Running Bear’s April 2026 Coffee Shop
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- Start date
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When I was a kid in Belleville, Illinois, there was a tavern at least every three or four blocks. No foolin'. Some on opposite corners. They were everywhere on the old side of town where I grew up. Back then, there were a lot of stove foundries, stencil manufacturers, concrete and cement plants, and other blue collar industries in town. Not to mention all the tradesmen and the brewery. Three of them.
Taverns filled up starting at 1600 and started emptying out about 2000-2100. The single guys stayed later. The taverns in Belleville all had drop-pocket (very expensive and well maintained) full size pool tables or even larger snooker tables in a back room that you didn't have to put a quarter in to play. There was always a couple of pinball machines too for the younger guys. There was always a guy playing no one could beat at 3-5-8 call shot/pocket pool.
Not many women in these taverns at that time of day/evening. Ladies came on the weekends if they came at all. Cigar and pipe smoke was heavy in the air, it was dimly lit , but it was your neighborhood tavern. You could always tell a new face.
That day has pretty much passed into history. I haven't been in a neighborhood tavern since I moved out of Belleville in 2010. Even before though, they had already changed and the tavern of the 1940s, '50s, '60s, and 70's was already gone. Where I am now, they disappeared before I moved here.
I miss em.
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RhB Michael
RhB Lokführer
When I was a kid in Belleville, Illinois, there was a tavern at least every three or four blocks. No foolin'. Some on opposite corners. They were everywhere on the old side of town where I grew up. Back then, there were a lot of stove foundries, stencil manufacturers, concrete and cement plants, and other blue collar industries in town. Not to mention all the tradesmen and the brewery. Three of them.
Taverns filled up starting at 1600 and started emptying out about 2000-2100. The single guys stayed later. The taverns in Belleville all had drop-pocket (very expensive and well maintained) full size pool tables or even larger snooker tables in a back room that you didn't have to put a quarter in to play. There was always a couple of pinball machines too for the younger guys. There was always a guy playing no one could beat at 3-5-8 call shot/pocket pool.
Not many women in these taverns at that time of day/evening. Ladies came on the weekends if they came at all. Cigar and pipe smoke was heavy in the air, it was dimly lit , but it was your neighborhood tavern. You could always tell a new face.
That day has pretty much passed into history. I haven't been in a neighborhood tavern since I moved out of Belleville in 2010. Even before though, they had already changed and the tavern of the 1940s, '50s, '60s, and 70's was already gone. Where I am now, they disappeared before I moved here.
I miss em.
ShadowNix
UP and GN Modeler
Ok, that made me laugh. Good one. The wife would frown on that watering method. My dog already does it to too many things in the garden ahahah.No processing time?
Yogi in the backyard. We heard him last spring but never saw or caught on camera.
My wife was just about to do the evening walk for the dog when the camera alert went off. She freaked out a bit. I went out with her, but walked the dog on the side of the house instead of the backyard.
My wife was just about to do the evening walk for the dog when the camera alert went off. She freaked out a bit. I went out with her, but walked the dog on the side of the house instead of the backyard.
RhB Michael
RhB Lokführer
I would see a black bear every now and then when my second wife and I vacationed in da UP near Houghton/Hancock.
Bruette
Well-Known Member
Good morning, Everyone!
I'm back! 
Ridding in by the light of the moon. 
Life’s been busy and… well, challenging. That’s the word!
There have been plenty of medical appointments, procedures, and tests lately. The urologist told me I don’t have cancer, which is definitely something to be grateful for! I’m still waiting to hear what the other doctors have to say. I’m not worried; God is always with us. I just prefer not to dwell on these things. Do your best and let God handle the rest. And the last thing I want to do is to burden other with my troubles. We all have a "cross" to bear.
I’ve been keeping my mind off things by working in my attic at my workbench, learning the ins and outs of postwar transformers. Some I thought were great deals turned out to be projects, while others I bought as projects ended up being fantastic finds. Either way, they’re all fun and relatively easy to work with, even with my semi-decrepit hands. I discovered some thin, non-slip work gloves that are a tremendous help, and combined with the roomy design of these postwar transformers, my hands are once again productive.
Whenever I have the energy, I’ve been steadily making progress on the attic layout. I’m determined to get a train running before too long.
And of course, I have MLB.TV on with wherever in the house I am! "How bout dem O's Hon!" Thanks to this cold weather, I’ve been able to enjoy some live baseball instead of just replays. I don’t mind replays; I watch almost every Orioles game that way since they’re blacked out for me live. Win or lose, I watch every pitch of every O’s game.
This MLB season’s already been fun, with every team in the NL Central at .500 or better. "How about that!"
No worries, all is well and "I'll be back"
Ridding in by the light of the moon. Life’s been busy and… well, challenging. That’s the word!
