Running Bear’s May 2021 Coffee Shop


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Good Morning All. It's cloudy and a cool 54° here this morning. Rather cool for this time of year and it is only supposed to reach 61° for the high today, tomorrow and Wednesday. Rain chances are between 40% and 75% all three days and no sunshine until Thursday. Yuck!

It's a good morning for a tall stack of blueberry pancakes with a handful of bacon on the side today, Flo. A tall glass of OJ to go with that.

Thanks for the likes and comment regarding the Doodlebug yesterday; Karl, Hughie, Sherrel, Patrick, Troy, Tom O, Moermusic, Ken, Tom, Justin, Guy, Phil, Garry. I used to see a lot of interesting stuff parked on that particular team track. It was used as a team track by the Cotton Belt during the 70's and early 80's, then as a RIP track for a while during the eventual transition to UP.

Another cleanup day in the train shed yesterday, as I took the shop vac around to all visible parts. What a noisy thing that is. Even though I wear hearing protection, I feel ringing in the ears afterward. I will purchase a pair of ear muffs to go with the earplugs that I currently use before the next time that I use that vac. Ran a few trains afterwards. I also scoped out my next very small project. It's just a small corner along the front edge of the layout on the upper level. There's a small Plasticville Switch Tower there; it was a present from my pre-teen kids back in the late 80's. Santa Fe didn't really use them any more by my time era, but it has sentimental value so it's on the layout.
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I recently added window glazing and a bit of paint. I will be doing minimal stuff to it right now. Parking area and other ground cover and a crewman or two should do the trick. At this point I don't even have a clue what will be on the left side (south on the layout), as I have a 10" x 120" blank plywood canvas there. I have just finished a 10" x 48" section at the other end last month.

Guy - The boat is coming along very nicely.
That Doodlebug was quite common on small branch lines in the states for many years. That particular one, which still runs under its own power, was built in 1931 and actively ran until 1966. It was used between Amarillo TX and Carlsbad NM, and later between Wichita KS and San Angelo TX. I don't remember exactly how many that Santa Fe had, but it was quite numerous.
William - Belated Happy Birthday to you. Good luck with the ultrasound.
Troy - Serious question here. You posted 2.3" of rain in 15 hours. I'm not familiar with weather patterns there, but is that considered a heavy rain? I can regularly get that much in an hour or so.
Hoping that you return to good health really soon.
Patrick - Isn't it a bit chilly for the pool yet? Stock up on chlorine now, as it is going to become scarce and expensive later this summer.

Everyone have a great day. Stay safe and healthy.
 
Troy - Serious question here. You posted 2.3" of rain in 15 hours. I'm not familiar with weather patterns there, but is that considered a heavy rain? I can regularly get that much in an hour or so.
Hoping that you return to good health really soon.
That's a good full day of rain. Heavy rain is that amount in an hour.

Still fighting the leg cramps and headache. Hoping it's just getting used to Midwest weather again.
 
Move over TROY and maybe they will let me join you?
KatE hauled my butt to the hospital locally yesterday afternoon. I had been having, for some time, an occasional, every few weeks, a deep hurting pain up the right neck and rear of my head which would go away within 15-20 minutes - I figured that it was from the re-plumbing work
from the surgery several years back, but this time I was having it on both sides of the neck and down both of my arms. An extensive scan of the neck and entire torso did not turn up anything and a procedure is slated for this morning to look more closer at the heart area. An enzyme produced be the heart muscle is highly elevated from 125 to 255 to 1200+ this morning. (don't remember what they called it)
Wife, daughter, and pharmacist SIL would not hear of me not being here.

So here I sit waiting for the next go-round.
 
Willie: It was in the 80's most of last week...But I set up the pool anyways. I did get an 8# container of the 3" disks I use. I still had about 3 weeks worth from last year, so I should be good for this summer. I really think this is the last year for this pool as the liner is really showing it's age. I think this is the 6th year for this pool and the liners are only good for about 5 years anyway.

Good luck with the test Sherrel!
 
Mikey - Hard luck with the flood drydocking the boat like that. Hope you can get that taken care of without damage.
McLeod- I still say your boat looks better than mine.
Even as to the way both are displayed on the dock.

After taking a look today, I have about 3" of the dock holding up the boat.
And about 5 feet of the rear is on the seawall and yard.
Alright you mechanical engineers, what is the best way for me to move this boat back into the water ?
 

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McLeod- I still say your boat looks better than mine.
Even as to the way both are displayed on the dock.

After taking a look today, I have about 3" of the dock holding up the boat.
And about 5 feet of the rear is on the seawall and yard.
Alright you mechanical engineers, what is the best way for me to move this boat back into the water ?
Build a raft that just fits under it at low tide, then wait 6 hours.
 
Good Afternoon all! A pretty nice day here in H-Town but on the warm side. Yep, summer is coming.
Guy - Your boat is looking good.
Willie - Doodlebugs always fascinated me.
William - Happy Birthday, better late than never.
Gary - Nice job on the bed
Mikey - You could lever/pry the bow over, the stern is another thing all together. Maybe an "A" frame to lift up the stern and let down as you gently pull the boat away from shore. A crane would be handy.
I did get a little time in the train room today and did a little on the Shaw Ridge project.
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STAY SAFE

LATER
 
After taking a look today, I have about 3" of the dock holding up the boat.
And about 5 feet of the rear is on the seawall and yard.
Alright you mechanical engineers, what is the best way for me to move this boat back into the water ?
I ain't a mechanical engineer, but I'm with Hughie. Lever the bow off the dock into the water and then pull with another boat, push from the stern, or maybe gravity might assist you. I don't guess that you have tides in an inland lake!
 
