Running Bear's March 2022 Coffee Shop


Status
Not open for further replies.
20220321_134657.jpg
 
been putting off doing another amended return for 2018. Did one amended return for that year already then I found another 1099 that I had lost track of and forgot about. I think that will carry forward a loss into 2019 so there's another amended return I'll have to do as well.
I have an electrician coming by this morning to install my Tesla wall charger. No, not the plug in the wall kind but the heavier duty charger with the special cable end that Harris thinks ya have to hold in the car outlet like at a gas pump. Initial bids from some electricians were well over $3,000 to do this. Job should take no more than 10 minutes and require a 60amp breaker and 5 feet of #4 cable. I have the wall opened up and the charger mounted on the wall.
This electrician is only asking $315. Yeah, he's licensed and has the county permit.
I guess I could post a dozen pictures or so of this, but I won't.

View attachment 143302
Ken, that is a fine bit of negotiating, well done!
 
"Steel Panthers" was (is) an awesome game. I played it for hours back when it was being updated.

I played Panzer Blitz (and Panzer Leader and the later Arab=Israeli Wars, modeled on the same system) some, but never really got into that.

The very first Avalon Hill I played (that was not in their leisure series, where I had played "Acquire" which is still available and is an awesome game), was "Luftwaffe". My friend had that and we branched out from there. This was in junior high.

We also played a bunch of War in the Pacific and War at Sea and even made our own mash-up of the two games, since they were basically the same system adapted to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Another really fun one is "Richtoffen's War". I had that (and sold it to my dad) and we played it a ton. I recently bought a copy off eBay to try and get my son to play. We've played once. We also had WW2 and modern air games (not Avalon Hill -- I forget who did the WW2 ones, which were part of a system -- the modern (70s/80s) air sumulation was SPI - Air War.

Ah, the good times. We actually play a lot of games as a family now. Things like the various Ticket to Ride versions, Machi Koro, Tokaido Road, and various other Japan themed board games from the game store. Stuff like that. Usually a Sunday afternoon thing at our home, recently we've not played as much. Need to get back in the habit.
How could I have forgotten Arab-Israeli wars?! My late sister's husband, Khaldun is Palestinian, she met him in college. Khal and I played many games of Arab-Israeli Wars. No need to guess what side I played every time.

I never played Richtoffen's War, sounds like it would have been fun.

Same here, my family and I need to play more games. Last time we played was Thanksgiving day and we had a ball!
 
Last edited:
Good Afternoon,

Started out running the 2 reverse loops without issue and from there it went to crap. I was moving my RS1 back to where it belonged around the turntable and it dies on the bridge. From that point on it was downhill. I spent 4 hours trouble shooting which included talking to my buddy Jon 3 separate times. Now the bridge won't turn and the rails are dead. Speaking of dead I think the thing is finally dead. It's the first generation one that has been removed from layouts several times, stored, and reinstalled. I'm at the point of giving up and removing it completely. The wife is adamant that I need one, so she says order one if I need to.😲 I checked and the new pit has the same dimensions.

Tomorrow Kathy and I have to drive about 2 hours roundtrip to pick up a refurbished pool pump motor. It's half the cost of a new one. The current one we got refurbished from the same company and it lasted about 2.5 years. Wednesday is the setup for the book fair at daughters school.

Thank you for the photo likes yesterday.

Mike- I hope things went well for you today.

IB Ken- The ring sounds much better than the alternative.

Joe- Congrats on the layout success. Cool photo but it sure looks like it would be very top heavy in heavy weather and seas.

Louis- Prayers for your buddy Willy.

Smudge- That's a pet peeve for me also.

Willie- I like the "snoot"" variety. It looks unique. Nice car load.

Ken (IL)- I hope your day went well.

Guy- Thank you. It's "For Sale Sign" styrene sprayed with Auto flat black primer for 3 coats and brushed on gray weathering powder. Around the track crossing I use modeling wood for the height.

Greg- That's definitely a rust bucket.

Dave- Nice looking truck.

Steve- Congrats on a successful run. You must have better luck than me. Nice shot of the layout.

layout8.jpg

layout9.jpg

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Good afternoon, all! A very gray, overcast day. Forecasters saying, we should get some severe weather overnight. Mowed, edged and trimmed anticipating the rain.
Got a little train time in this afternoon. All was going well, and RS-3 pulling a 9 car coal drag while a pair of SD40-2's pulling a 14 car general freight. Both trains ran for about 20 minutes no issue. I thought I'd change locos. A 4-8-4 Northern headed the coal train and FEF-3 took over the general freight. The general freight ran fine. The coal train couldn't make 1 lap without a gondola derailing. I don't understand why. Only change was the loco.
I did get a little more done on the T.J. Reilly's Still a long way from the finish, but it is coming along. Roofs not glued, nor are the individual sections.
1647897049206.jpeg


STAY SAFE
LATER
 
Yes, I agree with you Bruette about the old Avalon Hill board games. I still have Battle of the Bulge and Gettysburg. I used to play Battle of the Bulge with a friend of mine and we played the game for an entire afternoon.
I did not realize Gettysburg was an Avalon Hill game. I bought a version of it where one post the moves in a file and you send it to a friend. They import your moves, make theirs and send it back. Slow but gives one a whole lot of time to develop a battle plan. Not played in years,,,, no decades now.
 
