Opinion : The little engine that could, and did...

A couple years ago, we had a discussion in our house about careers and how it seems that in the newspaper business nothing was a sure bet.

Businesses were constantly being sold, bosses get moody, and you are suddenly out the door over a typo...it seems to be the easiest way to get rid of reporters, of course the company never would pay a proofreader...but anyway...

In my opinion, I was content to stay where we were.

There was this little paper across the street that just really irritated Dean. Every day he'd walk out the door and growl. He'd drive in to the office past the other paper and growl. He'd drive home past the place an growl

Finally curiosity got the best of him. He started to think.

He started to read the competition.

He started to see how he could possibly be happier there, so he got out the trench coat and fedora, sheepishly inquired about the possibility of working across the street.

I am one of these people that do NOT like change, my theory is ride the train until the thing derails, then worry about another ride.

Well, much to my dismay, we moved across the street to the little tiny paper I often thought of as, "David". I have to say, we were welcomed with open arms and it was like we had always known these strangers.

David was constantly there kicking Goliath in the shins. David threw his rocks as hard as he possibly could but in this case Goliath just picked up David and put him in his newspaper bag and strutted back across the street.

Another discussion was held at our house that week. It was the most exhausting week of debates.

What do we do now? I, of course said, "We should get back on the train, we've been there, done that..."

Dean the braver of the two of us said, "But I heard that maybe there will be another train coming to town, maybe we could jump on there and take it for a spin."

Well, I get motion sickness. Things that jerk me around and yank me in one direction or another aren't good for my comfort level.

For about a week it was severe motion sickness.

The slow and sure train or this new little train, the one that hadn't broken any records, could it take on Goliath again?

"We should get on the slower, older, train, it should be safer, it's been around the block a few times." I said.

We didn't sleep much for 2 weeks.

We dreamed to the beats of, "I think I can, I think I can..." with nightmares of "No you can't, yes you can, no you can't, yes you can"

Then it was like the sun came up on the chorus "Anything you can do, I can do better, I can do anything better than you!"

Realizing that in all the leaps that Dean's taken in his career, and the way he's landed, even with boot prints on his seat, I realized it was all or nothing.

But could we really do this? What would it take? How many people does it take to run a train? What are their jobs? We were usually just passengers, we never really had a chance to drive a train.

We cautiously boarded the train, and began to settle in.

We took off from the station, and picked up speed, faster and faster we went. At first it was a gently and gradual climb.

Now we live on the train. We glance out the window occasionally and see the trees flash by, but for the most part, our seat belts are securely fastened and the ride has been fun.

I love the train stops. The folks that are there to meet us with their e-mails and chats, the folks on facebook, the unexpected person we meet in real life that just gushes over the new shiny train.

Just out of curiosity, we glanced at the mile markers, and then just to double check, we looked at the new one. We knew the speed had increased, but we didn't realize we had covered so much territory so quickly!

I am getting over the motion sickness part and really starting to enjoy this ride.

I now glance at the mile marker, still in disbelief, wait for the train stops and so far am still holding the hand of my fellow conductor, although we sometimes knock our elbows too much and one of us heads for the caboose while the other stays in the drivers seat. But for the most part, it's been the best trip of our lives.

In a lot of ways, it's been more work, and yet it hasn't. It's been so much fun that you don't even notice you are working each time you sit at the computer.

As we stroll through the cars, at 2 in the afternoon or stop by to check on things at 2 in the morning, we are constantly pleasantly surprised and amazed at the response to our trip.

To all of the riders, and those that wave as we pass by, thanks for you kind words as we go along, and for making this the best place to ride our train.