Good Morning All. Foggy and 61°, humidity at 100%. Forecast high for today is 87°, tomorrow it's 97°. Still no chance for rain in the next ten days, trees are losing their leaves without turning colors because of the current drought.
Great visit yesterday from my grandsons and family. The two of them, ages 11 & 13, helped Grandpa haul and stack firewood. Then we hit the front yard with the soccer ball for a bit. They normally have to go to the nearby school to kick it around, but with an open area approximately 70' x 200' unencumbered by trees, they can kick away here like a real soccer field.
This morning calls for a BLT sandwich with a tall glass of OJ to go with it Flo. Double down on the bacon.
Thanks fellows for all of the reactions and comments regarding yesterday's pictures;
Jerome, Sherrel, Chad, Phil, Greg, Curt, Garry, Tom O, Guy, Ken, Jerry, Lee, Rick.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I spent some time
reading perusing the November MR. After a couple of previous interesting issues, especially those with the freight cars of the 70's articles; almost nothing caught my interest this month. Then I turned to my project area and did some minor stuff. I am lining out the fence post locations to be drilled next.
I promised a few close up shots of some of the details around the recent series of pictures that I posted, here are some.
First, a better shot of the railfans in the park.
Family checking out the produce at Tony's Market.
Tony's wife chatting with a customer.
Tony himself on the dock at the abattoir.
And finally Tony's brother restocking.
Model structure RANT: I tend to be a bit anal about the accuracy of the models offered by model manufacturers. A case in point is the D's Diner structure from Woodland Scenics. First of all I really like the structure and it fits into the character of my layout. But observe the following.
Against the back wall (an insert), there is a door to get into the kitchen/back room.
Now note the actual space allowed.
A tad over 2 scale feet. Now look at the back of the structure.
A pair of restroom doors. Doesn't all fit in reality! Things like this and illogically placed chimneys (and too short for most codes), inappropriately placed doors and windows, and out of scale doors just really bother me. Chimneys on modern gas stations really are outrageous.
End of RANT.
Guy - What is the purpose of the broom by that switchstand?
Greg - I am sure that you are glad to be retired right now. I did not know that Mayfair was your mall until you posted it. Sad that once again, peaceful protests have turned into violent and looting rampages.
Garry -
You certainly have a large variety of buildings and structures on your layout.
I really like building and detailing structures. I have a lot of space to fill. Building structures is my second most favorite part of this hobby after switching industries.
Ken - I have to argue with my PC physician every so often about excessive tests and medications. When pressed, he does explain that there are undiscussed options. I think that the tests are
sometimes just a way to refer business to their cohorts. Mine does not believe that his patients can also make lifestyle changes in lieu of additional medications. Case in point, I lost 40 pounds, switched to sugar-free soft drinks and reduced bread consumption to reduce my A1C level, which
also reduced my need to take so many doses of BP medicine. A1C is now at 6.0, higher than I want, but much lower than the 10.5 of a year ago.
Today around here it's Texas-OU Day, a football game held annually during the currently cancelled State Fair. The reduced attendance at the game led to a much smaller traffic jam on IH35 nearby, but there was still one yesterday afternoon. In a normal year, much of that traffic coming in from Oklahoma is non-ticket holders who are just coming to party. Not sure of the percentage this year, but partying is out. Cannot get into the Cotton Bowl parking lot without a game ticket for everyone in the vehicle, no tailgating will be allowed and many bars are also operating at reduced capacity. Arrests for the last 30 years have been relatively minor (about 50/year), compared to the 60's when 450+ was common.
See this article.
The traffic jam will be repeated tomorrow morning in reverse as the fans go back home. It's something that we get to look forward to every year and just stay home or avoid the Interstate completely.
Everybody have a great day and an awesome weekend.
