. 
The railroads sure ain't, Coca-Cola likely ain't either.

The Moving Finger having writ moves on, or as Stephen King wrote, "the world 
has moved on." That's why we need the N&WHS and other groups, and that's why 
I'm a member of a bunch of historical societies. And that's why I hope to 
see the 475 in steam at Strasburg next year.

That said, I'd love to hear more of your tales about the Good Old Days. 
That's valuable knowledge to me, and I'm sure many others who've only read 
about it.

And, for the record, I've spent my share of free time doing pipefitting on a 
steam locomotive, torquing down cylinder covers, scraping and priming water 
spaces of a tender and staying up all night watching over a volatile oil 
fire while trying to keep the pops from lifting. I'd agree that's a lot 
different than running Microsoft Train Simulator. Let the crown sheet run 
dry and you'd find out why.

So, send me some layout pics. I'd like to see your work...

Andre Jackson and/or Lisa Burrows
The Middle-Aged Curmudgeon
Life is short; update your anti-virus software