There have been plenty of medical appointments, procedures, and tests lately. The urologist told me I don’t have cancer, which is definitely something to be grateful for! I’m still waiting to hear what the other doctors have to say. I’m not worried; God is always with us. I just prefer not to dwell on these things. Do your best and let God handle the rest. And the last thing I want to do is to burden other with my troubles. We all have a "cross" to bear.I’ve been keeping my mind off things by working in my attic at my workbench, learning the ins and outs of postwar transformers. Some I thought were great deals turned out to be projects, while others I bought as projects ended up being fantastic finds. Either way, they’re all fun and relatively easy to work with, even with my semi-decrepit hands. I discovered some thin, non-slip work gloves that are a tremendous help, and combined with the roomy design of these postwar transformers, my hands are once again productive.
Whenever I have the energy, I’ve been steadily making progress on the attic layout. I’m determined to get a train running before too long.
And of course, I have MLB.TV on with wherever in the house I am! "How bout dem O's Hon!"
Thanks to this cold weather, I’ve been able to enjoy some live baseball instead of just replays. I don’t mind replays; I watch almost every Orioles game that way since they’re blacked out for me live. Win or lose, I watch every pitch of every O’s game.This MLB season’s already been fun, with every team in the NL Central at .500 or better. "How about that!"
No worries, all is well and "I'll be back"
Bill Tidler Jr.
Retired NS Signal Construction Gang Signalman
Good morning Coffee Shop, it's Thursday! The temperature is 54°F (12°C) and mostly clear. 
Have a good day!
Have a good day!
troyphoto
Snarky Old Fart (in training)
Well, howdy there internet peeps and those with pump palpitations!
It's Troy in the Fort Again
And good news! Our gregarious governor, Brave Braun, has suspended our 7% "Sales Tax" on gasoline! (I think it's called an "usage tax", but that's a sales tax... they're still charging the road tax or whatever it's called, and the federal tax)
Well, it's suspended just for 30 days. And not on diesel, just on Gasoline.
I believe gas here in the fort was $4.19 yesterday when I was out. Wonder what it'll be today. Probably 4.19. I don't expect anyone to move fast on it.
Due to weather reports, I planned on cooking in today. Later this morning, I'll be cutting up the pre-smoked italian sausages, and making my Sausage and Peppers Rustica (with Rotinis) in the crock pot. We WERE supposed to be getting rain, and maybe storms today. But that changed. Since my rainy day meal was already scheduled, I'm making it, darn it!
Need to run out and get clothespins for the layout fascia today. Now that it's painted, my job is to get the clothespins hot glued to the back of the fascia. Once that fabric arrives, I'll be pestering the wife to get it cut and sewn. That means I need to figure out where the pieces are going to go, and what width they need to be.
In other news, I've been watching youtube vids on food preservation for long term storage. Wife is getting into Korean cooking, and keeps buys stuff in larger bags (eg Rice) than we'd normally for just the two of us. She says "Because that's what they had..."
So I've got a vacuum sealer showing today, and mylar bags for longer term storage later next week.
One of my favorite prepper channels - thanks to their personalities, and production quality of their vids - is the Provident Preppers. When they said they were Utahns (did I spell that correctly?), I checked their website. Yep. They're LDS church members. And dang! They're bubbly nice people. At least on screen.
That made me wonder. Every LDS person I've met has been rather bubbly and very nice...
Like any other segment of the population, they can't all be bubbly and nice. I mean, every town has at least one grumpy person.
Is there a special town where all the grumpy folks are sent?
Kinda like the Sunday school class at my Methodist church where the grumpy old liars would congregate every week to spend more time yakking about how the new minister is worse than the old one? (Methodist pastors are usually appointed to churches and rotate every few years). We were encouraged, back when we were still church members, to avoid a certain Sunday school room unless we wanted an earful about church politics
If the guys on bikes come around this summer, I'm going to ask them about where the grumps go.
What about your church or town? Is there a special "grump room"?
Anyway, here's Kylene and Jonathan, to tell you how to store your beans for long term. Evidently, Jonathan looooooooves his beans!
Maybe they send the grumps over to eat beans with Jonathan?
It's Troy in the Fort Again
And good news! Our gregarious governor, Brave Braun, has suspended our 7% "Sales Tax" on gasoline! (I think it's called an "usage tax", but that's a sales tax... they're still charging the road tax or whatever it's called, and the federal tax)
Well, it's suspended just for 30 days. And not on diesel, just on Gasoline.
I believe gas here in the fort was $4.19 yesterday when I was out. Wonder what it'll be today. Probably 4.19. I don't expect anyone to move fast on it.
