Running Bear’s August 2019 Coffee Shop


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Good evening. It's really humid and 88.
I have been thinking about something that has been weighing on me lately. It is by no means the most important thing to be thinking about, and as a hobby, it is probably way down the priority list of what I should be worried about. However, it is something I can think about that I have some control over, rather than simply watching things unfold.
Most of y'all know my wife isn't doing well, health-wise. Neither is our dog. I am making some provisions in the background for the inevitable, such as cleaning out all the crap from the attic, basement, and garage. Things my wife won't see me doing, and since she can't venture there, I can perform these tasks without rubbing her nose in the fact I'm trying to have a few less issues to deal with when the time comes. I don't want to remain in this quite large house by myself, with my forgetful dog as company (if she isn't the first to go). Not to mention, I won't be able to easily afford the bills for the house.
When I move into a smaller place, probably a one bedroom apartment, I won't really have room for HO trains. I may not be able to work on N scale any more, due to its small size, and my lack of manual dexterity. So...
I am looking for opinions, after that lengthy story. Do y'all think I should:
A--Slowly sell my HO stuff, and quietly replace it with N, knowing I may have trouble working on it?
B--Keep the HO stuff, and sell or trade it when I find another, smaller, place?
C--Slowly sell my HO stuff, and just eventually be out of trains altogether?

AS I said, this isn't my #1 priority, and am considering this as a distraction from what is going on at my house.

BTW, the grass in the back yard/ditch is growing nicely...
 
Good evening. It's really humid and 88.
I have been thinking about something that has been weighing on me lately. It is by no means the most important thing to be thinking about, and as a hobby, it is probably way down the priority list of what I should be worried about. However, it is something I can think about that I have some control over, rather than simply watching things unfold.
Most of y'all know my wife isn't doing well, health-wise. Neither is our dog. I am making some provisions in the background for the inevitable, such as cleaning out all the crap from the attic, basement, and garage. Things my wife won't see me doing, and since she can't venture there, I can perform these tasks without rubbing her nose in the fact I'm trying to have a few less issues to deal with when the time comes. I don't want to remain in this quite large house by myself, with my forgetful dog as company (if she isn't the first to go). Not to mention, I won't be able to easily afford the bills for the house.
When I move into a smaller place, probably a one bedroom apartment, I won't really have room for HO trains. I may not be able to work on N scale any more, due to its small size, and my lack of manual dexterity. So...
I am looking for opinions, after that lengthy story. Do y'all think I should:
A--Slowly sell my HO stuff, and quietly replace it with N, knowing I may have trouble working on it?
B--Keep the HO stuff, and sell or trade it when I find another, smaller, place?
C--Slowly sell my HO stuff, and just eventually be out of trains altogether?

AS I said, this isn't my #1 priority, and am considering this as a distraction from what is going on at my house.

BTW, the grass in the back yard/ditch is growing nicely...
Can't put a like on that one, Terry, but the only thing I can suggest as far as your trains are concerned, is to keep enough of your HO that you can have a small shelf switching layout, at least, and reserve a drawer in a dresser for some extra locos and cars for variety. Some years ago, in MR mag, there was a lady modeler, who had built a marine switching layout that featured a barge and tug serving a town. That part folded down out of the way IIRC, or was removeable. She also used building flats, attached to the backdrop with Velcro strips, so they could be swapped for others, so the scene could be altered to represent another town.
Her layout was built into a recess at the end of a hallway, but something could be sat or attached on the top of the same dresser, avoiding the necessity of wall attachments. A corner one on top of 2 pieces of furniture if space allowed.
 
TERRY, Keep the thought that my opinion does not carry very little weight, however, to be short and to the point .... I would select option "B"!
I am very sorry that you are forced into any of the options - life an't fair!
Personally, I don't like to hear of any of those, but .... Keeping in mind that you might be able to have a small layout in the "living" area, or live/sleep in the living area and layout in the bedroom?
 
