Snowman
Well-Known Member
I have by now gathered that you are writing a book. Have I missed something as to the theme, genre, plot or idea behind it all? If so (and I will assume I have), would you care to take the time to enlighten me?
Running Bear's October 2022 Coffee Shop
- Thread starter bnsf971
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Patrick
Alien Attitude.
Morning all on the rather frigid 26° start to the day.
Supposed to be 67° later today and in the upper 70's tomorrow and mid-upper 80's over the weekend. Freeze warnings out although anything not already covered has probably already frozen out as it dipped below freezing just after midnight. Hopefully it means the pollen season is over. Time for new allergies.
Had an interview yesterday, always stupid to say you're not interested. They already scheduled a second interview for Friday afternoon. Job sounds interesting enough that I agreed to do a second. May require some travel, which is something I did when the kids were small. Kind of miss being a road warrior. I went off the road in '98, so 24 years since then, but still have the wanna go someplace bug. Wife is and has become more so, a stay at home type. It does run in her family more than mine. After all we moved several times when I was young, the wife's parents died in the house they bought when she was born. Travel is always cheaper on someone else's dime. I probably just jinxed as possible way I'd get an offer...Pay is about 150% of what I currently make, so I can't just say no.
Snowman: Troy writes mystery novels. He probably would classify them further.
Troy: I have a sister that started writing historical romances and has written more mysteries of late. She does make a living at it.
Supposed to be 67° later today and in the upper 70's tomorrow and mid-upper 80's over the weekend. Freeze warnings out although anything not already covered has probably already frozen out as it dipped below freezing just after midnight. Hopefully it means the pollen season is over. Time for new allergies.
Had an interview yesterday, always stupid to say you're not interested. They already scheduled a second interview for Friday afternoon. Job sounds interesting enough that I agreed to do a second. May require some travel, which is something I did when the kids were small. Kind of miss being a road warrior. I went off the road in '98, so 24 years since then, but still have the wanna go someplace bug. Wife is and has become more so, a stay at home type. It does run in her family more than mine. After all we moved several times when I was young, the wife's parents died in the house they bought when she was born. Travel is always cheaper on someone else's dime. I probably just jinxed as possible way I'd get an offer...Pay is about 150% of what I currently make, so I can't just say no.
Snowman: Troy writes mystery novels. He probably would classify them further.
Troy: I have a sister that started writing historical romances and has written more mysteries of late. She does make a living at it.
Snowman
Well-Known Member
Historical romances. But more mysteries of late?
When it comes to historical authors of note, the one I would first think of would be Wilbur Smith. IIRC Steven King has said of Smith: "He's the best historical author."
Which is as good as far as it goes, I guess, because, while I know of Steven King's reputation, I have never read a single word he ever wrote, other than what I just quoted above. Go figure.
Of course, I never get the memo, either. Not always the last, no. But usually among the last.
When it comes to historical authors of note, the one I would first think of would be Wilbur Smith. IIRC Steven King has said of Smith: "He's the best historical author."
Which is as good as far as it goes, I guess, because, while I know of Steven King's reputation, I have never read a single word he ever wrote, other than what I just quoted above. Go figure.
Of course, I never get the memo, either. Not always the last, no. But usually among the last.
TLOC
Well-Known Member
I used to be a buyer of what I liked. Impulse buying was normal. Rarely did I have a plan until Walthers started coming out with those structured kits for an industry. Purchased the PaperMills kits, Ethanol and Steel Mill as part of that subscription series. Every month something new came out.
But, when I finally focused on a time period, 2005 then 2015 and now back to 2005 is when I am having the most enjoyment in model railroading. I sold everything off that didn’t fit 2005 x 2015 and the impluse buy because I like it is gone. YMMV
I have a list of “want“, “must have” and “maybe” (really great sale price) of items for the layout on the IPhone and IPadPros. Since I rarely am without the phone I always have the list and it helps prevent the mistakes.
Our purchasing differences is what keeps the hobby healthy. I respect whatever a modeler does as it is an individual hobby for most
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TLOC
Well-Known Member
Troy is our wordsmith.
