Running Bear's May 2020 Coffee Shop


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That's a "Big'un". We have our own Python referred to as a Carpet snake because of it's skin pattern. In fact the area where I live's name means, in the native tongue, Kabultur, (place of the python). The English, anglicized the spelling and softened it to Caboolture.

Last year my wife and her sister and cousin went to the Port Douglas area of Queensland. While there, they saw a large, she said humongous, python crawling into a culvert along side the road. She emphasized the humongous part several times! I told her at least it wasn't a brown snake or something like it!
 
The wife came home one summer day while we lived in Vermont, to find me out sitting on the front steps, carefully unsticking and unwinding a garden snake from a tape gun. It had apparently worked its way in through the window air conditioner and had fallen into a box of shipping supplies, where it had managed to loop itself two or three times between the spokes and a couple of times over the blade. Took a couple of hours, the first 20 minutes of which involved talking myself out of me fear of snakes. Had to carefully unstick a little at a time, then sprinkle on some dirt to keep it from getting stuck again, while making sure not to turn the wheel or stretch the body over the blade. The thing was so scared it was literally shitting itself the whole time, and that stuff stinks! Didn't even have enough class to thank me, afterwards.

Trying to get back into the groove:

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Most snakes aren't too bad to handle it you don't get aggressive with them. Garter snakes are usually very docile but do have a very strong scent that is downright unpleasant. Common water snakes, while not poisonous, are usually very ill tempered and tend to be very aggressive, no matter what. A buddy and I were fishing from a jon boat when we were about 18. The rope for the anchor was draped over the side and a small water snake, only a couple of feet long, was swimming and found the rope over the side and quickly came aboard. Jerry didn't like snakes AT ALL! He was all over and up and down after the snake come up and over the side and he almost tipped the boat trying to decide what to do. He grabbed one of the oars and I didn't know whether he would knock a hole in the bottom of the boat or break the oar as he tried to kill the snake or tip is first as he tried to mount a defense against the legless intruder. I quickly grabbed it and threw it overboard before any damage was done. That was one of the times I was most afraid of a snake!
 
Last year my wife and her sister and cousin went to the Port Douglas area of Queensland. While there, they saw a large, she said humongous, python crawling into a culvert along side the road. She emphasized the humongous part several times! I told her at least it wasn't a brown snake or something like it!
Yeah, they're the ones that like to cuddle up to ya, to keep warm. And when you're cold, they eat ya!
 
Good morning Everybody!

I worked for Amazon yesterday evening. I can't believe how busy they are, It's like Christmas season. They wore me out, so today I'm playing with trains! :)

I left feedback on eBay for the seller of my Lionel SD60. He said it was new, but the dust on it and the marks on the wheels show me it has been run. It runs like new so I still left positive feedback and 4 stars. I sent him a note telling him why only 4 stars. He should have said "like new". I'm not a nitpicker, but some Lionel collectors are not so forgiving and I told him so.

Yesterday I was playing with my like new Lionel SD60. I'm fascinated by this locomotive, it's amazing. I love the details, lights and especially the horn! My grandson was talking with his friends on Xbox. I hear him tell his friend "that's my grandfather's toy train... well not toy" I interrupted before he could come up with another way to describe my train. "you are right, they are my toys!"

Later I tell him. "My trains don't generate any revenue. they serve no other purpose than to amuse me, they are my toys. In life, family comes first. The best way to serve, support our families is by working, but don't forget to have fun. Work always comes before fun, but find time to enjoy life. I paid my dues, it's time to have more fun!"

Most of my life I found time to play ball or coach. Now I can't do those things anymore. I'm thankful for my trains they bring me great joy and no rain delays or cancelations!

I ordered some Lionel HO track. I can't wait to see how it is.

Other than that it was an uneventful day, that's a good thing!

Have a great day Everybody!
 
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My binge continues, seems like Train World is my new "go-to" spot. MB Klein did nothing to alienate me, they just don't carry much inventory in O gauge anymore. Not to mention Train World's specials are amazing!

