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Monday 21 August 2017

A brief progress report

Despite the diversions that presented themselves over the weekend (a trip to Faversham and a lunch out with friends that involved the purchase of a new book), I've still been make slow progress with my two main current projects ... re-writing my book about the Spanish Civil War and playing around with my Heroscape terrain.

The book now has nearly 250 pages and is still growing. I will be going through the whole text to undertake revisions once I have finished writing the first complete new draft, but for the moment well over 75% of the book is at a stage where it could be published tomorrow, and what remains to be done is mostly to double (and in some case triple) check the data I have already added or hope to add.

On the Heroscape front I am still experimenting with the colours I am going to use to paint my existing hex tiles. I think that I am going to use grass green for the majority of them , with a darker green for woods and a light green for soft going/marshes. I may also try to find a further shade of green that is similar to grass green to add to my paint pallet so that all the 'standard' hex tiles are not absolutely uniform in colour.

As to my other projects ... well renovating, varnishing, and basing my collection of 25/28mm Napoleonic figures is currently 'on hold', as is work on my NAPOLEONIC PORTABLE WARGAME book. I am still slowly acquiring bits and pieces for my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project and have plans to resurrect my somewhat moribund Colonial endeavours.

I am really glad that I am retired; at least I now have the time to devote my energies to thinking about and working on so many potential projects!

10 comments:

  1. Best thing a chap can do is retire.
    I started work at 15 and by 17 I knew that my life's quest was retirement :)
    It took another 43 years but was worth the wait!
    Looking forward to the colonial projects :)

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    Replies
    1. Nobby,

      What I cannot understand are people who say 'I don't know what I am going to do with my time when I retire'! Nowadays my days are generally so full that I cannot understand how I did as much as I did whilst I was working!

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. Bob
      I managed to retire at an obscenely young age and I've not found it to be any problem! Various people have looked on sympathetically insisting that I must miss the adrenaline and challenge of my (moderately high powered/responsible) job. No, not in the slightest - from the very first Friday I didn't go in.

      Anyway on another note, I understand that you have some proof readers in place for your books but I know a bit about the SCW, read Spanish reasonably and have proofread quite a lot of pages of magazine articles. If you need another pair of eyes (with semi detached brain) please get in touch (although I am not around for the next week).

      Cheers

      Andrew

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    3. Rumblestrip (Andrew),

      I was made redundant in 2001 at the age of 51, and part of my redundancy package was to get a small payout and immediate access to my occupational pension.

      Rather than sit at home (something my wife objected to as she was still working!) I set up an agency to supply specialist educational advisors to local schools and colleges. My wife joined the agency in 2003 and we ran it until 2014, when we decided to stop and take things easy. We have not regretted stopping at any time since.

      Thanks for your kind offer to proof-read my book. I may well take you up on it ... once I have finally finished it!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. Glad to see that you enjoy your retirement Bob. I would like to ask your thoughts on blog labels. Do you have a method behind them? Why none on figure scale? Cheers. A. Jeff Butler, NW Arkansas.

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    Replies
    1. A. Jeff Butler,

      Do I have any thoughts about blog labels? That is a good question ... and the answer is that there is no method behind them at all.

      When I begin to find that I have a topic that is likely to have blog entries that will recur, I add a blog label. In some case I have done this retrospectively, but this is relatively rare.

      Why none on figure scale? Well I did think of it when I had reached just over 500 blog entries, but going back and adding them was too large a chore at the time, and I have just never got around to it. With the number of blog entries I have written now over 3,250, I somehow don't think that I ever will!

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. Thanks for the fast response Bob. I asked because I am reworking mine. Have a good evening.

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    3. A. Jeff Butler,

      Glad to have been of assistance. Good luck with revising your blog.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  3. Sounds excellent, I am envious of time like this to devote to projects. The Spanish Civil War book sounds interesting; it's a period that has never captured my interest until this year when I read For Whom The Bell Tolls for the first time. Very interested to hear more about this project as it takes shape.

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    Replies
    1. Colonel Scipio,

      The Spanish Civil War has a unique appeal, and once it gets under your skin it is very difficult to ignore it. I've been doing research since the 1970s, when accurate data and written sources were difficult to get hold of. Luckily the first edition of Hugh Thomas's book was available, and that was an excellent starting point for me.

      All the best,

      Bob

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