It isn’t a good omen to start out a work week with two people absent from a 2.5 person office. And as the .5 employee fumbles for the right key to unlock the office, the phone is ringing. This part-timer arrived early to “get things ready,” but the world of newspaper readers is awake and already has questions.

Some of the typical calls in a routine fall day include: “Why hasn’t my paper arrived?” “I’m on my way to Florida; can you change my mailing address?”, “When is the deadline?”, “How can I get a copy of a picture that ran in August?”, “Have you heard about …?”, but most of the time on a Monday, callers want to talk with Jean or Sharon. These are the two full timers, and both were AWL (absent with leave) this past Monday.

Monday was a blur. No wonder nationwide surveys indicate that most office absences are on Mondays.

The annual Open House at Windham Veterans Center on Armistice Day went off with nary a hitch. We had some really good helpers in the kitchen and this is what works best – reliable people who aren’t picky about what they do.

I missed the open house at Unity Gardens the day before Armistice Day since my kitchen table was covered with slabs of ham, stalks of celery and a trusty old fashioned meat grinder, courtesy of John Cooper. However, I would have made twice as many sandwiches for the open house, except for the kindness of Dave Garry at Thatcher’s in the Windham Mall. His generosity saved the day!

Veterans Day was cold and windy, but sunny – a perfect day, really, to honor our fellow citizens who are serving in the military, or who have served. I hope you all watched the news on Channel 6 and were as proud as I was of those who received special recognition that special day.

Things are being wrapped up at the Historical Society for the winter; soon the water pipes will be drained and the water shut off, the doors closed until next spring. The next several meetings will be held at the library where it’s nice and warm and open anyway – may as well make good use of the space.

My book is coming along a little slowly, but I expect after this week and getting caught up on Planning Board minutes, I’ll have The Days Gone By to the printers. Quite a few orders have come in from “Windhamites” all over the country and I urge you to contact me if you want to order a copy. This time around, I will not be printing as many copies. The books will be $20, same as eight years ago and we’ll include some uniquely Windham highlights – the greyhound grave, the oldest geological site, forgotten cemeteries, moving Stephen Manchester, the Northeast Road and much more.

Email me at kso48@aol.com or write to 111 Tandberg Trail, Windham, Maine 04062.