Good evening. It's really humid and 88.
I have been thinking about something that has been weighing on me lately. It is by no means the most important thing to be thinking about, and as a hobby, it is probably way down the priority list of what I should be worried about. However, it is something I can think about that I have some control over, rather than simply watching things unfold.
Most of y'all know my wife isn't doing well, health-wise. Neither is our dog. I am making some provisions in the background for the inevitable, such as cleaning out all the crap from the attic, basement, and garage. Things my wife won't see me doing, and since she can't venture there, I can perform these tasks without rubbing her nose in the fact I'm trying to have a few less issues to deal with when the time comes. I don't want to remain in this quite large house by myself, with my forgetful dog as company (if she isn't the first to go). Not to mention, I won't be able to easily afford the bills for the house.
When I move into a smaller place, probably a one bedroom apartment, I won't really have room for HO trains. I may not be able to work on N scale any more, due to its small size, and my lack of manual dexterity. So...
I am looking for opinions, after that lengthy story. Do y'all think I should:
A--Slowly sell my HO stuff, and quietly replace it with N, knowing I may have trouble working on it?
B--Keep the HO stuff, and sell or trade it when I find another, smaller, place?
C--Slowly sell my HO stuff, and just eventually be out of trains altogether?

AS I said, this isn't my #1 priority, and am considering this as a distraction from what is going on at my house.

BTW, the grass in the back yard/ditch is growing nicely...

OK, looking at this from a strictly subjective view, there are some additional things that you should also consider. At least you are thinking about the inevitable already. I don't know how large a house you are talking about or any current bills. While rent will remain the same, all the other bills will go down with any reduction in residents; water, food, electric, gas, etc. The health maintenance and insurance costs, including trips to doctors, will be reduced, possibly substantially. If your wife is already drawing SS, you will still qualify for at least a partial payment. Cutting off air/heat vents in unused rooms will reduce costs although probably not to a great extent. Also consider that you might need the room in the future if another companion happens along, although that might be a long shot. A like-minded housemate might also be a possibility. All of this might just be enough to eliminate a move.
I tend to be an optimist, but I would vote for option "B" if I had to.
 
The house is about 2400 square feet on one floor, with a 1200 square foot semi-finished basement, and a 250 square foot floored attic. Also a single car detached garage, plus a 10x10 tool shed with a cellar, all on an acre of ground. This does not count the bomb shelter (?) at the North end of the house that's been filled in. More space than we need now, and way, way more than a single person would need. I'm also considering "B", but getting rid of the big, modern engines and cars, and focusing more on 4 axle engines and 40 and 50 foot cars.
Plan "D" is to get rid of nearly everything, and move into the travel trailer until I get as many of the bills that we're racking up from my wife's illness paid. That's really not something I want to do, but is an option.
 
Terry..sorry you have to go through all this. I say B or adjust it to the switchers and shorter cars. No matter how small a place you end up moving into you can still have a small switching layout that will give you pleasure to build, scenic and run. Heck a 6ft or 8ft long by 1ft wide board can have some real pleasant switching work on it to keep you occupied each day.
All the best,
Gene
 
Right now I am sitting in the train in the pic below. We are in Car 12, which is the one shown. I am in the first row of seats. Only a small luggage ra K section and the entry way separate us from the driving compartment.

This is the Narita Express, a limited express train that starts various places, runs through Tokyo main station, and with maybe 1 stop more, has final stops at Narita airport. It is Thursday afternoon already in Japan and we fly home to Salt Lake City via LAX tonight. And with the magic of time zones and crossing the international date line, we arrive at LAX on Thursday afternoon! Unfortunately we have around 7 hours to wait in LAX for our final flight.

Once home I have a few more train pictures, and maybe other random shots, from Japan, to post.

IMG_2485.jpg
 
Terry, ... I don't know what to say, life is not fair is all that comes to mind. As always, you are wise to consider these things.

Everybody faces different and complex situations, I can't say what I would do in your shoes. I have downsized my life 3 times due to my own health problems. All I can say is be smart about it and I know you will be that. The first time I did it I was not smart about and it cost me. The second and third times went smooth and worked out well.

The only suggestion I will make is if something happens to your dog, get another one.

When my Dalmatian, my best friend/son, Mickey passed away I did not get another dog for over 4 years. Until my youngest daughter brought home an English Cocker Spaniel puppy, Bessy. I did not want another friend, but Bessy wanted to be my friend and she won over my heart. Bessy turned out to be my "nurse", she always reinforced my wavering positive attitude and so much more. In my darkest days Bessy was always my beacon of light.

When my Bessy passed away unexpectedly from heart failure. I reluctantly got another dog for my grandson. I found a rescue dog who needed a home, Tucker, my beagle. Unknowingly my son bought for me a beagle puppy, Sophie, the day before I was to pick up Tucker. I could not turn my back on Tucker and the breeder was not going to give a refund for Sophie. I did not want any dogs, but now I ended up with two! I looked at them as something to take care of, no more. They turned out to be a blessing that I needed and they are always a positive aspect of my life. Words can't express how much I love my beagles.