Back and safe about an 1.25 hours ago. Delay in posting was because I had to fix and eat supper. There were circular motions in the clouds overhead, but nothing touched down here, if it had, it would have actually hit a bit northeast of here. It was interesting to see. I received 0.86" of rain in about 30 minutes with some very minor hail thrown in. Tornadoes actually hit south and west of here in Jacksboro and Bridgeport but I don't know the extent of any damage yet. I could hear the constant rumbling here. Weather dudes on TV are extremely excited
 
Good Morning All. Cloudy and 60°, 100% chance of thunderstorms starting around 9:00 am this morning. The forecast is for about 1" by nightfall. Warm day yesterday at 78° with a lot of wind. There's grassfires all over the place just west of here. Wind advisory in effect all day with gusts approaching 45 mph. The rain however should help with the fires. I am hoping for a slow steady rain as the garden and all of the surrounding landscape needs it. Nothing here is green except the lush field of winter wheat next door. Not a single tree has budded out yet.

So this rain will develop while I am headed for and undergoing a CT scan this morning at 9:45. I'm not real sure that I need it, but it's free and if it's raining I can't do anything outdoors anyway. I think that it's mostly peace of mind for my doctor. I am finally over the shortness of breath associated with the pneumonia, but I am still not up to full stamina yet.

I feel that I have been missing something in life after reading through many of the recent posts here in the Coffee Shop. I have no PC games or any game consoles, so I have no idea of what y'all are posting about! Maybe it's best for me.;) I did have Pong about 45 years ago!

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding yesterday's loco pictures; Smudge, Lee, Joe, Patrick, Louis, Tom, OB Ken, Curt, Hughie, IB Ken, Jaz, Mikey, Tom O, Guy, Tom H, Rick.

Another short Sunday out in the train shed. I applied ground cover to a small area, but that was about all. Moving forward, I am going to populate some scenes as I have built up a good reserve of figures.
Meanwhile a few more engine pictures. First, a pair of newly painted GP35's that I use for local switching.
View attachment 143300
Another pair of SD40-2's.
View attachment 143301
These are the "snoot nose" variety.

Todd - Have a safe trip.
Lee - That flatcar load is actually aluminum billet for an extrusion plant. I made the load by cutting up the leftover ends of aluminum brazing rod.
View attachment 143299
It's a reminder of the aluminum extruder that made window components where I worked for 43 years.
OB Ken - Good luck on your first day.

Everyone have a great day. Hmmmh! Where's Karl this morning?
Willie your not alone I have no idea either
 
Good Afternoon,

Started out running the 2 reverse loops without issue and from there it went to crap. I was moving my RS1 back to where it belonged around the turntable and it dies on the bridge. From that point on it was downhill. I spent 4 hours trouble shooting which included talking to my buddy Jon 3 separate times. Now the bridge won't turn and the rails are dead. Speaking of dead I think the thing is finally dead. It's the first generation one that has been removed from layouts several times, stored, and reinstalled. I'm at the point of giving up and removing it completely. The wife is adamant that I need one, so she says order one if I need to.😲 I checked and the new pit has the same dimensions.

Tomorrow Kathy and I have to drive about 2 hours roundtrip to pick up a refurbished pool pump motor. It's half the cost of a new one. The current one we got refurbished from the same company and it lasted about 2.5 years. Wednesday is the setup for the book fair at daughters school.

Thank you for the photo likes yesterday.

Mike- I hope things went well for you today.

IB Ken- The ring sounds much better than the alternative.

Joe- Congrats on the layout success. Cool photo but it sure looks like it would be very top heavy in heavy weather and seas.

Louis- Prayers for your buddy Willy.

Smudge- That's a pet peeve for me also.

Willie- I like the "snoot"" variety. It looks unique. Nice car load.

Ken (IL)- I hope your day went well.

Guy- Thank you. It's "For Sale Sign" styrene sprayed with Auto flat black primer for 3 coats and brushed on gray weathering powder. Around the track crossing I use modeling wood for the height.

Greg- That's definitely a rust bucket.

Dave- Nice looking truck.

Steve- Congrats on a successful run. You must have better luck than me. Nice shot of the layout.

