September 2024
September has arrived. It’s certainly been an interesting year thus far. A rollercoaster of emotions to say the least.
The year started off with the loss of my final brother George in January. I made a few more trips out to California to help my niece and sister with what I could. Spring arrived with baseball and I moved to a rent house in Sesser when things fell through on the house in West Frankfort. The Cubs started off great ( I know; no surprise!!) and then fell off around the end of May…really bad. Oh well. I just tuned them out for a bit and focused on model train work and trying to get things sorted out here.
It was a great summer season and Athearn really brought home the bacon for we MoPac guys. And, the hobby has been able to keep my spirits up for most of the time with my hobby friends and best friends during the same time; while I attempted to deal with the setbacks as they kept on coming at me; or so it seemed. Yeah, the Cubs floundered a bit more around the all star break, too. I had a great summer however and I am grateful for the time spent with friends; both former and present. I learned a lot more about life situations that friends had already cautioned me about; and this time I heeded their warnings and it paid dividends in the end for me. I wasn’t caught flat footed this time by someone’s self-centered approach to life.
I’ve been working on a couple of engine projects for friends recently; and the proverbial DCC/Sound installs for another great friend. I’ve also spent a lot of time alone to reflect on things; streamline the model train fleet for the future releases; and get a perspective on what it is I want to achieve in the next chapter. I am working on a decent sized project for the MPHS that I am mulling over right now on the feasibility versus amount of work put into it; as well as several magazine articles for submission on model building subjects. I am also refining skills and learning new ones in CAD design for future use in the hobby.
That being said, I’ll probably attend the MPHS meet in Pueblo CO in October; and Trainfest in November. I may make another trip out to California later this month near the end; and go to the MPHS meet on the way back East. I don’t know yet. Athearn keeps on hitting home runs for us MP guys; and there is more on the way.