I've had pure breed puppies and now a rescue. I would get a rescue dog every time now. There is no difference between pure breeds and rescues, they love us just the same. Everybody wants puppies, but the benefit of a mature rescue is they are house broken! :) Not to mention they need us.

If something happens with your dog, share your love with a dog that needs you. It will good for all.

God be with you my friend.
 
Morning all,

Prayers for your wife Terry. I'd vote for B if my choice mattered.

We downsized 7 years ago when we moved, only to have the amount of stuff rebound. The wife and I are slowly getting rid of stuff after she had clean out her parents home after the passed. MIL passed 4 years before FIL, but they couldn't clean out MIL's stuff until FIL passed. They were married nearly 64 years.

Now if we could just get rid of the kids stuff.......lol

On a train note, I spent 45 minutes redoing the track a 9 year old messed up when making a tunnel for his train. He lifted the track off the cork (it was nailed down) and placed a water bottle with both ends cut off to make his tunnel. I took it apart and am going to show him how to do it properly. I then proceeded to start laying more track, while running a couple of trains, on my layout. I took photos of the grandson's handy work and his layout in general, but my phone always seems to take crappy picts.
 
Good morning Everybody!

Warm and humid in southeast Baltimore, it's mid-August, nothing new.

Here in the state of Maryland we have free healthcare for low income people. The state pickups the tab for those who can't pay in emergency rooms and the hospital. Even with these inefficient ways of dealing with healthcare, the state of Maryland ended the last fiscal year with a 504 million dollar surplus and projections show a 1+ billion dollar surplus next year. Imagine what we could do with good primary and preventive care and If we reduced the obscene profits in the healthcare and the pharmaceutical industries.

In Maryland we have a republican governor who routinely works and compromises with a large majority democrat controlled legislature. I wish the governor had not killed the expansion of the Baltimore metropolitan area subway, but that's another story. I did not vote for the guy, but he is doing a pretty good job!

America's buying power allows us to pay less than half for fuel of what the rest of the world pays. Why do we pay so much more for prescriptions and healthcare in general then the rest of the world?

As a nation we can't afford to do nothing and grid lock is doing nothing. We can't in good conscience ignore millions of people with little or no coverage. We can't ignore the plight of retired people spending much or all of their disposable income on hearing, eye, dental and healthcare co-pays.

I don't have all the answers, nobody has all the answers, it's a complex problem and requires a complex solution. We need to exchange ideas and solve this. It's embarrassing to know we are the only industrialized nation in the world not to have national healthcare.

Instead of being so critical of one another we should be adding ideas to the debate. I've had enough of hearing what we can't do, I want to hear what we can do! It starts with listening to each other.

If our generation does not solve this, maybe the next one will. Personally I'd like to see my generation have a say in it, but for the most part my generation has been mired in grid lock. Partisan politics is the legacy of our generation. I hope that changes with the next one.

It took 11 years of debate to come up with a Constitution, I don't know how long it will take to solve these issues, but I doubt I'll be here to have a say in it.

Considering the trend away from our current political parties, I doubt the democrats or the republicans will have much say in it.



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I consider myself a conservative democrat. The window of opportunity for middle of the road people to have a say in this compromise is closing. If we just dig in and refuse to compromise many of our ideas will die with us.

There are those who would have us believe the choice is between communism and fascism. I chose to ignore anybody who uses those terms. It's time to put an end to outrageous rhetoric and crazy conspiracy theories. It's time to start listening to each other.

Our great nation has been faced with doing the impossible from the day we declared independence. Not many gave us any hope of winning our independence, least of all the so the called "experts", but we did.

We survived the war of 1812.

Lincoln reunited the nation.

Roosevelt pulled us from the deepest depression in our history.

Kennedy inspired us to land on the moon.

Regan reignited our spirit, after feeling so bad about ourselves.

We elected a president of mixed race who signed a national healthcare law.

We don't have to agree with how everything gets done, but we should admire the accomplishments and build on them, not try to tear them down.

The 1969 Mets beat the Orioles. The Jets beat the Colts Super Bowl III. Anything is possible! ;)

For me life is simple, love God and respect your fellow man/woman, those are all the rules I need. Following those rules makes breaking all the others nearly impossible. Yes, I know, it's love God and love your neighbor, but some people's minds run amuck when you say love your neighbor. To me respect is the most important aspect of love.

Have a great day Everybody, God Bless you all!
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 75° here this morning. No grocery trek today as we both have a doctor appointment with the regular family physician, groceries tomorrow. Wife went all day yesterday using the cane instead of the walker, except at the therapy center. While I told her to make the switch over the weekend, she waited until the surgeon insisted at Tuesday's appointment.
Over here Flo, I'll take some blueberry waffles and sausage links.