As Patrick responded he writes mysteries. Send him a PM via the forum nail and he’ll give you the names of the books and where to buy them
TLOC
Well-Known Member
Patrick, I agree you have to look into good offers, you never know. Maybe you could end up taking the wife along on the road trips. Terry before the kids and then when we were empty nesters and she was retired would occasionally come along on business trips. Those were fun!
I don’t believe in luck because you have to earn good fortune but best to you on the 2nd interview
troyphoto
Snarky Old Fart (in training)
Books. I'm an indie author that publishes Witchy Paranormal Cozy Mysteries on Amazon. Think: Murder She Wrote, set in a Harry Potter style of world.
Rules of the genre: No swearing (well, we can use fudge and darn... but dropping a Hell! or Dammit! needs to have everyone around be shocked! Shocked I say! that someone actually used the word.
No on-page gore. You can say how someone died.... but no description of blood pools, body parts not connected any longer, etc
No on-page sex. Fade to black. A simple kiss is all that's needed.
And a murder. And a snarky talking cat or two. And some magic. Maybe a mermaid. Or four. And an old Chinese wizard with a sweet tooth. And pixies. Gotta have pixies.
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logandsawman
Well-Known Member
Good morning, a chilly 18° and clear. Again, did not have to scrape the burby but all the trucks at work have frosty windows. Gonna have to google it and see how that works, frost forms sometime after I leave home?
Troy - coffee and cat (preferably on the lap), that is the cat on the lap. Or is it the cat in the hat? oh my!
Electric costs - we get buy for less than $100 per month, last month $67 and we have an elec. hot water heater. Our home is only 1250 sq ft and brand new with R-50 in the ceiling and high efficiency furnace. Heat - we do propane, but also have the wood fireplace going most weekends and some evenings. Last year spent $850 on propane for the heating season. We get by pretty inexpensively.
Hobby cost - since the layout is pretty far along do not spend much on the hobby right now, maybe $65 per month. I found that labor intensive projects really keep that number down. In light of that, I still have several kits to build and half done stuff to finish, never at a loss for something to do.
Patrick - something appealing to me about working on the road as well. I was on the road for 10 years prior to marriage and off and on early into it. Recently had a job solicitation to work for a major Auction house appraising construction equipment, sounds very interesting but I know my wife does not want me on the road right now so will pass.
Todd - my project will only cost $1380; (I do all the dirt work, leveling, and form setting) however we are on a pay as you go philosophy and with other expenses going up we are very careful with our spending right now.
back later, Dave LASM
Troy - coffee and cat (preferably on the lap), that is the cat on the lap. Or is it the cat in the hat? oh my!
Electric costs - we get buy for less than $100 per month, last month $67 and we have an elec. hot water heater. Our home is only 1250 sq ft and brand new with R-50 in the ceiling and high efficiency furnace. Heat - we do propane, but also have the wood fireplace going most weekends and some evenings. Last year spent $850 on propane for the heating season. We get by pretty inexpensively.
Hobby cost - since the layout is pretty far along do not spend much on the hobby right now, maybe $65 per month. I found that labor intensive projects really keep that number down. In light of that, I still have several kits to build and half done stuff to finish, never at a loss for something to do.
Patrick - something appealing to me about working on the road as well. I was on the road for 10 years prior to marriage and off and on early into it. Recently had a job solicitation to work for a major Auction house appraising construction equipment, sounds very interesting but I know my wife does not want me on the road right now so will pass.
Todd - my project will only cost $1380; (I do all the dirt work, leveling, and form setting) however we are on a pay as you go philosophy and with other expenses going up we are very careful with our spending right now.
back later, Dave LASM
TLOC
Well-Known Member
Good morning from a chilled but warming So. Central Wisconsin. 24f/ -4.44c degrees now heading to 45/7.2 this afternoon. The wind today is only running at 7 mph making the wind chill feel like 16f/-8.8c. Like Troy mentioned about Fort Wayne, Indiana my portion of Cheeseland will hit 70’s Friday and Saturday.
Today’s agenda is, vacuum, Train room and treadmill.
Almost missed an appointment yesterday. Thanks be to the calendar alarm, I made it. Met with my diabetic nutritionist who was kind of upset I am still taking Gliperzide. She is the one in January who told me and my Endocrinologist to cut me back from 10mg a day to 5. Because my A1C numbers have dropped she said she would let the Endocrinologist know that she told me to stop taking it. I told her to please notify me of the Endocrinologist response when she’s back from vacation. The diabetic nutritionist said she’s been working from home and responds a few times a day. I kept my mouth shut (rare) and didn’t tell her that her boss is in Hawaii with my wife and 2 others.