I ordered the Williams by Bachmann Scale O PRR - Congressional (72'-Scale) Streamliners 4-Car Passenger Set with Baggage, Two Coaches, and Observation. I'll use these Scale O cars to run behind my new Williams by Bachmann Scale O PRR Tuscan red 5-stripe GG1. I couldn't find the list price, but I did find a few out of stock listings and the lowest price among them was $329.00. I only paid $169.99. As I said train World' specials are amazing!
This will be my third passenger train, my second scale O passenger train. The Williams by Bachmann GG1 and these 4-passenger cars will have cost me only $569.98. That's less than I paid for the 4-car Lionel passenger set, $599.99. The Lionel Vision Line GG1 and 7-passenger cars cost me a total of $2497.97. They are well worth money to me, but I'm happy to have this Williams train!
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I can sell the Lionel Pullman 3-car expansion pack for more than I paid for it and the net cost will only be about $15 more for these beauties!

That's more motivation to continue on with my "master plan" :)
 
Good Morning All. Partly cloudy and 70° this Friday morning. Even though the radar showed showers here a couple of times yesterday, nothing ever hit the ground. Forecast is still pretty much the same, thunderstorms every day for the next ten days except for tomorrow. Today, Sunday and Monday are all predicted to have 1"+. Right now they are all considerably north of here and are clobbering Patrick. Temperatures no higher than 81° for the same time period after 91° today. Got to be careful as this is tornado season though.
The grocery/beer trek yesterday was not altogether successful. They were out of a few minor items like our brand of margarine, sugar-free honey mustard salad dressing, my wife's diet soft drinks and a certain frozen vegetable that my wife likes. Plenty of meat, eggs and paper products, and all other shelves seemed to be well stocked. It looked like some canned vegetables were low, but I only buy fresh (sometimes frozen) so that wasn't a concern. Since the rain passed us by yesterday, I took advantage and mowed the front or east side of the yard. While it could have gone another day or two, I need to stay ahead on this right now because growing conditions are favorable and if it does rain, it will delay that task.

Breakfast tacos sound good this morning Francine, along with a healthy helping of salsa.

Thanks for the likes and comments yesterday regarding the progress on detailing the scrap yard and the beginning of the Earl's Oil build; Jerome, Guy, Sherrel, Phil, Chad, Karl, Patrick, Louis, Garry, Curt, James, Bob.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I was able to assemble the doors and windows for Earl' office building. Then I installed them and assembled the walls to the base.
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That's one of the roof rafters that I have test-fitted to determine its fit and where I should be careful with the paint.
Not much else yesterday as time was limited and a cold one in the pool just felt too good.😍

Garry -
Willie .... You are placing a lot of interesting details at the scrap yard
There will be a lot more as time passes. I am working on a few more over on the workbench and I still need to examine the scrap box. These types of projects never really end for me. I found some cardboard box models that I never used the other day. While I won't be using them in the scrapyard, I kept them out to use on some other scenes that need upgrading.
Joe - Finding any Polly Scale paints has been getting almost impossible. I still have about two dozen bottles left, many over 15 years old, and some have reached their last hours of usability. I definitely miss them. Many of the Model Masters colors are an acceptable substitute, however they don't have nearly the volume or variety.
Sherman - Yeah! I know all about OSHA!:mad: Dealt with them and their rules for many years. Those bottles do have a safety chain around them and the two wheeler, it just can't be seen. They don't need to be upright right now because Clyde is about to wheel them out to cut some stuff up.
Terry - Interesting about your local Kroger being out of paper products. Stores around here never really ran out of anything except TP and hand sanitizer. Is it the impending hurricane?;)
Bob - Nice picture of the neighbor. It's a pretty nice looking one at that. For some reason I have not seen any yet this year, I usually have seen dozens by now. My wife is also absolutely terrified of them, I just take them as another of God's creatures that I share my world with. Occasionally one gets into the house and she hides in the bathroom until I can catch it (by hand) and move it to the field across the road. It's always interesting to come across one that has recently devoured a large field rat. They tend to hide under something until the "swelling" has abated somewhat and they can easily move again; lest they become a target for the local hawks and eagles, or the coyotes. It's always fun observing life in the country! Thankfully there are no poisonous ones in my locale.

Everybody have a great Memorial Day weekend. Remember that it is not just the unofficial start of Summer, it is a day to honor our fallen Armed Forces members.
 
