Running Bear's April 2020 Coffee Shop


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I heard on the radio;

New York has 11,000 people per square mile.
North Dakota has 11 people per square mile.
Even better comparison: Manhattan/New York County has nearly 70,000 people per square mile; North Slope Borough(equivalent to a county), Alaska(which includes Utqiagvik(formerly known as Barrow) has roughly 10 square miles per person.
 
I love the Chesapeake Bay!
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The bay is pretty, but MBH is convinced that the engineer behind the design of the ABB(& the reversible lane) is the spawn of Satan. She drove it twice on our honeymoon(to/from OCMD)- flew into BWI & then our next leg was the niece’s wedding at Pax River NAS in St Marys County. Eastbound crossing was rain/fog with the fun of the curve on the west end of the bridge. The return trip was sunny, so MDOT decided that she needed to encounter a EB lane on the WB span of the bridge.
 
Gotten off the recliner so I can go to bed. Only hit 90* today. Tomorrow only expect 68*. That's 'cause it RAINED. Will rain on and off again tomorrow and we sure do need it.
Went for groceries-have to go back as the shelves were bare of what MOH wants Will call first to see if they had a delivery.
Hope all are well. Best wishes and Prayers.
Phil
 
Good evening. The big story is that we did not get our stimulating rebate checks....yet...we are getting 20% off of our car insurance premium for march and April. Check will be mailed sometime in May...That's all right, I'm a good waiter.

Our township's daily total for Corona Virus jumped by 20 to 366. Meanwhile, we left the castle today, and drove over to the Food store. Got everything on the list, including hot dogs, but forgot the buns. :( Store was not as well stocked as it was two weeks ago, probably because of Easter over buying. There were some very fresh kaiser rolls, and fresh bagels at the bakery though. We got there at 0800, were out at 0840, had to hang out in the truck, until the pharmacy opened at 0900. Hardly anyone was out. No mail today, seems that we are getting alternate day service, or there is less junk mail.

Spent some time in the train room, pulling wire and preparing to start the re-industrialization of my layout. I have my own cache of Walthers Cornerstone kits. ;) Next challenge, background painting. and details. Hard to pass the five foot test, when the layout's only two foot wide.

Don't ya just love it when Multi-billionaires show their resentment for other Multi-billionaires. And we think we have problems :rolleyes: I find it quite amusing, but that's just me, being sequestered for too long.

Chet wants motors, so we have motors:

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Joe- would your grub stop of choice be Shop Rat or Ac-a-me?
 
Good morning. It's overcast and 30.
I hope there is no precipitation this morning, I don't want to mow the lawn in a snow storm.
Today I am taking my wife with me to get my paycheck, and get details of how we are going to work at work starting tomorrow.
After that, we are going to the only license plate office in the county that's still open, surrender the license plate from the car, and renew her handicap placard. Why the state has decided we need to go to the tag office for a person with compromised immune system to get a handicap placard is beyond me. I had to go Tuesday to order a replacement drivers license, because mine is broken in three pieces. Again, why I had to do that is confusing, at best.
 
Good morning gang!
37 and sunny outside, heading to 50. Then rain for Friday and Saturday. Better get the lawn cut while I can today, by Sunday it will be a jungle.
But 1st, COFFEE! ☕😀
Oh and.....
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The bay is pretty, but MBH is convinced that the engineer behind the design of the ABB(& the reversible lane) is the spawn of Satan. She drove it twice on our honeymoon(to/from OCMD)- flew into BWI & then our next leg was the niece’s wedding at Pax River NAS in St Marys County. Eastbound crossing was rain/fog with the fun of the curve on the west end of the bridge. The return trip was sunny, so MDOT decided that she needed to encounter a EB lane on the WB span of the bridge.
Mike, your wife is not alone with her opinion of the Bay Bridge. Many Marylanders feel the same. My oldest sister refuse to drive on the bridge and she covers her eyes when she is a passenger crossing the bridge.

You should see some of the traffic backups we have had at the bay bridge during the recent refurbishing of the bay bridge.

Personally I'm happy for the bridge. It beats the alternative of driving around the bay.

Weather can make things dicey on the bridge, but all you have to do is, slow down and stay in your lane.

I don't even get upset with the traffic, I remind myself what might happen if they let maintenance slack. The state of Maryland does an great job with road maintenance, thank you Governor Hogan!

One of the benefits of this current crisis, no cash tolls, all electronic even for those without an EZ-Pass. They send photo tolls to those without an EZ-Pass. It's beyond me why any Marylander does not have an EZ-Pass. The transponders are free now and you even get a small discount. With the commuter plan it's a significant discount.

No matter how little traffic, there is always some donkey trying to pay cash in the EZ-Pass lanes!

Thanks for the welcome back, I'm glad to find so many in good health and spirits.
 