The goal now is to accelerate the miserably slow weight loss. I have reached that plateau area. By eliminating the Gliperzide that alone should help me drop 10#’s in the next 12 weeks. Now I switch from religiously counting every carb and count calories religiously without losing sight of the carb count. Without exercise she wants the calorie consumption at 1800. 200-300 for breakfast, same for lunch, 300 for total snacks and 900 for dinner. A high day without deducting exercise calories would be 2200. 190# is the goal which is another 18 to go that I have been struck at since June. She will let my PT/trainer know the new goals and they will work out a different exercise program for me. More strength training along with the continued swimming. I feel new
soreness coming!
I now have to eliminate the newly added protein, 3 pork sausages I started with breakfast twice last week. 450 calories with my yogurt and canola. I added them for additional taste and no real countable carbs. Last week calories were not the major concern.
Enjoy the day
Today’s agenda is, vacuum, Train room and treadmill.
Almost missed an appointment yesterday. Thanks be to the calendar alarm, I made it. Met with my diabetic nutritionist who was kind of upset I am still taking Gliperzide. She is the one in January who told me and my Endocrinologist to cut me back from 10mg a day to 5. Because my A1C numbers have dropped she said she would let the Endocrinologist know that she told me to stop taking it. I told her to please notify me of the Endocrinologist response when she’s back from vacation. The diabetic nutritionist said she’s been working from home and responds a few times a day. I kept my mouth shut (rare) and didn’t tell her that her boss is in Hawaii with my wife and 2 others.
The goal now is to accelerate the miserably slow weight loss. I have reached that plateau area. By eliminating the Gliperzide that alone should help me drop 10#’s in the next 12 weeks. Now I switch from religiously counting every carb and count calories religiously without losing sight of the carb count. Without exercise she wants the calorie consumption at 1800. 200-300 for breakfast, same for lunch, 300 for total snacks and 900 for dinner. A high day without deducting exercise calories would be 2200. 190# is the goal which is another 18 to go that I have been struck at since June. She will let my PT/trainer know the new goals and they will work out a different exercise program for me. More strength training along with the continued swimming. I feel new
soreness coming!
I now have to eliminate the newly added protein, 3 pork sausages I started with breakfast twice last week. 450 calories with my yogurt and canola. I added them for additional taste and no real countable carbs. Last week calories were not the major concern.
Enjoy the day
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Smudge617
Well-Known Member
I've accumulated so many now, geep 9's to the more modern loco's, no rhyme or reason or era to it, but nearly all my OO are LNER steam with a few class 37 Growlers (1960's) thrown in. I nèed to catalogue mine and definately need to thin them out I feel more like a collector now,
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
If you ask really really nicely, he may be able to drop a link to his last book in which a few of us made an appearance, which considering it's not my usual genre, I really enjoyed, and look forward to reading more.
troyphoto
Snarky Old Fart (in training)
I'm writing the sequel that one now. The two mini-dragons are attempting to convince a high end cuisine and dining critic to review the gastronomical delights of the under-appreciated Chili-Cheese-Dog.
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
If I had the space, I'd display most of mine, I just like the look of them, and run them whenever I'm in the mood, problem with having so many and not being able to see them, you forget what you have and up with two or more.Makes you sort of a wanna-be collector. You do realize....
But that's cool. And, whether you want the DD40 or not, I can't fail to have noticed your own layout rebuild. You are rockin' it too. What you have now is very much better, IMO. Not that it's a contest, but...I think we all want to progress, even if measured only against ourselves.
This hobby has something to offer for everyone. What you want to make of it is right there, and for the taking. Collect, build, plan, fail, build, plan, change, re-do...whatever. It's all there.
But you have to pay for it...cut through the bubble wrap and the molded plastic cover...and start working on it. Detail parts. Paint. Weather.
Whatever. Find your DD40 demo unit. I hope you do.
Just own it.
I can't say I've ever really planned a layout, I get an idea, I'll try it out and ask for comments, and, thanks to the forum members, I've ended up with the present one, which for what it is, I'm quite proud of.
