Everyone....
Thanks so very much for the wonderful comments and well wishes! I would be amiss if I didn't tell you how this all happened.....
My dear friend Roger Wasson (see above) alerted me to Rich's posting back around the middle of May. You see...Roger knew what had recently happened to me. I had been recruited as Director of Sales for a web development company right after the first of the year. I was going to be in charge of expanding and establishing offices for the company as well as hiring sales staff. I stepped away from a very well paying job to do this because I could see the potential and it was an exciting challenge...thinking I would have more opportunity with a new company. Many of you know from experience when you are not going to go any higher in your current job...that was where I was. So...I accepted the position only to find out that the young owners had bitten off more than they could chew so to speak. As a matter of fact, they informed me just 7 weeks later that they didn't think they could afford to proceed with the "plan". I resigned that day simply because I didn't have an alternative. This could not have happened at a worse time since this past fall my wife's job as a Nursing Home Administrator was eliminated due to the closing and consolidating of the facility.
Roger called my attention to Rich's job posting and over the next several days encouraged me, like good friends do, to contact Rich. And so I did and now you know the rest of the story....well....almost. You see, back in May I decided to proceed with getting my real estate license since way back in 2006 I had taken the classroom coursework the state of Arkansas requires. So off I went to real estate school for more hours and in June I took my "real estate bar exam". PASSED!!..first time believe it or not! So now, I have my real estate office set up with Gilbert Real Estate Company here in Mountain Home. Hey...I like to stay busy!
As far as the new position with OGR....I think I have died and went to Heaven! This is a dream job folks. I always wanted to know what it would be like to really enjoy getting up in the morning and look forward to your job! I am there guys and gals!! To get a chance to work with the best of the best in this industry is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I have been thanking the Good Lord for Rich, Ed, Jim, Allan, and all of the staff. I give thanks to my friend Roger for his encouragement and I thank Rich and everyone at OGR for bringing me aboard. WOW...please don't wake me up!!
OK..I know this has been a long post. I have so much to say...but I will be posting and saying much more as time goes along. I will continue to use my "leavingtracks" account as well as this new "OGR Ad Man" account. Most likely the Ad Man account will be mostly for magazine related postings but we shall see.
Finally, I want to thank all of you here on the forum for your support of this forum and the magazine. Without that support, we would not be where we are today. The subscription numbers are great, the online numbers are second to none...actually page views are phenomenal....and all of this is due to you all being part of this family we call OGR. I know the entire staff thanks each and every one of you. If there is anything I can do or if you have any suggestions or concerns especially if it has something to do with marketing or advertising AND if there is anything I can do to help in your advertising needs, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Here is looking forward to many more years of O-Gauge Railroading for all of us!
Warmest Regards,
Alan
Alan hails from Mountain Home, Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas and graduated with degrees in architecture and secondary education. He has worked as a teacher, and taught 8th grade through college level courses for 11 years.