View attachment 143324

View attachment 143325

I hope everyone has a good night.
Curt- I had to look twice to make sure it was a model picture instead of a prototype shot.
 
it sure looks like it would be very top heavy in heavy weather and seas.
Curt: They are surprisingly stable in what I would describe as rough seas...ok Rough for the Chesapeake Bay between Norfolk and Cape Charles. .
I crossed the bay under unusual circumstances, back in 1973 or 1974, during a Nor'easter. For most of the crossing, my stomach was in my throat, with all the ocean activity. Fortunately, the Captain, kept me busy keeping the damn thing on course, which caused me not to think about my lack of sea legs. I didn't even notice how green I was turning. Was never so happy to turn the boat over to the docking team, and enjoy the calmer water inside the breakwater. It's like I told my boss, I'm a Soldier, not a Sailor...:rolleyes: I was on the "Philadelphia" for that adventure.

The lighting looks good. so does the freight house. Reverse loops can be really frustrating. I had one on the old layout, as well as a wye. Even following all the instructions to the letter, I kept getting shorts, especially with longer trains. Downside of metal wheels.

Did not get much layout time, as we had to move everything out of the family room, vacuum then clean the carpeting. allow dry time, replace the furnishings and take a needed break. We are getting too old for this, but thankful, we still can. Plan is one room per day until they are all finished. That way, everything will still be fresh when the family comes for Easter.
 
Well, howdy there internet MRR peeps, and those who realize tornados are serious business!

It's Troy again.

Been working on the stone walls.

I found an old bag of "flock" (term used loosely) that came with an old set of toy soldiers. It was stranded like static grass more than nuggets like flock (hope that makes sense, the brain is still processing cup of coffee #1). Thought that would work for ivy and mossy tops on the stone wall. Got the scenic cement brushed on, started by pressing the wall, top/glue down into the mess.

That didn't work so well, and I end up doing a mix of press and sprinkle. Good effect. I like it. BUT...

Seems that the "flock" is more fiberglass. Ugh. Didn't realize it early enough to wear a mask for prevention, and got it in the back of my throat. Blech. Noticed the throat coat about three pieces from the end, so I powered through.

Pics
Screen Shot 2022-03-22 at 5.48.09 AM.png


Screen Shot 2022-03-22 at 5.48.19 AM.png

I sealed up what was left of that mess and tossed it in the bin. Need to add a wash/filter to the walls. Drybrush, then matt coat them. Already dropped more scenic cement onto the flock to seal it down.

In weight loss news:
dropped the water weight, but my nails and cuticles started splitting. Decided to add collagen powder to my morning coffee and had to hit the O'Keefe's hand cream pretty hard. Starting to notice a difference.

Told the wife we could do pizza on Sunday. Got a stuffed crust from the Hut. Had two slices for lunch, but only at leftover beef roast (nothing else) for the evening meal. Next day, weigh in was the same as day before: 219# (actually down .2, but count that as margin of error).

Need to get 3,000 words written today. Time to get cracking on this book.
 
Last edited:
Good morning...Sunny for part of the day, rain for the next couple. Coffee and a breakfast sandwich today Flo. Not much new on the modeling front, working on the last pipe load for a flat car. Got the re rod load done for the finger rack car so both flatcars can get weathered.
IMG_4829.jpg
 
Good morning all! 49 degrees and rainy here and looks like what it will be for the day.

Day number one at the new job went extremely well. At this point, it really feels like a natural fit for me and I hope to make it my final job until I retire once and for all. I appreciated the job at Lowe's, but it never felt like a place I wanted to retire from. Spent yesterday just learning the lay of the land and responding to help tickets. I've got a lot to learn about the place but I'm sure enjoying it so far.

Nothing much else going on. Hope you all have a great day!
 
Good morning. It's clear and 44.
My wife is having a port installed today, for her dialysis when at the rehab center. she thinks she's going there directly after getting this procedure, even though everybody at the hospital tells to it probably won't happen. The place she's going is telling her she's only going to be there a week.
As for harbor tugs... I've been on many over the years. They aren't top heavy, since most of the weight is near or below the waterline, but they are not known for their seakeeping ability. They have rounded bottoms, and tend to roll heavily in rough seas.
 
Morning all,

Rain moving back in and some snow expected. Should be the heavy wet stuff as we "should" be above freezing until this crud moves east. It is part of the frontal system that gave TX and OK the tornados yesterday. Moving back into the 60's and 70's by the weekend. Getting close to time for the peaches to bloom. Hopefully this year we don't get the late hard freeze that took all of them last year.

Since the new Assistant City Manager came from a county that paid a ransom attack, he's big on cyber security. 3 meetings called for by DHS all relating to Russian Hackers. Got to be in all 3. It was easier when I knew there was a threat as a concept rather than knowing what's actually happening. Sometimes I really think it would be a good time to retire...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.



Back
Top