An Afternoon At The Catoctin Central RR

My oldest and I visited the Catoctin Central Railroad in Frederick recently. It's a large HO gauge train layout built by the Frederick County Society of Model Engineers (FCSME) on the east side of town. They were having one of their regular free open houses (donations accepted).

The layout's housed in an old Chesapeake & Ohio rail car originally used to transport race horses. It runs nearly the full length of the 70' rail car. There's also a G gauge garden layout outside that was running and a big hit with kids despite the drizzle.

Touring the layout was fun...we went through three times to make sure we caught as many details as possible. Members of the club gladly answered questions and one even showed us how to use an old telegraph. We'll definitely visit again and I'm adding this to my list of favorite things in Frederick County.

The Voyage Ends - Completed the Master & Commander Series

About six years ago I discovered Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian. It was when the movie based on the books came out. From the previews, the movie looked like one I'd enjoy...action, adventure, thrilling naval battles; and I was curious to read the book before seeing the movie.

That book was like no other I'd read before. It engaged and challenged me as a reader, immersing me into the time period and action of the story. Many historical fiction authors write their characers' dialogues in modern language, but not O'Brian. His characters speak like they would have at the dawn of the 19th century. Add on the unfamiliar vernacular of a ship's crew and the occasional Latin or French phrases and there's a learning curve.

It wasn't easy at first but the more I read, the more I enjoyed O'Brian's writing style and mastery of story telling. I yearned to discover what would happen next. I was hooked and became an avid reader of the series. I even started catching myself wanting to use language from the books in regular conversations some times.

So why did it take me 6 years to finish? Life happens. I typically read 2-3 in a row then took a break. These aren't books to be read in 10 minute bites, so I'd wait to start the next one until I knew I could devote time to reading. And along the way I read other books, including O'Brian's biography.

Sadly, O'Brian passed away while writing book #21. His unfinished manuscript of nearly 3 chapters was published posthumously. I don't know if O'Brian intended it to be the final book of the series, but those three chapters make it seem so. Events are going well for Aubrey and Maturin (professionally and personally) and it's easy for a fan of the series to picture them living out their lives happy in their pursuits. O'Brian would've kept them busy, of course, and thrown a few twists in their paths. It was a premature but fitting end to the series.

I got a little melancholy while reading the last couple books, knowing that the end was approaching. Now that I'm done, I miss the characters and their thrilling adventures. At some point I'll go back and re-read select books, maybe the whole series. I've already listened to the audio book version of Master and Commander. That was fun because I got to hear how many words I'd been pronouncing wrong in my head. For now, I'm going to read one of O'Brian's pre-Aubrey/Maturin naval adventures, The Golden Ocean.

Survivor Samoa - The Best Survivor Ever

And it's all because of Russell H. Without him, this season would've been mediocre at best. But with him...we've watched smart, brazen game play and suspenseful blind sides nearly every week.

He's played the game harder and better than anyone before him. He eliminated threats quickly, formed good relationships, found 3 immunity idols (2 without clues!! no one's done that before), masterminded multiple tribal council blindsides and led Foa Foa to the near total obliteration of the former Galu tribe. It helps that most of his competition was overly confident and played like they never saw the show before applying.

Galu had an 8-4 advantage at the merge and now they're down 1-4. They're so inept and bad at this game that they couldn't get rid of a single Foa Foa! Watching the tide turn so dramatically was fun. If Russell S. hadn't left due to health issues, Galu might've had a fighting chance.

I don't know what'll happen in Sunday's finale, but it should be good. No one can win against Russell in the final two, he's earned every vote. If Jaison and Mick want any chance at winning, they better work with Brett to vote Russ off at the first tribal council.

What do you think? Leave a comment below or go cast your vote for your favorite Survivor season.

Wendy's Drive Thru Update

Wendy's lost my business last year when they were misleading about the size choices at the drive thru. Today I gave Wendy's a second chance and am glad to say they passed!

This time the cashier asked if I wanted "small, medium or large" and he asked another customer the same when I pulled up to pay. The spicy chicken sandwich is pretty good, too.

First Snow of the Season!

Woke up today and last night's drizzle had turned to snow! Big wet flakes, the kind that really cling to the trees, and lots of 'em...close to 6 inches by dark.

Fortunately I didn't have to go anywhere and could enjoy it. Watching it snow out the back window while rowing before breakfast made the workout go quicker. Later on came sledding and lots of shoveling.

An early snow fall's the perfect way to start getting in the Christmas spirit. Makes it feel like winter and we should be out singing Christmas carols and what not.

Now if only the local TV station would take down their annoying "winter weather advisory" logo...seriously, anyone can look outside and see the wintry weather. It's not breaking news.

Guy Gets Paid For Getting Dressed In The Morning!

Saw this article about Jason Sadler who basically gets paid to wear a t-shirt every day. He founded I Wear Your Shirt and hires himself out to wear a different company's t-shirt each day, take some pics and post online about it.

He made over $80,000 this year! That's good money for maybe a few hours' effort each day. And he already has more than half of next year's days sold out.

This is a brilliant idea, and I wish I'd thought of it. Not sure how scalable it'll be...he's doubled his fee and added a 2nd t-shirt wearer on the West coast. But it's a sweet side business and must give him tons of freedom to pursue other things.

What I like best about this is it exemplifies one of many things that make America great. Anyone with a good idea and the initiative to make it real can be successful...even in challenging economic times. Congrats, Jason, well done!

Shaolin Warriors Invade Maryland

Yesterday we saw the Shaolin Warriors perform at the Maryland Theatre in Hagerstown. They're a group of Shaolin disciples from China demonstrating their mastery of kung fu.

Most of the show was choreographed fight sequences with performances of individual stunts and skills mixed in. The discipline and athleticism of these guys is amazing. They did all kinds of jumps with crazy flips yet made it look effortless, appearing to move in slow motion through the air. It was impressive and fun to watch.

It's a family friendly show. We took our little one and there was a part of the show where they brought about 25 kids from the audience on stage to teach them a form.

I couldn't find a full schedule of their tour locations so check your paper or StubHub for a Shaolin Warriors show near you. If you'd like to learn about life as a Shaolin disciple, read the book American Shaolin by Matthew Polly. It's a fun read about an American who travels to the Shaolin Temple and trains to become a Shaolin monk.

Here's the show's promotional video from the theater:


This was also our first visit to the Maryland Theatre. It's a beautiful old theater built in 1915. Very intimate and nostalgic with ornate decorations, balcony box seats and vaudeville era organs. You don't find that kind of character in today's mega-plex theaters. We'll look for more shows to see there.