robert.admin – Page 225 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

January 26, 2012

OpsLog – LM&O – 1/25/2012

Last night’s session started at 7:40pm and ran until 10:15pm. But not really. It actually started at 10pm a week before when Mark John and I worked the lading slips for every freight car across the line. The three industrial areas were easy; just flip whatever cars you wished to indicate their completed loading/unloading. The staging was a little more difficult: we had to inspect the car numbers to make sure the right cars were on the right trains, THEN replace the waybills in the correct cars. Martin Classification Yard was the worst; either an overwhelmed yardmaster or joyriding operators had scrambled things. […]

January 23, 2012

Winchester Law (Review)

I’m in the middle of Arabian Nights right now, a long slow slog (though there are gems of wisdom scattered throughout). While trying to get Early ReTyrement seated at a local bookstore, I ended up picking up a couple of used novels, including this old 1988 western by Doyle Trent. I’m not going to review Winchester Law as much as I’m going to review the lost passion of Western writing. I read through the yarn and found long periods where nothing happened. Bill Williams staked out his land. He bought wire. He strung it up. He worried about where the […]

January 15, 2012

Pandemonium (Review)

What would you do if the earth broke apart under your feet, the sky turned black and the mountains fell upon the multitudes around you? Well, if you were a writer, you’d write about it! I mentioned the exibit of John Martin’s paintings HERE, all the biblical end-of-the-world, fire-and-brimstone you could cram into your eyeballs. While there, I picked up Pandemonium / Stories of the Apocalypse, a little set of end-of-the-word short stories marketed to go along with Martin’s display. Now, I’ve read EOTW stories before. Last year while in a down mood, I got two anthologies, one on the […]

January 12, 2012

Share the road?

Strange thing today. Rolling up the Lake Destiny frontage road (a two-lane road with nice clean bike lanes on either side). Saw I was overtaking a rider with a yellow reflective jacket – one like I’d like to get (mine’s orange, too small and not very reflective). But strange, I noticed that the cars were all slowing down, touching their brakes as they passed him. Eventually I drew up behind him and then I saw a couple of things. One: He had “Share the Road” across the back of his vest. Okay, that’s groovy. Two: He was turning up his […]

January 10, 2012

Best of British

Popular western (i.e. American) culture holds that the English are a fragile, cultured (even socialist) lot while we’re a brawny, can-do bunch. But nothing could be further from the truth. In my recent trip to London, I observed countless English cycle commuters making their way to work, in absolutely frigid temperatures with light rain forecast. Yes, driving in the city is a pain and you pay a congestion fee (something like ten bucks a day) so maybe they are forced to ride. Whatever. But I saw men and women riding in, doing what it took to get them where they […]

January 8, 2012

ShowLog – Deland – 1/8/2012

The Jacksonville lift bridge is rattling from a constant stream of rail traffic, so much so that the draw bridge has been down for two days straight. More amazing – if you looked into the cabs of the huge Genesis, Dash-9s and Big Boys, you’d find a 10 year old boy or girl at the throttle and a grinning older conductor sitting back in the brakeman seat, enjoying the ride. It’s our second performance for the new layout at Deland, a great showplace for our new techniques and efforts. Since last time, we expanded scenery 12 feet (the urban Jacksonville […]

January 5, 2012

The eighteen percent solution

“So, my good Watson, allow me to explain how I deduced Lord Witherwank was behind this entire deplorable affair… I say, Watson, are you listening?” “Eh, Wot, Holmes? Sorry, was rather involved in my medical journals.” “But I was explaining my most recent case. And you aren’t even listening.” “I say, Holmes; I am not some sort of…. literary foil for you to explain things to. I am a doctor, with other responsibilities.” “But Lord Witherwank… The stolen jewels… The comb missing but a single tooth…” “Oh, grow up, Sherlock. I can’t always be here as an audience to your […]

January 2, 2012

London – Day Seven – Shopping and Movies

All alone. Pat is gone, flying back this morning. Mike and his girls are doing the Zoo (something we’d enjoyed, but JB felt a touch under the weather (and the weather, itself, is turning very cold)). Its a long way across open ground to the zoo. We pass. Off to Notting Hill, an open air shopping district made popular by Hugh Grant’s movie. It’s pretty neat, too. Just blocks and blocks of marketplace stalls. JB wanted something for her sister and I tagged along. Ended up buying chocolate for the work mob (actually noticed that some of them were past […]

January 1, 2012

London – Day Six – Apocalypse and Train Tickets

Yes, let’s get this one started right! Look at the sinners sliding into the abyss! Look at the mountains falling on top of them! Check out that city that has flipped over and is screaming down to pulp a million people beneath it, even as it breaks apart. Unlike the movie 2012 with LA at a 20 degree tilt, this is 130 degrees! Wow! First things first – Mike & Co were still up north. Pat had all sorts of things she wanted to see (fare thee well). JB and I wanted to do the Tate Britain and see what […]

December 31, 2011

London – Day Five – Loops and Tates

So it was just the Italy Trio, JB, Pat and I. Funny thing but we duplicated a day from an earlier trip. First off, since the day was cold and clear, the London Eye. I must be getting older – I used to dangle 2000 feet in the air in an ultralight. Now the trip up the eye gave me a bit of vertigo. Nothing bad – focused on pictures and forced my mind to be logical (the damn thing is not going to pop off the hub and roll along the embankment!). Got some nice shots, too. There were […]