It’s eight pm and I am still at work
Building machines, have I gone berserk ?
No work on the camper in over a week
A holiday at Easter  is looking bleak
My partner  alone, at home, poor creature
To remind her of me she has asked for a picture
The boss has left he is going to dinner
What about us?  We are  just getting thinner
The  team and I,  we just ramble on
The time we spend here, forever gone
To finish on time,  management is wishing
As for some of us here, we would rather be fishing
I think of the machine when I am supposed to be sleeping
No proper drawings, the problems just heaping
thoughts of steam valves and tangled pneumatics
I  think we are becoming machine  fanatics
Being motivated by irrational enthusiasm
my brain is starting to go into spasm
maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel
or is it a  a train heading towards us  to pummel

Come on down to your Fletcher’s Store
It has all your needs to complete your chore
Marshal has it all you see?
Be it tools or p.p.e.
Obtaining kit is not that hard
If you have your induction card
But without your little piece of plastic
The treatment you get could well be drastic
Other than that, a cost code will do
That will prevent any further ado
If Marshal is otherwise indisposed
Help is near, it has been disclosed
His faithful helper Spiderman
Will always help you where he can
On the PC he also goes
Logged on as Marshal, I suppose
But back to the master of the store
He knows what’s behind every closed door
What stock he has, he knows off hand
spanners, raincoats , every little gland
a special order or a request
You can be sure, he’ll do his best
He is a man of his word
At toolboxes you may have heard
Laying down the law, giving you grief
Hoping to catch the lowly thief
Spending time with him, I have found
He is a rock, steadfast, morally sound
And if at times you may need a friend
Someone to listen, maybe an ear to bend
Someone there, sound and steady
You can count on Marshal Geddie.

Ernest 28 July 2011  (VPT)