Blog – Page 204 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

September 24, 2023

The MurderBot Diaries (Guest Review)

new series for me— the MurderBot Diaries by Martha Wells. In the first installment of the series “All Systems Red”, a half organic half robot security bot (who goes by his title ‘SecBot’) wishes to put in a minimal effort ‘half -assed job’ (by his own admission) at security, and be left alone by his human survey team protection charges so he can view his trove of downloaded soap operas. SecBot finds himself saving his humans and figuring out the complex plot to exterminate them all. Great interstellar adventure ensues as the bot gains both human attachments and grows in […]

September 28, 2023

OpsLog – LM&O – 9/27/2023

‘m sitting in my dark, dingy writer’s loft, smoking my metaphorical cigarette as I prepare for my character assassination hit. On the chipped and stained table before me, my M102 Blamethrower. I check the fuel level. Topped off. Taking that final drag, I engage in the time-honored memory flashbacks of the session. The screams. The collisions. The confusion. The helplessness. So many trains doing so many things wrong. My hands tremble. I shake the nightmares clear like under-layout cobwebs. I cannot do this. I cannot torch egos. Yeah, there were layout problems. It’s N-scale and there always will be. But […]

September 29, 2023

On Sheet – Superintendent

omething we do on our club layout. Look, it’s an old layout – been around for thirty years or more. And it’s N-scale, so it has it’s problems. And the original construction team was in a rush. So yes, it does have issues. Trains will derail. Sections might drop out. Things won’t work. So we designate someone – for the session – as the Superintendent. His job is to answer all questions. He also assists members who derail, get confused, need help. In this, it helps if he’s physically fit enough to climb under the railroad when needed to fetch […]

October 1, 2023

Bull, the Pulp Issue (Review)

his unlikely softcover was sitting in the “Buy one get one free” stack. Since I’d bought one and everything else in that stack was YA or woman-heartthrob stuff, I picked up this one. Inside the cover, the publisher (Bull) notes: “Bull is dedicated to examining & discussing modern masculinity: what works, what doesn’t, what needs to stay and what needs to go.” I’m not sure what that all means; I’m just in it for a good story. And The Pulp Issue is packed with those. It’s a crazy mix of Noir and Pulp tales, most of them placed in our […]

October 5, 2023

My Thoughts on Curbside Libraries (DOG EAR)

uddenly Curbside Libraries are popping up all over the place. Since I tend to walk a lot, I’ll pass them often and nose in, seeing if there is anything interesting. I hate to say it, but judging America’s reading levels, it is pretty bleak. Most of the time, it is grim. Generally there are two things in these boxes – children’s books (not beloved classics, but just general teach-a-lesson books) and utility books (cookbooks, self-help books, etc). Really, this is what you people read? A few years back, I was riding my bike and came across a stack of books […]

October 6, 2023

On Sheet – Codedancers

t all started two decades ago when a lot of people died. Well, not real people. Model railroad pretend people. Back then, our club used to use a big metal board (about six feet long) to keep track of trains (which were magnets). The dispatcher would move these about and dictate warrants from the situation he saw. A major problem occurs when you try this. I liked to write “hyperspace” warrants for passenger trains. You know, with the line clear, I’d write a warrant to get that train moving and stay moving across the division. The problem is that I […]

October 8, 2023

ShowLog – Deland – 10/7/2023

nteresting train show. For me, it started at 5am when I’m standing alone in the donut shop, that is alone but for the wizened old homeless guy standing right at my shoulder. “You into… trains?” he hiccuped. I thought, “Yeah, except for the hobo part”. Placed my order quick (you’ll notice the lack of selection this time) and blew out of there. The lady behind the counter didn’t like like the sort to take this sort of shit (along Rt 50, she probably has practice). Anyway, following our flawless setup at the Volusia County Fairgrounds (thanks, guys. You earned your […]

October 8, 2023

Destroyermen 5 : Rising Tides (Review)

o now I’m into the fifth of the Destroyermen series – only about ten more to go. And it’s been a long haul. As I mentioned elsewhere, Taylor Anderson’s unique series involves a four-stacker destroyer, plucked from early World War Two and placed in a world where humans occasionally fall into (where maybe the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs didn’t). Everyone thinks Final Countdown when they hear me speak of it. Anyway, the book continues to expand. It’s funny, but looking back to the first book, we only had a puny little map of the sea around Java. As Captain […]

October 16, 2023

OpsLog – La Mesa – 10/(12-13)/2023

ot the invite for an operations session over at La Mesa, one of the largest and more realistic operations sessions anywhere. For those who don’t know it, the La Mesa club sprawls across a significant amount of the Balboa Park Railroad Museum in San Diego (also filling two floors – yes, you climb 2% from one floor to the one above). The HO railroad is twenty-five scale miles long, modelling the run between Mojave to Bakersfield (including the famous Tehachapi Loop). The area is faithfully modelling the scenery from 1950s. And that is appropriate because the session simulates operations in […]

October 17, 2023

OpsLog – La Mesa – 10/14/2021

ur first day on the railroad. We started with the crews gathered and the home hoggers telling us what we needed to know and what was expected. The first was a two-man job up in Walong, just below the famous loop. Looked at Steve and asked if he wanted to start out together. Sure. So we grabbed the job, our bags, and headed out into the sun-fried hills of central California. We found ourselves on a PFE (Pacific Fruit Express) reefer block, just starting to thaw. It worked out that he’d get the front end (and the conductor duties) and […]