Due to weather reports, I planned on cooking in today. Later this morning, I'll be cutting up the pre-smoked italian sausages, and making my Sausage and Peppers Rustica (with Rotinis) in the crock pot. We WERE supposed to be getting rain, and maybe storms today. But that changed. Since my rainy day meal was already scheduled, I'm making it, darn it!
Need to run out and get clothespins for the layout fascia today. Now that it's painted, my job is to get the clothespins hot glued to the back of the fascia. Once that fabric arrives, I'll be pestering the wife to get it cut and sewn. That means I need to figure out where the pieces are going to go, and what width they need to be.
In other news, I've been watching youtube vids on food preservation for long term storage. Wife is getting into Korean cooking, and keeps buys stuff in larger bags (eg Rice) than we'd normally for just the two of us. She says "Because that's what they had..."
So I've got a vacuum sealer showing today, and mylar bags for longer term storage later next week.
One of my favorite prepper channels - thanks to their personalities, and production quality of their vids - is the Provident Preppers. When they said they were Utahns (did I spell that correctly?), I checked their website. Yep. They're LDS church members. And dang! They're bubbly nice people. At least on screen.
That made me wonder. Every LDS person I've met has been rather bubbly and very nice...
Like any other segment of the population, they can't all be bubbly and nice. I mean, every town has at least one grumpy person.
Is there a special town where all the grumpy folks are sent? Kinda like the Sunday school class at my Methodist church where the grumpy old liars would congregate every week to spend more time yakking about how the new minister is worse than the old one? (Methodist pastors are usually appointed to churches and rotate every few years). We were encouraged, back when we were still church members, to avoid a certain Sunday school room unless we wanted an earful about church politics
If the guys on bikes come around this summer, I'm going to ask them about where the grumps go.
What about your church or town? Is there a special "grump room"?
Anyway, here's Kylene and Jonathan, to tell you how to store your beans for long term. Evidently, Jonathan looooooooves his beans!
Maybe they send the grumps over to eat beans with Jonathan?
kbkchooch
"retired" conductor
Good morning gang!
33° under clear skies this morning. Looks like a daytime high of 60°. I’ll take it.
Son #3 is coming down Saturday to help me knock down a pretty scraggly looking Holly tree. It’s not huge. It’s about 18 feet tall. Wife asked me how I knew how tall it was and I told her it was only about 2 feet taller than a locomotive. She looked at me like I had three eyeballs in the middle of my head. So we will just knock it down cut it into a few sections. Throw it all in the trailer and take it to the landfill.
Louis, glad to see you back in the saddle!
BBL
33° under clear skies this morning. Looks like a daytime high of 60°. I’ll take it.
Son #3 is coming down Saturday to help me knock down a pretty scraggly looking Holly tree. It’s not huge. It’s about 18 feet tall. Wife asked me how I knew how tall it was and I told her it was only about 2 feet taller than a locomotive. She looked at me like I had three eyeballs in the middle of my head. So we will just knock it down cut it into a few sections. Throw it all in the trailer and take it to the landfill.
Louis, glad to see you back in the saddle!
BBL
migalyto
Well-Known Member
Good morning all!
Currently a very cloudy 47F. Expected high is going to be in the low 70s again. Scattered rain showers are expected.
Not much else going on at the moment. Have some light laundry and a few other misc. tasks to do this morning, but
nothing major. Lets hope that remains the order of the day!
Gave a safe day everyone!
Currently a very cloudy 47F. Expected high is going to be in the low 70s again. Scattered rain showers are expected.
Not much else going on at the moment. Have some light laundry and a few other misc. tasks to do this morning, but
nothing major. Lets hope that remains the order of the day!
Gave a safe day everyone!
migalyto
Well-Known Member
troyphoto
Snarky Old Fart (in training)
Well, thats one Amazon driver that didn't go to the Louis school of delivery ... He did put the package right next to the sign that reads
Please Place All Packages Inside Gate...
If it weren't for the email from Amazon, I'd have no idea the package was there
Please Place All Packages Inside Gate...
If it weren't for the email from Amazon, I'd have no idea the package was there
RhB Michael
RhB Lokführer
57°F in the Southern Land of Lincoln this morning. Chores are out of the way for this day already. Hoping my nephew can pay a visit later. High in the low 80°s today but still dry so should be very pleasant outside today.
Have a great Thursday! Servus!
Have a great Thursday! Servus!
boogietrain94
Well-Known Member
I honestly blame that on the whole they have to keep a time schedule that these companies slam on the delivery people granted it only takes a second to open the gate put the packge in and shut gate but i still see no excuse when theirs a sign there thats like my step parents they live in a apartment complex where all the apartments look the same and the deleviery people will take a picture IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE NUMBER and still put it by the garage or at the neighbors house
santafewillie
Same Ol' Buzzard
Good Morning All. Seems to be clear and 60° this morning, 81° for today's high. A few more days like this before the rain forecast hits us on Sunday.
