robert.admin – Page 191 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

April 27, 2012

Look, A**hole – a medical proceedure

Had to go to my colonoscopy today. I’d mentioned my concerns/dreads/exasperations HERE. No, it’s not done for fun. We’d picked up the big gallon jug of laxitive mixer over the weekend. I decided to add in the lemon-lime flavor pack – yeah, it’s a flavor, all right. Tuesday I added water and mixed it all up. And Thursday, I had to drink it. Knowing I would be short-term-renting food for the day, I only had a muffin for breakfast. Then, starting at 1pm and continuing every 30 minutes, I had to drink a full glass of the stuff until it […]

April 26, 2012

Naga-more (DOG EAR)

I don’t think other writers have this problem. I don’t think Moby Dick hung off a pier near Melville’s house, bubbling dejectedly. And I’m sure Mr. Darcy didn’t rap on Jane Austen’s door, grousing, “Damme, but are you through yet?” But me, I’ve got crows. Been working most evenings on knocking off a chapter or two of Indigo, my aerial version of Watership Down. The book is done but there are a number of things I’d like to do before putting it back before the agents (who were warm to it, so there is a shot). I need to read […]

April 25, 2012

OpsLog – LM&O – 4/25/2012

Then he slid down the chimney. A rather tight pinch. But, if Santa could do it, then so could the Grinch. He got stuck only once, for a moment or two. Then he stuck his head out of the fireplace flue… Everyone remembers that Tex Avery image of the Grinch rolling into a ball in those tight confines. Funny when it happens to him. Not so funny when it happens to me, the dispatcher. We were rattling the rails with a full house of operators. Trains east, trains west. I was kicking out warrants pretty fast – a warrant is […]

April 24, 2012

Aft torpedos!

Well, I’ve got to do what old guys occasionally do. Buy a sportscar? No. Get a mistress? No. I’ve got to get a colonoscopy. Had one a few years back and they found enough polyps (good luck with that word, Mr. Spellchecker) that I had to go back. Gads. And there is no backing out of this (pun intended) – my sister is a Colonoscop-doc, and has been keeping her gloved finger firmly on the pulse of my calendar. So in I go this Friday (or in it goes this Friday). For those who’ve never had one, it’s not so […]

April 22, 2012

Casca (Review)

In my science fiction stories (both the published Early ReTyrement and several others I spooled out over the years), the hero did the direct jump, either backwards or forwards. Blink and he’s there. In the Casca series, the hero does it the long way, by living each year. See, Casca Rufio Longinus is the hapless Roman soldier put on execution duty. He’s on the detail putting Christ up on the cross. And in that, he takes pity on the guy and jams his spear into him if only to shorten his suffering. Christ, for all his blessings, misinterprets this action […]

April 19, 2012

Writers write (DOG EAR)

It’s no secret that publishing, and especially self-publishing, will burn a lot of your time. There are submissions, proposals, side-efforts. If you attend a show and rent a booth, there are all sorts of things you have to arrange (as detailed HERE). All this takes time. I used to write – a lot – at lunch. The café downstairs has a nice outdoor patio and if I go early, nobody is out there. But now I haven’t been – I’ve been busy with getting Early ReTyrement ready, cleaning it, changing it, fiddling with it. I’m so focused on it (and […]

April 15, 2012

Why the Allies won (Review)

Like my historical friends, I had this view of World War Two, the string of battles that constituted the path towards Allied victory (unlike those non-historical boobs in the mainstream, who don’t know when it was fought and between who). But after reading Richard Overy’s Why the Allies Won, the entire thing takes on a whole new meaning. Inevitable turns into improbably in a number of aspects. When you look at the map and forces in 1941, it looked like it was time to mix cyanide into your scotch. The Germans had swept aside everyone, and controlled the continent from […]

April 14, 2012

ShowLog – Deland – 4/14/2012

Well, we did a one-day train show today, up in Deland, 44 miles from base camp. It wasn’t too bad – we did the setup the day before in record time (two hours to the second, from the start of loading to walking out of the hall, all done (including transport)). The layout was already quick to set up and we’ve made it even quicker. Once we get the new buildings glued down, we’re really going to be cooking. The show was fun. I guess our greatest shortcoming are the number of trains we can put out. Back in the […]

April 12, 2012

What’s wrong with this picture (DOG EAR)

So here’s me at the UCF Book Festival. What am I doing wrong? Oh, there are some positives. The big eye-catching cover art. The price marked on the elevated book. The handsome author. But what’s wrong? 1) The stack of books for sale are too far back on the table, right back with me. Anyone who wants to flip through them (why do you flip though books? What do you hope to find?) has to reach across the table. That mistake I noticed in the first 15 minutes when I saw how neighboring mystery author Rod Sanford had his, all […]

April 11, 2012

Fuckitnügen

I’ve absolutely had it. Look, I’ve only owned three cars in my life, a 73 Superbeetle (which I drove until it was wrecked in ’84), a ’79 280Z and, in 2000, a newly purchased NewBeetle. The NewBeetle I got in the exact same colors as my old one. Even had the grey seats swapped for black ones as part of the purchase deal. And I loved that car. How amazing, the technological changes twenty years make. The car seemed to drive itself. It was fun, it had a sun roof, it was a joy to drive. I even took it […]