robert.admin – Page 13 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

April 20, 2025

Shift (Review)

kay, I’m letting you know that, growing up, I really liked the movie My side of the Mountain. But more on that later. Shift is the second book of the Silo Series, set in a world where some sort of ecological/man-made disaster has swept the planet. Now people live in underground silos, 150 (or so) stories deep. Their entire existence is one of continuous uprisings (one every generation) with (usually) the revolt failing or total crazy chaos (in which either everyone dies or the silo is destroyed remotely. Remotely? But that implies a controlling silo. Doesn’t it? It does. So this […]

April 17, 2025

OpsLog – WVN – 4/12/2025

‘ve read a lot of books about World War One aviation, and the one thing that really killed early aviators (especially those with rotary engines) was spins. If they stalled and tipped into one, chances were they’d spin all the way to the ground. And that would be that. The reason I mention this was that, while running the Ashbury hostler job (moving engines in a turntabled engine house), I put a huge steam engine into a spin. Pushed up against the fascia by a knot of people that had formed (because of elsewhere trains doing elsewhere jobs, all in […]

April 14, 2025

OpsLog – WAZU – 4/13/2025

y mini purred down tree-lined Lakemont, the recent session behind me. I drove quietly, no radio, no jumble of thoughts, but the wind rippling through the open windows. My mind was still as a pond, no plans or formulations. I wasn’t even thinking of a blog. Flatline. It was funny but the session didn’t disappoint me or thrill me. I didn’t consider the things I should have done (or words I shouldn’t have said). It comes down to one thing. That session was perfect. This comes on the heels of Kyle and me running over at the West Virginia Northern […]

April 13, 2025

Destroyermen 14: Pass of Fire (Review)

econd to last book in the series. And probably one of the more unfortunate titles I’d ever seen on a jacket. Was hanging out with friends, talking about books, and I mentioned I was reading Pass of Fire. Someone looked at my funny. “Pacifier?” “Huh?” Had to blink. “Oh.” Regardless, its another sea yarn set in the dino-world of alternative-literature, a planet like Earth except that dinosaurs still live and all sorts of different sorts of peoples from different sorts of times show up. Now, unlike our world, this one came with its own Panama Canal, and everyone wants it […]

April 6, 2025

ShowLog – Deland – 4/5/2025

t’s all about rules, I guess. Weekend of a stress-inducing show – stressful because I wasn’t allowed to lift more than five pounds with my right hand due to post-surgery rules. This made me pretty useless, so I got the useless job of being the “show boss” (i.e, supervisor). Without Steve there (he was on another of his many vacations) and no prior show boss in attendance, I was rather on my own. Oh, I’ve done just about ever show we’ve attended by not as the “official” show boss. My team got there at 7pm (well, most of it, anyway). […]

April 6, 2025

The War of the Wenuses (Review)

o one would have believed in the first years of the twentieth century that men and modistes* on this planet were being watched by intelligences greater than women’s and yet as ambitious as her own. With infinite complacency maids and matrons went to and fro over London, serene in the assurance of their empire over man. It is possible that the mysticetus** does the same. Not one of them gave a thought of it only to dismiss the idea of active rivalry upon it as impossible or improbable. * = a man who designs women’s clothing. ** = a sub-species […]

April 2, 2025

Fantastic Voyage (DOG EAR)

ometime media and entertainment play a larger and unifying role in things. I had pretty important surgery today. There was 70% blockage of some of my blood passages in my heart. To make things worse, it’s called “The Widowmaker”. Happy thought, especially since in the week following the diagnosis, I suffered an episode of small but sharp pains right from that area. Of course, like your automobile, by the time I went back to the cardiologist’s urgent care it had stopped and I was fine. No sign of anything. That made me more than happy to follow the doc’s recommendation […]

March 30, 2025

Destroyermen 13: River of Bones (Review)

think I’m almost there – two books remaining. As always, the reptilian Grik in Africa somehow come up with another massive army and fleet of galleys (along with the usual host of ironclads) and are coming down the south-flowing Zambezi river, attempting to break out and flood across the strait to Madagascar, to push out the allies and keep pushing until thousands of miles are taken back. Unluckily for our heroes, all their assets are north, up in Zanzibar, where they just put paid to much of the Japanese presence there, including squashing a significant character or two. So there is […]

March 27, 2025

OpsLog – LM&O – 3/26/2025

t was the best of times, it was the worst of times. But doesn’t every OpsLog start like this? The important thing here is that we gradually get better. In prepping the photographs for this blog, I noticed a number of properly-done background things (such as cars off-spotted correctly). As simple as it seems, it means that our operators are learning. Every session is a bit better than the last. And so, in this blog, I’ll be listing the lessons we (or, at least, “I”) learned. You’ll see them in bold. Okay, from my point of view, I came on […]

March 27, 2025

Procrastination (DOG EAR)

o I got it bad. I’m kinda in a distracted point in my life. I have some critical surgery coming up, and the testing alone (with the various support activities) is really bugging me. And there is the continuing issue about the club trailer (a member put the title in his name and then died, and the DMV has been less than helpful). And then there is all the model railroading operations I do, often two to three times a week. And an older friend of mine who is having anti-social issues – that costs me time in the form […]