[Spridgets] Anyone home?

[Michael MacLean]

    Well, since everyone is fessin' up, I am on the last day of my 3 week
vacation and will be ending it the way I spent most of it, cleaning out the
garage.  Took my last load of 4 full size truck loads to the dump yesterday. 
I have been stuffing things into that garage for 23 years.  The most
satisfying objects to throw out were the ex's crap up in the rafters that has
been threatening to fall on my cars and motorcycle for years.  You know about
the earthquakes we get out here in California.  Today I only have to remove
one last suitcase which I have no idea what's inside and a 4 X 8 sheet of
plywood that it sits on up in the rafters and straighten out the rest of what
I did not throw out.  My BN2 is close to coming home.  The paint and body guy
has most of it blocked and I will be dropping off the paint I bought for it
Monday.  I want a garage with some room to work on the restoration of this
car.  With a four post lift and a Harley
 Davidson in a 2 car garage, you can't have too much crap lying around before
there is no room to move.
     I had grand ideas about what I would get done in these three weeks, like
rebuilding the front suspension on the Bugeye and changing out all the brakes,
plus solving the oil overpressure problem.  All I got to was the oil pressure
problem and it is pretty much solved.  All I can do now is try adjusting the
brakes and see if that helps and get to the suspension when I can.  I don't
have weekends off from the railroad.
     I also had the opportunity to spend time with all three of my kids at the
same time.  Since they are grown, it was a rare occasion.  One I will cherish
for years to come.  I took them for a day out to Hollywood last week.  We went
to Pink's, a place that has been selling hot dogs for 72 years in the same
spot.  Lots of celebrities stop there, but we did not see any.  My son has
been helping me with the garage these three weeks.  I told him I would pay him
a couple of hundred because he is not working and needs it for college.  I
probably would have given it to him anyway, but it's nice to spend the time
with him.   He made it a lot easier on my back and I don't think I could have
got as much done as we did together.  I'm lucky to have good kids.
     I drove the Bugeye some and the motorcycle every chance I could, so I had
some fun, but tomorrow it is back to driving trains 10 - 14 hours a day.  Only
5 1/2 more years of this and maybe I can retire.  There is no forced
retirement from the railroad which is nice for some people, but I don't see
myself climbing in and out of these locomotives past 66 years old.
     Yes, I'm home.  Been here for three weeks!
Mike MacLean
60 Sprite
56 BN2
02 Heritage Springer