Good morning America, how are ya? It's 64 and cloudy with a high of 75 and scattered thunder storms. The sun is currently playing hide and seek, but seems to be mostly hiding. We went to KFC yesterday and got some of the Colonel's dead chicken to take home with us. It wasn't too bad, definitely not even close to Babe's! I'm sure Willie will attest to that. Although, I do really like their coleslaw.

Not a lot going on here today.............just kind of wait and see. I might go out to the storage shed and plan some more ways to store stuff. I'm going to be stuffing 3 tons of stuff into a 2 ton container. The secret is to not overlook any space that can be utilized. The problem is remembering where you put the item you know you have, but just can't find! 🤣 Episodes like that lead to more "senior moments"!

Be safe and stay six feet away!
 
Good morning y'all. Happy Friday. Today is the beginning of the traditional Summer migration to the jersey Shore. It is dampened by the prospect of rain, and...the closing of some local beaches to Non residents. Jenkinson's, the owner of a large portion of the beach and boardwalk, inPoint Pleasant, decided not to open, because Point officials have all the access roads closed. Irrespective of whether this is Prudent Caution considering the Pandemic, or abuse of power by local politicians, it does not bode well for the upcoming season and those dependent on it for jobs etc.

We may possibly find out this year, what happens, "Should the B.E.N.N.Y.s choose to stay home?

Those who said things will never be the same again, may be right?

Willie: Great start to Earls Oil. Too cold for the pool here, barely hit 70 yesterday.

I did get the CNJ passenger trains out, the RDCs ran OK, haven't tried the Blue Box FM Trainmaster powered train yet. (Silent decoder). Also cut some Gator Foam for the Paper Company complex.
 
Good Morning Everyone.....sunny and a great spring day in Wisconsin.

Working on "To List Projects" but did manage a couple of train room hours Thursday morning. Cut off the throw rod on a Tortoise machine that I adjusted and removed the coal unit train wreck from the layout. Glued in place a couple utility poles that took a natural lean.

Time on the layout will be cut short this Holiday weekend.

On this Memorial Day weekend, thank you to those who served our Country and the highest respect and honor to those who gave their ultimate by losing their lives to protect our way of life in America.

Greg

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Good morning ....

B Bob .... We also have non-venomous snakes here. There are some large black snakes and large corn snakes which are very good at keeping small unwanted critters under control. .... For a few years, we had a big pair of black snakes which we named Charles and Camilla. Their hole was under our driveway, and we could see them often. They are gone now.

Boris and anyone else who may be interested. ....... I just saw an advertisement for BLI with a PRR P5A boxcar electric loco. Looks nice. They have fantasy schemes too. The one in GN Empire Builder colors looks beautiful.

Maybe, we will see kids flying kites over Memorial Day Weekend.

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Good morning gang!

Raining in the mid 60s, we'll see the sun tomorrow

Supposed to be at work, but was at the ER until the wee hours today. The last few days I have had a sore spot on my foot, been coating it with Neosporin and covering it. Well I got lazy and skipped a few days and it erupted into a full blown case of cellulitis in my right leg. By the I got home yesterday my leg at my calf was almost as large as my thigh. Wife took me to the ER, but because of Covid precautions, she couldn't go with me. After some xrays and ultrasound and blood drawn they put me back in the ER Triage area. There they gave me IV fluids and meds when I heard it. A familiar voice from the other side of the curtain. Someone who had fallen down a few stairs and hurt he back and knee and was getting the initial check by the staff, you know, vitals, what hurts, on a scale of 1-10,,, oh yes, and the name. It was my Ex-Wife, mother of my 3 boys. Meanwhile I am texting my current wife what was happening, and she's LOLing all over the place.
They took my EX to Xray, and I informed my nurse that I needed to have the curtain on me drawn all the time and why. He laughed! Dodged that bullet when they wheeled her back. I got out around 2 am and have been sleeping off and on since.
So thats how my holiday weekend starts. Can't work on kits with my foot propped up.:confused:

On this Memorial Day weekend, thank you to those who served our Country and the highest respect and honor to those who gave their ultimate by losing their lives to protect our way of life in America.

Greg

Amen Greg, Amen!

BBL
 
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