robert.admin – Page 237 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

May 22, 2011

Birthing agonies

I’m really getting tired of this POD (print on demand) world. The first time around, when I did the agent-publisher deal, it was so easy. I signed a contract, the publishers changed the cover without telling me, they gave me a single day to review the final cut, and then the publisher died as it hit the shelf, the company went into chapter seven and I didn’t get a dime. Nice and straightforward. This POD stuff is supposed to be easy. I signed onto CreateSpace and then got a book about it. Found out well into the book that CS […]

May 21, 2011

OpsLog – Central Georgia RR – 5/21/2011

Conflict is part of the drama of being human. It runs through our lives and our literature. Even in model railroad ops, where we all work in a make-believe world, all working towards the same successful economic conclusion (efficient transportation), there is conflict. Crews have to vie for the dispatcher’s limited time. The dispatcher juggles scarce resources (sidings and time) to get trains over the road. Even in the operations arena, the players are trying to do the best job, if only for the cred it brings, the ego boost, the possibility of further invites. It’s all about efficiency, which […]

May 21, 2011

Rapture

From the silly radio dramma of Captain Kemmen of Star Core. A bomb is about to detonate, one that cannot be stopped and will destroy the entire universe. Three… Two… One… (long pause) Carla: “Well, isn’t that amazing… Heaven is just like that room we were just in.” Happy Rapture Day, you silly holy-rollers.

May 18, 2011

Forced Perspective

Got assaulted (as Oddball said about Tiger Tanks) by traffic the other day. This caused me to toss a hypothetical onto Facebook, a trick question with a tripwire rant-trap. Thus: Assume there is a new law where if you struck and injured a bicyclist with your car, your oldest child would have the same injuries surgically introduced to their body. So, would you drive any safer? The answer should be, no, I’m driving as carefully as I can, and I treat every cyclist with the same care as I would my own family. The instinctive answer – Yes – would […]

May 15, 2011

OpsLog – Nebraska Division – 5/15/2011

It’s been a rather uneventful shift on the dispatcher panel. Sunday afternoon and I’m sitting upstairs while the boys roll through North Platte and Denver. On my laptop control panel, I track them across the division – it’s brisk but if you keep the plates spinning fast, they never slow down. Nearly 4pm now (almost midnight in the simulated world). Got a couple of trains rolling up the hill towards Denver and the Denver local running home to Bailey Yard. Two BNSF runs are merging in, looking for trackage rights west. Things are suddenly tensing up all along the western […]

May 15, 2011

Eden

Before 2004, our side yard was shaded by twin oaks and lush with ferns. In the evenings, it was nice to sit on the deck and watch Prince (our huge black-and-white Persian) blast upwards like Shamu in pursuit of geckos. With 2004 came Hurricane Charlie, a killer storm that missed us by 2 miles. The oaks were toppled. The ferns that were not crushed directly by the trees or their subsequent removal burned off in the sun. Weeds began to take over the lot. We tried everything. We whacked and cut. I planted rows of corn but the bugs ate […]

May 9, 2011

Opslog – Longwood & Sweetwater – 5/9/2011

It’s feast or famine with ops attendance sometimes. This weekend’s session, we had a number of no-shows. Tonight the L&S looked like a popular nightclub – the room was packed, close, and very hot. Trains were going out with two-man crews (or husband-and-Kimmy crews) to get their work done. I crossed my name off the engineer’s list, picking instead to run over to Hunt Club with Engineer Steve. He was an old hand at ops, so mostly my job was keeping the paperwork straight and lining turnouts from a distant panel. Easy enough. We clattered home with plenty of time. […]

May 8, 2011

Art, art, art….

Been working on finding illustrators for Early Retyrement. Ugh, what an effort. I’ve signed up with Elance to look through their stacks. And yes, while it’s great that they have bazillions of illustrators, they don’t have much of a search tool. I need a graphic illustrator with a fine touch and a cartoony air. But even with searching specifically for “Illustrator” and “Cartoon”, I’m getting product designers, kiddybook illustrator, restored-plane noseart specialists. That’s 2400 results, with no way to even know what they have unless I click on a name, click on the portfolio, then click on likely art to […]

May 8, 2011

Saturday morning errands

I’d done a spreadsheet train-thingee for Doc Andy and it was misbehaving. Since Mookie the cat needed more food, I told him to bring it into his clinic Saturday and I’d come by. Since Interlachen Animal Hospital only 5.3 miles away, it would make a nice morning ride. One of the advantages of being green and living urban. Since I’ve picked up my commuting (2-3 times a week) I have really not run many pleasure rides as of late. This would be one. Got onto Corrine and had a sort of “nudist feeling”, how everything feels light and airy. And […]

May 8, 2011

Early ReTyrement

How brilliant the sea looks today, Patisbazos mused from the manor’s high window, looking across the city’s thick rampart to the sparkling Mediterranean. Even more so without the black hulls of foreign triremes. He was a tall man, thin as a mast. His dark hair and beard were tightly curled in the manner of his Persian overlords, his clothing Medic in origin. His flowing white robe, cinched with a wide belt, ended at mid-thigh to expose trousered legs. His head was topped by a spherical felt cap tailed by a ribbon of white silk. The western sun flashed upon the […]