To all of the brave people that have served our country,,,,,,I want to personally thank each and every one of you,,,,,,,,,,,without your very difficult and brave service,,,,,,we would not have the freedoms that we enjoy,,,,,,,,,here or anywhere,,,,,this is your day,,,,please seize it,,,,,,enjoy it,,,,and accept my gratitude,,,,,,,,from the bottom of my heart....

have had some friends post some blogs recently,,,,,,some heartwrenching some deep,,,,,,so here is my stab ha ha enjoy

The wonderful love of a beautiful maid,
the love of a staunch true man,
the love of a baby, unafraid,
has existed since life began,
but, the wonderous love,
the intimate love,
even greater than that of a mother,
is the tender, infinite passionate love,
of one drunken sot for another!!!

A man stood at the pearly gates,
his face,,,,,worn and old,
he merely asked the man of fate,
admission to the fold,
"What hast ye done? St.Peter asked,
that ye seek admission here,
I owned a tavern said the man,
sold whiskey, wine and beer,
the gate swung open sharply,
as St. Peter touched the bell,
"come in" said he,
"take a harp",
"You've had enough of hell"!

Those dirty men

I think I should qualify the reason I posted some of these men in my pictures:

I worked and lived with these men, part of the true definition of a man is is captured in these images. I am proud of having the opportunity to lead and labor alongside these men. These men were some of the toughest sons of mothers I have ever had the privlege to meet.

They asked for nothing but a paycheck, from that they purchased everything they would need.
Food, clothing, quarters, transportation, enjoyment, recreation, and yes, even love.

The purpose was survival, never a complaint about the day to day problems that we all experience. Never a whine about the nintieth or hundreth hour that week. Never a b#@y@ about the four A.M. wake ups,

These were men that found pride and humor in cooking on the manifold of a Cummins 750 manifold, (best damn mushroom stuffed cornish game hen I ever had}.

These were men one could count on, men you could ask just one more thing from.

When I look at their pictures, I may see something other than what others see.
I see men I depended upon. men I trusted.

Yep, damn right, I laugh as well,,,,,,,dirty son of a bi.....es, got lots of funny stories about that stuff as well,,,,,,,about the time in Cordele, when one of these men couldn't buy his beer, because of a dirty face, racial confusion, by the way was corrected immediatly, once the truth was known.........shame on them..........

The key to clean, was Dawn dish soap, used to use it in the shower every time.
This was the first thing one learned.

The key to sleeping, get it when you can, those power naps were a survival tactic.

The key to survival, push the envelope as far as you can, push it one step over the edge,,,then you know just when to pull back an inch.

Oh yes one more thing:,, If ya got it, Piss it away!, and make some more tomorrow

Well folks, I posted a number of pictures for your viewing pleasure, have not been inspired to write anything lately, but if a picture is worth a thousand words, there is a big book here. Let some of these pictures serve to show what railroad life can be like,

Enjoy,
James

Desiderata

Some of you have read this before, so let this be a pleasant memory
Some have not, so let this be an inspiration

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, remember what peace there may be in silence,
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, for even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in you own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself especially, do not feign affection.
Be not cnical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
Do not stress yourself with imaginings, many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in this noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.
With all of its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be careful. Strive to be happy!

Ode to the rich

To the men and women,
who own men and women,

Those of us meant to be lovers,
we will not pardon you,
for wasting our bodies and time.

War, good God yall

The killers that run the other countries,
are trying to get us,
to overthrow the killers,
that run our own,
I for one,
prefer the rule,
of our native killers,

I am convinced,
the foriegn killer will kill more of us,
than the old familiar killer does,
Frankly I don't believe anyone out there,
wants us to solve our social problems,
I base this all on how I feel,
about the man next door,

Therefore I am a patriot,
I don't like to see a burning flag,
it excites the killers on either side,
to unfortunate excess,
which goes on daily, quite unchecked,
until everyone is dead.

To all the gals I loved before

Come down to my room,
I was thinking about you,
and I made a pass at myself.