Winning the 2014 CARBODY Award!

(March 31 UPDATE: Cold medication. I just realized this whole CARBODY award has been some sort of medication- and sickness-addled dream sequence. Like Dorothy waking up back in Kansas, like Ebenezer Scrooge attributing his dreamed-of Christmases to an 'undigested bit of beef', this is what is now clear to me. Clear as my head is becoming. This blogging business is not about accolades, awards, or any kind of formal appreciation. What is important is the continued readership and camaraderie of those who frequent Trackside Treasure.

Now, unlike the accepting Auntie Em, Professor Marvel and farmhand Hickory (above), the timing of this update might lead you to believe that this is some sort of calculatingly-concocted April Fool's Day prank. Well, stay tuned for the next post. That one will be only be explained away by some as a seasonal joke!

(March 30 UPDATE: I received a call from the board secretary at CARBODY, Shirley Eugeste. Change in venue from the Royal York ballroom to the Bloor-Yonge TTC station food court, near Tim Hortons on Tuesday. Interestingly, the Northern Ontario Board Of Directors Of Your Scale HO Model Engineers (NOBODYSHOME) will be represented, as will the Northern Ontario Scale HOer's (NOSHO's) will be in attendance. I'm still planning on calling in to work to book a personal leave day on Tuesday so I can attend.)

I'm pleased and humbled to announce that Trackside Treasure has been awarded the 2014 CARBODY Award. I'm sure you've heard of this award. It's a pretty big deal around the internet. Not just any blog is granted the honour of showcasing the licensed, prestigious photograph of this beautiful gold blingfest in their sidebar. (You may be thinking of the PEABODY Award, but that award is given for meritorious service in broadcasting. Different thing altogether: that award process is apparently unusually rigorous, involving 1,000 submissions and 30 committees! Whoa!)

When I received the congratulatory phone call from the board chair, I was in the bathroom. After gathering myself together and collecting my thoughts (both of them), I checked the answering machine and could not believe my ears. What had I done to deserve this honour? Not much, I thought. Not too darn much. Not so, said the board chair. I was humbled. I laughed. I cried. I tried to be sincere. I sure hoped this was not a scam. 

When I asked what 2014 CARBODY meant, I was assured that it stands for the Canadian Amateur Railway Blog Of Da Year. It's an acronym. CARBODY that is, not 2014. That's just a number. (And a recently-patched ex-UP CN unit.)

But I digress, as usual. It would appear that it's this type of digression that garners this kind of award. That and more - rambling, mission creep, non-sequiturs, segues, sensational rumours, work-arounds and a general disregard for the starched-collar world of rivet-counters and louver-counters that rules the rail enthusiast back track of the internet.

I'd like to thank my wife for her incredible support. Her repeated entreaties of "I'm sick of hearing about your train s***!" have not deterred me one bit. I'd like to thank my children for disavowing any association with my ramblings-on, simply asking their mother "Just what the heck is Dad talking about?"

Most of all, I'm looking forward to being picked up at my door and whisked to Toronto for the prestigious presentation ceremony, which takes place just before noon on April 1. Wish me luck.