Running Bear’s June 2021 Coffee Shop

[IronBeltKen]

That's a nice big skyscraper you have there. Had some Egyptians in to build it?

Not in MY world Ray - here, everything was built by good ol' American laborers, well-paid with benefits!

 

[McLeod]

Here is something Chet and Sherrell might appreciate - a redneck helicopter:

https://fb.watch/6gVvxDeOq2/

Can't see a redneck helicopter, Ken. That link just directs to the FB groups page.

 

[IronBeltKen]

Good evening Shop Dwellers! It's currently 71*F under cloudy skies, calm and muggy (93% humidity) here in central MD. But at 6:00pm the scene in my backyard looked like this:

...and a minute or two later it looked like this:

That 2nd photo may look like fog, but it's extremely dense rain blowing sideways in sheets! We had two very brief (~3-5 seconds) power outages, otherwise no adverse impacts.

....thanks everybody, those of you who shared "likes" and/or comments on the pics of my under-renovation trainroom: Garry, Gary, Willie, Patrick, Rick, Sherrell, Lee, Justin, Hughie, Tom-O, Karl, Guy, Chad.

Tom - that "skyscraper" Toot was referring to is part of my steel mill, the "converter" facility where pig iron gets refined into steel.

No mrr stuff to report on for the last 24 hours. Today was a regular [online] workday for me, and after that I was helping my daughter load all her belongings into the car for her move to NYC on Tuesday. She's just freshly minted from grad school [Columbia University Teachers College] and she's launching her career as a high school bio-chem teacher. She already has lots of friends there so she's very much looking forward to it to the move. Of course, I'll be the one driving her [and all of her stuff] up there tomorrow - it'll be a new experience for me, driving in Manhattan! And naturally there's rain forecasted for the entire journey, guess we'd better budget at least an extra hour of travel time...

I really need to get ready for bed now, I want to be as well-rested as possible for tomorrow's expedition.

Good Night - and have a Pleasant Tomorrow!

 

[IronBeltKen]

Can't see a redneck helicopter, Ken. That link just directs to the FB groups page.

Oh CRAP - they went and changed to a different video! Sorry about that Guy, guess I'd better strike it out now...

 

[kbkchooch]

Oh CRAP - they went and changed to a different video! Sorry about that Guy, guess I'd better strike it out now...

Ken, it worked for me, crazy stuff!

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

Ken, nice storm pics. I drove home through the worst of it, but I could see clear skies to the west as I got close to home. A second wave hit in the wee hours of the morning but all seems clear, for now.

Time to trot, BBL

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

In Kansas we all run out to see the tornadoes...Just like fireworks!

We haven't had any really bad ones in Kansas in nearly 10 or so years. 1991 one hit and nearly destroyed most of Andover KS, (about 10 miles form my house) and in 2007 one a mile wide took out 95% of the small town of Greensburg KS. I have seen several over the years taking the same path within a couple hundred yards. That said, I'd actually been in more when we lived in Michigan than in Kansas, and last year the area recorded no tornados at all. Hopefully we can keep that up.

Not a lot going on yet this morning. Hopefully it will stay quiet.

 

[TrucTrain55]

Good Morning all. 50 degrees in the Ozark Foothills feels nice out there. Thanks for the complements and likes yesterday.
Ken. Nice pics of the clouds you took.

Patrick. Thanks for complement I really enjoy O Scale Modeling

Here’s a few pics of the O scale layout. Enjoy your day.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

WOW, Lee! Sure do like the tractor trailer combos that youn have there and the vehicles too!
They all take me back in time to the era I grew up in.

Hi there RR fans-- Temps have been rather mild with an 88 high planned today with increasing clouds.
Covering their posterior, the guessers have thrown in the possible shower - better hurry up if it is going to make up the eight inch rainfall we are short this season ending in 9-10 days?

Been trying to "patch" up a few minor items on the RV ... the Spousal Unit is planning to take the daughter, G-kids, and such up to Big Bear Lake this weekend while there is still SOME water left in it? Outside of that - I am just trying to keep my sanity with 6 of us in the house and 5 doggies too! It's a zoo! All we need is a couple birds, a turtle, and a few lizards.

FLO -- A BLT to go please.

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from inside the house in So. Central Wisconsin. It was 49f at 6 this morning when I got out of the bed. Just couldn’t sleep so I started a real book. High today is low 70’s but is beautifully clear skies.

Flo, please 2 pieces of bacon and the oatmeal cinnamon raisin pancake. Please ask Mel to cook it 30 seconds more then yesterday. Drink? Yes, I would like a diet Cherry Pepsi.

Last night Terry and I had dinner on State Street in Madison at a Greek style restaurant. State Street was hard hit in the Madison rebellion back in May/June of last year. It is a popular tourist area for visitors. Many many storefronts are closed, many are still boarded up and are open but the plywood was used for “street” art and has been left in place. The food was excellent and at 7 last night not much activity on the street. A once vibrant area was kind of demoralizing.

