Link sausages and working like a Hebrew with a new Pharoah

So I've been cranking here at the office all morning. It's only 1:15, and although I feel like I'm fever-y, I feel okay for the most part. Perhaps it's time to go check the thermostat.

Nope, it's me.

I have everything priced for the train show, pretty much. The car's loaded up, and I have to stop and pick up some table covers, and an electrical strip for the booth, then go over there, haul everything inside, set it all up, and then go home.

I have my name badges set up, I think I'm pretty much good to go here.

Today, Brian (whom I gave love to but failed to link out to) showed me a fabulous piece on the CAFE standards. Write your Congresscritter (like it will make a lick of difference.)

Also, someone on the Conservative side of the fence has started to notice that Rudy ain't the most truthful person running for President.

But, most of all, our Lady of Two Sides to her Mouth is caught red-handed parsing out the perfidy on YouTube:



Yes, she'd be a perfect follow-on to Walker, Texas President.

I'm up to my knuckle coupler in model trains

So, I had WAY more model trains than I remembered. I started writing up the descriptions (the sizzle for the steak, you know) and found that I had nine cars from this train, ten from that, 23 from the other - far more than I had on my inventory list.

Jeremy's napping, and then we're getting the Christmas tree train down from the attic, and loading the trunk of the car up.

Some links!

Americans have an emotional/psychological link to their cars! Who knew?

Where I'll be spending my weekend. Tickets are only seven bucks, which is probably what parking will be. However, you can come cheer me on and pretend like you're hot and bothered for my train crap, to incent others to grab it and pay before you find your checkbook.

My terrific friend Brian (whom I'll meet someday, but who I talk to all the time) had this cartoon posted on his livejournal today, and I nearly busted a pant seam laughing over it.

*cough cough*

Well, my day at home being sick has been interesting. I tried to nap - twice - and was unsuccessful both times. Each time, I was motivated to arise and look through the accumulated CRAP that I have, all of which (that is train related) I'm selling this weekend.

I unloaded all of my railroadiana books, most of which were gifts from well-meaning loved ones, priced them all on Amazon and listed them out. I pulled out the posters, advertisements, magazines and such and prepared to do the same. I've designed my table layout, and I need to go get some table covers for the tables. I finished signing up for my credit card terminal. I need to make a checklist...

What will I do if I actually unload all of this stuff? I intend to come back home with none of it. Just contemplating what life will be like without all this unused stuff hanging out, most of which sits unobtrusively in boxes in the attic of closet, is liberating. It really DOES occupy space in your psyche. It takes from your total store of mental energy just HAVING it there.

Of the proceeds, I'm having framed the six posters I'm keeping (the rest are being sold,) the Rocketeer poster that's going to the office, the TWA poster that Pam & Jean gave me for my house warming that goes into the downstairs powder room, the Continental New Orleans poster for the bedroom, and the three 20th Century Limited posters that will hang in the stairwell. The rest goes into Fabulair.

At that point, I'll have rid myself of a huge percentage of what I toted into the apartment on Bagby, and gathered up while living there. I still have a way to go with it (wasn't it nice of me not to type "a ways?")

Jackie looks fashionable with her new haircut, produced by Tom while she was vacationing over there. When I went to pick her up, she was so excited that she dashed out through two of the bars of his anti-burglar door gate. She was stuck there for a good ten minutes before Tom was able to ease one shoulder back out and get her free.

Her new haircut makes her collar a very loose fit, so she has a lot more say in which direction the train is headed than before.

I keep wondering - what else can I rid myself of? What other things am I toting around just "because?" My mother's china, for one, which I haven't used since I moved out of Bagby. Most of the Christmas tschotkes. Most of the CDs and DVDs.

All of the porno.

The funny thing is, none of this stuff is worth anything at all once the first person buys it. It's just basically work to get rid of it.

I'm just thinking about how much more stuff there is to sort, label, research and sell.

Noteworthy is that I've totally stopped buying crap on eBay.

Government policy made based on rumor and bigotry

I'm surprised that they didn't again raise the proven lie of welfare queens driving Cadillacs!

Halloweenie at Parliament House