Finished mowing the rest of the yard yesterday, maybe another 1,5 acres. Won't last long after the 5" of rain last week, I'll be back at it by Saturday to stay ahead of the anticipated precipitation Sunday.
Today is the weekly grocery trek with an added stop at HD for some minor things. As usual, prescription refills at the pharmacy are also on the itinerary. Not sure yet if my wife is going or if she wants any other stops added.
Not a lot of time out in the train shed yesterday since I was mowing. Just more ground cover and touch up paint on driveways.
Tom O - Continue to enjoy your stay in Texas. Yes, Austin has humidity later in the Spring, but it rarely gets that way here 250 miles north of there. And it's worse as you get closer to the Gulf like around Houston.
If one had a nickel for every "historic" town in Texas, they would be in the 1%! You're right, it just means old.
Michael -
Louis - Keep it up!
Everyone have a great Thursday.
Finished mowing the rest of the yard yesterday, maybe another 1,5 acres. Won't last long after the 5" of rain last week, I'll be back at it by Saturday to stay ahead of the anticipated precipitation Sunday.
Today is the weekly grocery trek with an added stop at HD for some minor things. As usual, prescription refills at the pharmacy are also on the itinerary. Not sure yet if my wife is going or if she wants any other stops added.
Not a lot of time out in the train shed yesterday since I was mowing. Just more ground cover and touch up paint on driveways.
Tom O - Continue to enjoy your stay in Texas. Yes, Austin has humidity later in the Spring, but it rarely gets that way here 250 miles north of there. And it's worse as you get closer to the Gulf like around Houston.
If one had a nickel for every "historic" town in Texas, they would be in the 1%! You're right, it just means old.
Michael -
Reminds me of the neighborhood where I grew up in Brooklyn. Except every corner there.
Louis - Keep it up!
Everyone have a great Thursday.
TLOC
Well-Known Member
Good morning from Austin. 68 now going to 82f degrees. At home in Verona, it’s 41 going to 62. Now you know why Terry and I seek the heat in March and April. I am tired of being gone though as I usually feel this way at about the 10 day mark but we are beyond that. So that part of life hasn’t changed. The most missed thing is having a car of our own. We have the son’s pick up truck but it’s a freaking whale it’s so big! Definitely not good for me in downtown Austin traffic but it’s been ok.
Went to Hutto, Taylor and Elgin yesterday. I thought the Tesla factory along Texas toll road 130 in Austin was big! Well the Samsung chip factory going up in Taylor make Tesla’s plant look like a toy! Wow, it’s humongous! It might even open in a year or so. It’s been being worked on for 3 years.
Gas though, lots of gas stations have signs saying no shortages here! I asked the son and he said yep a couple weeks ago some of the stations in Austin could not get re-supplied. Holly Molly. $4.99 for premium and I put 20 gallons in the other day. Will need to fill it again this evening. It’s fine though because the promise was no more wars and cheaper gas! It will happen…
Be well
Went to Hutto, Taylor and Elgin yesterday. I thought the Tesla factory along Texas toll road 130 in Austin was big! Well the Samsung chip factory going up in Taylor make Tesla’s plant look like a toy! Wow, it’s humongous! It might even open in a year or so. It’s been being worked on for 3 years.
Gas though, lots of gas stations have signs saying no shortages here! I asked the son and he said yep a couple weeks ago some of the stations in Austin could not get re-supplied. Holly Molly. $4.99 for premium and I put 20 gallons in the other day. Will need to fill it again this evening. It’s fine though because the promise was no more wars and cheaper gas! It will happen…
Be well
Bruette
Well-Known Member
@Bill Tidler Jr. Can I have one of those long johns I'll eat half for breakfast, half for lunch and have a garden salad for dinner.
I'll say what Amazon would say "We are sorry for your negative experience. We will do our best to avoid such problems in the future. Thank you for being an Amazon customer."
The truth is "some of our drivers just plain suck and we can't fire them fast enough"
Now back to my regularly scheduled programming - Baseball!
Glad to be back! I might dropout occasionally, but I will always come back.
I missed you all as well!
I just paid $4.14 this morning. WTF!
Troy, I'm sad to say that I have heard more than one driver say, "I totally disregard customers instructions." I remind them "we work for the customer, if not for the customer Amazon doesn't need us."
I'll say what Amazon would say "We are sorry for your negative experience. We will do our best to avoid such problems in the future. Thank you for being an Amazon customer."
The truth is "some of our drivers just plain suck and we can't fire them fast enough"
I certainly will or die trying.
Now back to my regularly scheduled programming - Baseball!
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