McLeod- I still say your boat looks better than mine.
Even as to the way both are displayed on the dock.

After taking a look today, I have about 3" of the dock holding up the boat.
And about 5 feet of the rear is on the seawall and yard.
Alright you mechanical engineers, what is the best way for me to move this boat back into the water ?
How far below the dock is the water? If it's only a few inches, you can get a couple of tractor inner tubes, place them in the water under the paontoon, and inflate them. They should lift the boat off the dock. Push the bow off, then you can deflate and reposition the inner tubes to help get the stern back into the water.
 
. . .
Ken - That expanding foam insulation is hard to put in cleanly. You have to move the can steady at the exact right speed. I need to put some of that crap in today to finish my door project; but, I know what to expect having experience with it.
. . .
Guy, that can had been sitting around for several months. I originally bought it to make landscape forms, but that was a failed experiment and I quickly abandoned that idea; but I never discarded the can. Sometime later, my wife was complaining that the heat pump was driving up our electric bill because it was running too much and said I should only run it when I'm out there. I replied that that would be impractical because of all the extra time it would have to run just to get the space back to a comfortable temp. So my [then-teenage] son chimed in and said "I've got a solution..." and that was it! Ugly as hell, but hey - it got the wife off my back. 👍

Sherrell - holy crap! Sorry to hear that, I'm shooting up some extra prayers for you now...

Mikey, I wish I could help, but I'm afraid the safest solution (a crane) is also the most costly and probably beyond your budget. OTOH, you absolutely want to avoid perforating either of pontoons and having them get filled up with water! <💡> Can a Jerr-Dan tow truck be brought to that area? I don't know the exact dimensions of the boat, but if it fits, maybe it could be winched up onto the flatbed and hauled to a launch ramp somewhere...[?] Best of luck, whatever you end up doing!
 
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The bow is easy stick long board between the pontoon and the dock and push , it should slide down the board into the water . The real problem is the stern , you can't pull it off without risking busting the gear case or lower unit so you need winch it or drag it back up on land with a tractor bucket or 4X4 , then you can reload on the trailer and relauch or lift it with a backhoe and set it in the water .
 
Good Morning to All. Clear and 58° in this part of the world. Looking for a high of 82° again today. The warm and lengthening days have wiped out the older lettuce plants in the garden. I normally just pick off however many leaves that I need at a time and leave the rest. The younger plants (successive planting) are still flourishing, but not for much longer. Time to devote attention to tomato, squash, bean and pepper plants. Onions are still going strong and that harvest is generally in late May. I cut up and froze three more heads of broccoli yesterday, still a few more growing. Meanwhile there are numerous smaller side shoots adding to the harvest.

Sausage, egg & cheese biscuits for me this morning Francine. So Flo is taking a day off today?

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding the hardware & feed store pictures yesterday; Rick, Guy, Garry, Tom O, Chad, Patrick, Karl, Hughie, Gary, Phil, James. Jaz, Chet, Tom, Ken.

Well out in the train shed yesterday, I took a page from Ken's notebook and attempted to de-clutter the place a bit. Moved some stuff around that I won't be able to find the next time that I need it. No hidden treasures yet either, unless one calls a box of 3'-5' pieces of small gauge wire a treasure! I also mounted a 2' florescent fixture under the upper level to provide more light underneath. It was the fixture that I replaced over the workbench a couple of months ago. I'm still contemplating what project I might do next. Today I will read June's edition of MRR that came earlier this week...I don't know when because I don't travel down the road to check the mail every day!
Since I know that some liked them, here are a few more animal in the zoo pictures for your enjoyment.
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Tom - Yes, the price of lumber is outrageous right now. I know that "government experts" are claiming that there is no inflation right now, but I guess that they don't buy gasoline, lumber, food or chlorine for their pools!
Sherrel - Those "tall" mattresses are really nice once you get used to them. Getting up is so much easier.
Garry - I saw the coal train over in the other thread, nice concept following the train.

Like it!

This Bill & Melinda Gates story really is much ado about nothing. I just really don't give a damn.
A beautiful day in store for us here today. I hope that everyone has a good day as well. Stay Safe.
Actually Willie, instead of the Giraffe, they should have used a painting of that brown animal with the white feet and muzzle on the left in your 1st zoo picture. A much better match for you.
 
I don't know if anyone remembers, an old video at that time, of a mouse plague in the farming areas of Australia. They do get them from time to time. Well, they've got a bad one again in New South Wales. Millions of Mice costing Millions of Dollars in ruined crops. Not just in storage, but in the fields as well. Cats and dogs can't cope. There was a pic of a Cat lying on a couch with one on it's head, taking no notice of it and dogs trying to catch them on the keyboard of a piano when the cover was lifted. Just as bad if not worse than that old film.
 
Mikey, I wish I could help, but I'm afraid the safest solution (a crane) is also the most costly and probably beyond your budget. OTOH, you absolutely want to avoid perforating either of pontoons and having them get filled up with water! <💡> Can a Jerr-Dan tow truck be brought to that area? I don't know the exact dimensions of the boat, but if it fits, maybe it could be winched up onto the flatbed and hauled to a launch ramp somewhere...[?] Best of luck, whatever you end up doing!
Ken and all who offered suggestions on how to refloat my boat-
I appreciate all the suggestions! A little more information- the pontoon is 24' long, weighs about 1000 pounds, has an inboard engine and an outboard drive that extends about 3 feet past the end of the pontoons and the water level is about 20 inches below the concrete seawall.
I could lever the pontoon off the dock with a 2' x 4' board, but could damage the thin aluminum pontoons and the outdrive.

I think I will talk to a couple local wrecker services with large wrecker trucks.
Here is a pic of the land end of the boat.
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