August 19th, 2009

Duhh!

I released about a zillion truck models and, low and behold, I missed the obvious AGAIN!

There are supposed to be two versions of each semi rig, one for the car spawner and one "scenic detail". The major difference between the two is that the car spawner rigs are one integrated unit. As far as I know it is impossible (if not EXTREMELY difficult) to have use two separate objects in the car spawner and run them together as one. I think the car spawner is an all or nothing proposition. You can't tell a certain two shapes to run together with having all the other shapes do the same thing. You either get trailers running down the highway by themselves or a multi car collision.

Be that as it may, it never occurred to yours truly that a user might like to use both versions in the same route. A person might one to have a Gulf tanker "jacked" into a loading zone while another whizzes by on the highway. That person would REALLY like it if the two version had DIFFERENT NAMES so he could use both of them WITHOUT OVERWRITING any files.

Needless to say, there is a revised version of the car spawner semi's on the way.

Some of the 178's have been released too. The first one was the "Bing Crosby" Railway Express truck with the big Chesterfield ad on the side. The first Twin, a LASME 178 towing a dollied semi is also in the Elvas Tower library.  As usual I realized there were some goof-ups in it AFTER I uploaded, so there will be a revised version of that too. Some people don't like there straight trucks with landing gear hanging down out of nowhere, especially since straight trucks DON'T HAVE LANDING GEAR!

"If I only had a brain"...

I also started working on replacing the WA series in earnest and stalled on the first model, the "Oyster" truck. The truck has a kind of classy cream over burgundy paint scheme. The problem is repainting a WH-4 in those colors. The cream is doable, it's the burgundy that causes trouble. I think I have found a way to accomplish this (learning a LOT about Paint Shop Pro these days), but in the meantime I accidentally created a cream over silver truck that I really like. Sometimes these "serendipitous" occurrences can be a pain. Just when you thought you have a handle on things and can move on to the next project you come across yet another variant. You have to decide whether to pursuing the "tangent" or go with the "plan" (What plan?). It's one sure way to end up with more jobs on the back burner. Either way you choose something will not get done.

If I go on with the trucks, the cars will fall further behind. The 1935 Lincoln Zephyr will never get done, nor will all the Ford (or Mercury) sedans that will be based on it. This means the 1940 Ford Coupe and all its variants will also sit idle. Then there are all those other projects already growing cob webs at the back of the stove. What happens to the Quills, Zephyrs, Rockets, Aerotrains, etc, etc, etc.  It's great to have the chance and ability to create all these models. It's just that...

So I'm whining in my beer because I have enough going in this one hobby to keep me busy for generations.  It's pretty much the same in my other hobbies too. All in all it's good no matter how I look at it. Like many Americans, I have things better than most of the people on the planet. Every once in a while I like to sit back and think on that. Every once in a while I like to feel grateful for all that I have been blessed with. The home I live in, the family around me, the three square meals a day, the job that keeps it all paid for, the country I live in where this is all possible, are all privileges not all human beings get to experience.

I know this is beyond the usual scope of this column, but I really think more of us should make the time to realize who and what and where we are.

Well I think that's about it for now...Thanks for listening.