Good morning. It's overcast and 30.
I hope there is no precipitation this morning, I don't want to mow the lawn in a snow storm.
Today I am taking my wife with me to get my paycheck, and get details of how we are going to work at work starting tomorrow.
After that, we are going to the only license plate office in the county that's still open, surrender the license plate from the car, and renew her handicap placard. Why the state has decided we need to go to the tag office for a person with compromised immune system to get a handicap placard is beyond me. I had to go Tuesday to order a replacement drivers license, because mine is broken in three pieces. Again, why I had to do that is confusing, at best.
When I got my placard, I mailed it in. I guess different states, different rules.
 
Good morning. It's overcast and 30.
I hope there is no precipitation this morning, I don't want to mow the lawn in a snow storm.
Today I am taking my wife with me to get my paycheck, and get details of how we are going to work at work starting tomorrow.
After that, we are going to the only license plate office in the county that's still open, surrender the license plate from the car, and renew her handicap placard. Why the state has decided we need to go to the tag office for a person with compromised immune system to get a handicap placard is beyond me. I had to go Tuesday to order a replacement drivers license, because mine is broken in three pieces. Again, why I had to do that is confusing, at best.
Terry, I'm sorry to hear about your need to go out.

Many Marylander's complain about our high taxes, including me. On the other hand the state offers many conveniences and services for those taxes. MVA has self-serve kiosks, drop boxes and most things can be done online. I've never had to go to the MVA for my handicap placard. Mine is also permanent and never has to be renewed. We even have a 24/7/365 self-serve emissions tests.

Not to mention how many services, conveniences and support they have online and over the phone for small businesses.

God Speed my friend.
 
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Morning all,

Clear and 44* in Doo-Dah, high of 70 expected with rain moving in this afternoon. Not much on the train front last night. With the strangeness of the current "New Normal", I have been working harder lately than most of the past 5 years. I just hope this doesn't become the "New Permanent". I'm tired enough when I get home, I don't want to do much else. On the plus side I have 5 weeks of vacation\personal time and no place to go. As the wife tells me" So what, you don't use it anyway". lol
 
On the subject of Maryland making things easy. This blue state is very small business friendly.

I founded my current business, including my articles of incorporation for Bruette Services, LLC in about 10 minutes online. It took me another 10 minutes or less to get my Federal ID number online. No need to pay an over priced lawyer. The entire process cost me less than $20.

I founded my current business in 2017. I forgot to file annual reports for each year since. Last year I see online that my business was to soon be "not in good standing". I made a 5 minute call to the state, a real person and they told me why and what I had to do. I needed to file at least 1 of my 2 late reports before 12/31/19 to remain in good standing. I filled both late annual reports and paid the fees. The state did not even charge me a late fee.

Because of not filling the annual reports the state over estimated the inventory tax I owed to the city of Baltimore. (inventory tax is not business friendly, but that is Baltimore City!) After I filed the late reports I am now due a refund I did not expect or even know about!

Now I don't carry inventory. I liquidate my inventory before the end of the fiscal year. If I can't sell everything to a customer I sell it to myself and at the start of the next fiscal year I am free to sell it back to my business. Best of all it's perfectly legal and it offers another way to reduce my taxes.

I complain about the taxes in Maryland, but I sure do enjoy the services those taxes provide.
 
Now on to better things, trains! :)

Today I'm going to setup my B&O Legacy NW2 locomotive with my Legacy System. This is the one Lionel repaired for me, at no cost to me!
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Yesterday I brought down my Legacy AC6000 CSX/B&O heritage locomotive from my unorganized and cluttered "play pen". I can't wait to set it up with my Legacy system! This is very special to me, not only because it's beautiful, but it was a birthday gift from my wife.
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First I have to box up my Christmas Zephyr and my Chessie/B&O GP9. That is after I dig the boxes out of my Christmas storage closet.

Playing with these trains is generating the motivation in me to get my playpen sorted out and get started on rebuilding a layout. I don't want to box everything up again to let it sit. My Legacy system was in the box for over 5 years before I set it up. That can't happen again!

I have too much money tied up sitting in boxes. Like my good friend Rodney from Tasmania says "the only expensive locomotive is the one you don't use." I think that applies to anything.
 
Joe- would your grub stop of choice be Shop Rat or Ac-a-me?

Mike: Actually, we have been using Stop & Shop exclusively since this all started. Stop & Shop is the New England version of Giant Food, in MD, DC, and VA. Shop Rat is the biggest player, around here, while Acme is the fourth behind stop & Shop and Food Town. The local ShopRite, is the magnet for folks from Lakewood, where there are over 1200 cases of the virus, so we avoid it.
 
Terry, I'm sorry to hear about your need to go out.

Many Marylander's complain about our high taxes, including me. On the other hand the state offers many conveniences and services for those taxes. MVA has self-serve kiosks, drop boxes and most things can be done online. I've never had to go to the MVA for my handicap placard. Mine is also permanent and never has to be renewed. We even have a 24/7/365 self-serve emissions tests.

Not to mention how many services, conveniences and support they have online and over the phone for small businesses. God Speed my friend.
Louis- mine is permanent, but needs to be renewed every 4 years. DMV mails the renewal form, doc fills out his part & then I mail it in. When it gets processed down in Madison, they mail back the placards’ registration papers & the new year stickers. I have two placards, because Mom is one of my sources of transportation.
 
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