A Prorails Day

When I was a Blue Birdie, I might have wondered what the prorails life was like on Railbirds. Being blue I had the run of the place, and all the time to do anything I wanted, and there wasn't much I didn't try, or do regularly ! When Railjoe approached me and asked me to join the Prorail Team, I had to be convinced that I could still do those things that I was use to doing on here, and I was told that was no problem, so I accepted the assignment. What I wasn't told, was the fact that my whole day would be turned upside down....lol... If there are any of you that are wondering, like I did, what it is like to be a Prorail, I am going to offer you insight to a typical day !

Early A.M.= Log on to find 20 Pm's to be read, many require you to go to the proadmin toolbar supplied when you get the job, and you take care of these before you read the personal ones. After 30 minutes logged on, you finally get to look at the blog comments that came in overnight, between incoming PM's. What use to take 10 minutes now takes an hour....lol...You don't get to read the blogs for at least that long, and reading them is my favorite part of coming here.

A little later= You log back on to find 10 more PM's that need your attention, and you go thru them first ! You turn your attention to the blog listing page, and read the first one you find interesting. Before you finish the little flashing light that tells you that you have unread messages is flashing, again. You tend to the PM's as they come in, reading blogs in between them, and sending a few yourself.

Lunchtime= Again, several PM's that need attention, and a couple of passwords re-sent later, and you are caught up, for a few minutes....lol... It isn't the time to try to do much if there is a tournament starting soon, you wouldn't believe how many people delete the coveted freeroll password !

Mid afternoon= you look at the PM's again, and get thru them with hopes of reading a couple more blogs while you eat a snack, only to be interrupted by the little envelope under your new friends requests lighting up. When it lights up, you drop whatever you are doing, and attend to it, it says on it "New Abuse Reports" After going thru the process to handle this, you have forgot where you were reading, so you log off and go back to work.

Early evening= When you log on you notice the latest PM has an urgent message from someone in chat saying that there is a villain in there that needs to be kicked out. It is back to the proadmin toolbar and into the chat room, in stealth mode (i like this) only to find out that he has left the room, or if he is still there, stay there until you see something that is worthy of a kick, and then you do it ! Now that you are ready to go back to the PM's, you have 10 more than you did before, it seems that when people see you are logged on, they start sending them even more....lol... You deal with each one, and try to read a blog or two along the way before logging out for supper.

After the meal= There are again frantic PM's needing you to re send the password, and a couple invitations to play in someones tournament (which is funny to me, because I rarely play tournaments, and most people know this) You skim the blog list, and read the ones you find interesting, along with the ones that the title makes you wonder if you will have to lock it ,or ban someone...lol...

Soon you find that the freeroll is going on, and most things are running smoothly, you get an occasional PM, and deal with them as they come in. This is when you get to explore a bit, and check in the chat room, and look at the pictures that were uploaded recently. The funny thing is though, you aren't doing it for the enjoyment anymore, you are looking to make sure all is within the guidelines of Railbirds.com rules, yet it is still enjoyable !

Later in the evening= This is when the chat goes nuts, and the PM's roll in, and every other blog comment you read is one you are considering deleting...lol...It gets a little fast paced, but is fun ! There will always be someone complaining about someone else, or a comment someone wants off their blog, and even some unreasonable requests....lol... This time of the day is when the place is jumping, thank God that there are usually a few of us logged on !

After dark= Now is when the place slows down a bit, and everyone seems to mellow out, other than an occasional outbreak, this is the easiest time to be a Prorail, the PM's still come in, just slower, there is usually a time or two you are called into chat, and occasionally someone gets wild and has to be temp banned for saying something they probably regret later. All in all, it is a time when you can relax a little, and enjoy the site.

Here are some things I have learned since being a Prorail :

To write a blog, I have to do it when logged off, in word, and then transfer it here when it is done. As you know, I am long winded in my blogs, and there is no way I could write them on site any more.

Prorails should have a stealth mode for logging in, that way the PM's that are stacked up could be answered before anybody knew you were on, and started sending more !

Speaking of PM's, when I was blue, I got maybe 20 or 30 a day at most, now days that number if multiplied be at least 4 or 5, and every one of them get addressed before I leave for the night, there is no way I would be able to get caught up, if I left them for tomorrow...lol...

There are a lot of good people here who take the time to thank you for doing what you are suppose to do as a Prorail, and there are some that want to test you...lol... I enjoy a good challenge !

The Prorails are a team, and without each other, and the moderators private forum, this place would be in chaos, it seems that everyone has their favorite Prorail to do their business with, and we all do our part to keep up with the needed business of this site. Railbirds is a strong community, and a lot of the reason why, is the dedication of the team of Prorails that has served in the past, I hope to be doing this job for a long time coming, and someday hope that people will say that I had a part in making it as good as it is !

Things change when your bird turns gold, the way you view the site changes, and you gain a little more understanding about things, then there is the new toolbar (it is sweet) but all in all, it is Railbirds.com, the place I fell in love with, and the place I still love to come to, and will for a long time coming ! I can still do all that I did as a blue bird, if I could just find the time....lol...

.....play on ....Tc.....