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding the Beetle picture yesterday; Jerome, Garry, Sherrel, Phil, Patrick, Johnny, Ken.

Seems as if the train shed is not seeing enough of me lately. Yesterday I found a dead spot in an industry spur that I didn't know about. Usually when I switch the industries involved, the double-headed CF7's are on the "good" side. Yesterday I was using a single GP40X and it just went dead at a certain point. Traced it to a feeder that had a bad solder joint, I've posted before that I am not good at soldering. Managed to fix it without having to remove any ballast or track. Otherwise I finished painting the market structure, next is some minor touch up and then the mortar and brick weathering.
08-15-19 002.JPG

I also completed the scene behind the Green Door Lounge with figures and a dolly.
08-15-19 003.JPG

While rummaging around yesterday, I found a strip on N scale roadbed that I need to finish the industrial spur to the right of those covered hoppers. Temporarily saves me a trip to the LHS which is hard to work into the schedule right now, although my wife is getting a bit more independent every day.

Greg - Have a safe trip. Regarding the bathroom repair, that seems to happen all too often to me as well. And living so far away from supply houses adds to the issue. Although Ace opened a small hardware store about 12 miles away that has really come in handy for me.
Sherrel - Your RV experience would royally piss me off as well.
Louis - I know that things tend to be different in different locations, but I talked to my neighbor's son who is a WalMart manager in a Dallas suburb. (Disclaimer - I hate WalMart for a number of reasons, but here's some facts). At his store and all in the DFW area, starting pay is over $11/hour with overtime available. In Texas that is a reasonable wage since our cost of living is somewhat low. It won't support a family by itself though. He says that the only part-time employees that they employ at his store, are part-time because that's all the work that they want. Although he admitted that his store has about 30% part timers, they are mostly housewives and students looking for a little extra cash. All full time employees are eligible for health insurance. They pay managers well. His dad told me that he earned $175K last year, but worked 70+ hours most weeks.
As a side note. I believe that federal law requires all hospitals to treat indigent patients at their emergency rooms, Maryland is not alone.

Everybody have a great day.
 
...

Louis - I know that things tend to be different in different locations, but I talked to my neighbor's son who is a WalMart manager in a Dallas suburb. (Disclaimer - I hate WalMart for a number of reasons, but here's some facts). At his store and all in the DFW area, starting pay is over $11/hour with overtime available. In Texas that is a reasonable wage since our cost of living is somewhat low. It won't support a family by itself though. He says that the only part-time employees that they employ at his store, are part-time because that's all the work that they want. Although he admitted that his store has about 30% part timers, they are mostly housewives and students looking for a little extra cash. All full time employees are eligible for health insurance. They pay managers well. His dad told me that he earned $175K last year, but worked 70+ hours most weeks.
As a side note. I believe that federal law requires all hospitals to treat indigent patients at their emergency rooms, Maryland is not alone.

Everybody have a great day.

Willie, that is good to hear about Walmart workers and I can concur about some people don't want full time work. My Wife's company has a policy that only managers are full time. She has offered promotions to a few that have turned it down because it would complicate. reduce or even eliminate some or all of their government benefits (in this case, hand outs in my mind).

My wife has to fill out government forms for them to receive benefits. The government does not ask if the employee has turned down additional hours or anything like that, why?! I don't know, makes no sense to me!

Not to mention my wife can't ask food stamp users for ID, in any case. Some come in with several food stamp cards and a list of pin numbers. My wife can't even ask for ID after several repeated attempts to match the cards with the pin numbers! Credit card companies want her to ask for ID to prevent fraud, but not the government!

I'm all in favor of helping those who are trying to help themselves, but "milking" the system is just plain wrong! Id give every fraudulent claimant free health care, housing and meals, in jail!

These are just a few of the things we need to address to cut fraud/waste. It's a perfect example of what I mean when I say the solutions are complex.

I would hope it would be a federal law. I remember a story several years ago on 60 minutes about a woman with no healthcare coverage dying outside of a California hospital after being refused treatment due to an inability to pay. Maybe that story insipred a change in federal law, I would hope so.

For the record, I am a Walmart shopper. Both in store and online. I like the many low prices. I like the convince of buying a variety of things in one store. I love their cooked ham lunch meat and their prices for many frozen foods and many other reasons to shop there. I only go to Walmart early in the morning to avoid the crowds.
 
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