Mikky, No sugar coating here !!, "tell us how you really feel!"
I have been disgruntled that the "Friends in High places appear to think they have all the answers and don't really want(or care) for help from the underlings despite the underlings expertise. If you are not a member of the clique of "good old boys", forget about helping out because they didn't come up with the idea no matter how good. Its just gets answered politely and then passed off and forgotten.
I do my homework and then call em like I see um with no bias, and a decision based on the facts. Some people don't like to hear the truth and put up a big smokescreen to attempt hide it by passing the buck or making excuses for the screwups(i.e. "the computer system for reservations was late getting here", or "the girls in the FO weren't aware of the schedules for charters.
And it goes on and on. Friends members being put off time and time again when offering help or expertise that the organization vitally needs and does not have. When is the administration going to wake up or is it going to take another incident like the past operator running the roadbed and equipment into the ground over the past few years and not getting called on it until it was almost too late. We came extremely close this past year of losing the 2000 operating season because of that. Who was minding the store and the railroad ???
I believe it was the Board's and the Officers job to do it AND IT WASN'T DONE !!! Yes the Board and Officers have done a pretty good job of playing catch up ball for several years of neglect but "the honeymoon is over" and its time to do it right the first time with no excuses or screwups.
Yes Mikky "The other barrel is obviously still loaded" and the gun is a Gatling gun, not just a double barreled one. Which I think other concerned Friends of the C&TS like me, won't hesitate to use if need be. It is not a threat, just a fact of life.