Also I'm getting into the scenic side of thing's, something I wasn't interested in before, but seeing what can be done has piqued my interest (I'm not a YouTube fan), and now I'm building structures, painting, trying my hand at diorama's, weathering, building actual models from kit's, all something I've never thought about doing. So this hobby can make you go off in all sorts of directions you never thought of before.
Yes it costs money, but you can't take it with you anyway. I look at it this way, I get more hours of enjoyment per $ than most other hobbies.
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
Don't forget to let everyone know when, looking forward to see how this one turns out.
Boris
Beach Bum
Mike:
No the water pump is not where the problem is. It gets flushed out twice a year because there is a build up of slime. The water accumulates under the aprilaire.
I actually disconnected the holder part, took it outside and flushed it to get the calcium and crud off of it. Reinstalled it making sure it was square then connected the new drain tube and tightened it. I did not see a crack. Replaced the filter, and put everything back together and turned it on. No leaks....then another episode. I am assuming, if there was a crack, it would almost continually leak each use. But no, only on occasion. I'm totally stumped. There is really not that much to the unit, it's rather a simple application.
chadbag
Well-Known Member
He just runs his own railroad... I have an assortment of various non related trains and I just run them together
McLeod
Forest Lurker
Good morning!
Thank you for all the comments and suggestions on what to do with that broken tank car.
Just so you know, it will be repaired. I like it too much to leave it as a road wreck.
I mean to repair that tank car, along with all the stuff I broke yesterday, on 'repair what you broke day', which is coming up this weekend.
Yes, I was installing 4 more low profile LED's over the dimly lit wing of the layout, and there were casualties on what little I've built on the layout.
I tried to watch how I was moving my butt around while sitting on top installing lights, but, I'm just not all that agile anymore.
The casualties are all from the oil dealership:
It's all light damage and will be easy enough to repair.
I did manage to get those 4 LED's installed. It's bright enough now, where I can see a pencil mark I put on the layout and take photos hand-held, instead of the camera mounted on a tripod.
I knew I should have done that before putting stuff down. Didn't have the lights at the time, though.
Sometimes I've gotta change what I've done; sometimes I don't.
I'm in it for the modelling of structures, figures and landscape. There's a railroad involved because the story is told around the railroad, and the railroad requires so much modelling in itself.
The fact is, I like tractors and airplanes as much as I like the railroad. The railroad, though, gives a bigger story to work with.
Well, I'm starting to get carried away. Suppose I'd better get doing something.
Have a great day everyone!
Thank you for all the comments and suggestions on what to do with that broken tank car.
Just so you know, it will be repaired. I like it too much to leave it as a road wreck.
I mean to repair that tank car, along with all the stuff I broke yesterday, on 'repair what you broke day', which is coming up this weekend.
Yes, I was installing 4 more low profile LED's over the dimly lit wing of the layout, and there were casualties on what little I've built on the layout.
I tried to watch how I was moving my butt around while sitting on top installing lights, but, I'm just not all that agile anymore.
The casualties are all from the oil dealership:
It's all light damage and will be easy enough to repair.
I did manage to get those 4 LED's installed. It's bright enough now, where I can see a pencil mark I put on the layout and take photos hand-held, instead of the camera mounted on a tripod.
I knew I should have done that before putting stuff down. Didn't have the lights at the time, though.
That's what I'm doing. No real plan or layout diagram to work off. Just build something while kinda knowing what I want and seeing if it works.
Sometimes I've gotta change what I've done; sometimes I don't.
I'm in it for the modelling of structures, figures and landscape. There's a railroad involved because the story is told around the railroad, and the railroad requires so much modelling in itself.
The fact is, I like tractors and airplanes as much as I like the railroad. The railroad, though, gives a bigger story to work with.
Well, I'm starting to get carried away. Suppose I'd better get doing something.
Have a great day everyone!
chadbag
Well-Known Member
I am not really familiar with these sorts of things but it sounds like condensation to me. You get a high humidity day with appropriately high dew point. You are in a humid part of the world.
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
I got some strange "looks" when I ran my OO LNER steam in front of my US. freight cars.He just runs his own railroad... I have an assortment of various non related trains and I just run them together
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
So when do we get to see something your currently working on.
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