I stopped at HD yesterday to get 12 sheets of 4’x8’x2” foam. $40 a sheet and none in stock, same for 1” at $19.55 a sheet. I called our contractor and he will drop off what I need for $22 the 2” and $12 for the 1””. He wants me to tip the delivery guy $10, it’s his 16 year old son. deal!

I have all the framework pieces for the currently designed layout cut. I should be able to finish that framework today and maybe install it. The one challenge area is accessing the equipment room for the pool. Terry thinks because I have so much room available why do a swing bridge or lift out area? She’s right. Drawing will be done later this morning.

Have a great day
TomO

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear skies and an incredible 61° out there this morning. The cold front and thunderstorm came through yesterday. The thunderstorms passed by mostly to the northeast. I finished up mowing around 11:30 with the temperature about 86°, got into the pool which had cooled down to 83° from 87° Sunday evening. Then about 12:00, the winds shifted, the rain came and the temperature dropped 20° in less than 30 minutes. Wasn't much rain, just 0.25" but temperatures in the 60's on the first day of summer is unheard of around here. A return to normal tomorrow until the next cold front comes in on Sunday! I haven't bothered to check the pool temperature yet this morning, but I imagine it's in the upper 70's.
It's time to deal with the grass clippings from the hayfield that the yard turned into while it was too wet to mow.

I successfully finished cooking the pork shoulder in the oven yesterday morning; the six hours of smoking on Sunday was enough to impart the right flavor and a good bark on the outside. So it was delicious pulled pork and homemade coleslaw for supper last night accompanied by a bowl full of blueberries and some leftover macaroni/tomato dish.

I'll take a stack of blueberry pancakes with a handful of bacon this morning Francine. I guess that I am on some kind of blueberry kick right now.

Thanks for all of the likes and comments on the lonely progress shot yesterday; Tom O, Guy, Mike, Gary, Karl, Patrick, Lee, Chad, Hughie, Garry, Rick, Sherrel, Ken, Justin.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I finished the ballasting of the two spurs, and also did about half of the passing siding through the area that I didn't complete a couple of years back. Why? I haven't a clue.

Note that I also added some minor weathering to the roof of the cannery while I had it out of the way.
I am now mapping out streets and parking areas for this section. Things are not working out quite as planned, and I may have to do something different with the bicycle shop that I planned to put to the left of these pictures.

Patrick - You really need to make time to use the new recliner! Follow up on your tomato plants: If you apply mulch to them before the ground has had a chance to warm up, you may will end up with spindly plants. Here that's late April or early May depending on the weather and the amount of sunshine. I managed to nail it just right this year.
Guy - Interesting contraption. I think that I will stick with my low-maintenance pond. The garden area looks really nice. You and your wife should be very proud of it. Too bad that you cannot enjoy it longer due to the long winter up there.

FYI - Someone asked about Phil last week, I have started receiving E-Mails from him again, so he is obviously alive and well. Just hasn't found his way back to the Coffee Shop. I am still concerned about Joe though.
Well, I thought that the skyscraper in Ken's train room that Ray was referring to was the chimney!

Today is National Onion Ring Day. I like the sound of that, maybe I'll make some later on.
Everybody have a great day and stay safe.

 

[McLeod]

Good Morning!
I'm running late because I was still up well past midnight, and needed to get an extra hour this morning. Couldn't sleep due to the extreme heat.
Even when I woke up this morning, it was still 62F; so we are into some kind of heat-wave. The forecast is to hit +/-90F come next Monday, with no rain in sight for at least the next ten days.
It's so bad, that I'm going to post a cool-off photo that I took in 2015. My wife with my best friend:

Since I couldn't sleep last night, I went outside to try and catch a midnight photo of the moon. I'm not very good on taking photos of the moon, but here's one anyway. The moon at midnight:

I know that the good people to the south are used to warmer temperatures, and despise the cold. Southerners seem to thrive in temperatures higher than 80F. - I'm just not one of them. Cool temperatures are more to my liking, because that's where I was born and raised.
In the mid-90's I was doing some big-game guiding. When the Americans came up, I had to put propane heaters into the stands as they were southern folk, and couldn't take the cold.

Well, I have not taken any train photos lately, and I can't see going down to get some in this heat. I can't even model as my Opti-visor is uncomfortable when it gets all sweated up, and the sweat gets in my eyes.
So I might just take a break until this heat-wave passes.

Thanks to all who take the time to read these posts.
Have a good one!

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Willie -- You have an affluent RR that has the funds to ballast sidings like that!

That's a bunch of grass clippings! Do you pick them up?

Patrick -- Loved your funny comment about watching the tornados. When I lived in SW K.C. -- I stood out in my back yard one afternoon watching three of them at the same time; fortunately they dissipated with the storm cloud skirting to the north of us as we were on the outskirts of town - there was no damage except a few fences blown over.

 

[bnsf971]

Good afternoon. It looks like the tropical storm is still hanging around, so we’re cloudy and windy, with occasional heavy rain.

 

[CGW121]

My neighbor took this. This was this at our back steps. That is a wild turkey. We live in a small town. Have seen fox, deer, a few coyotes, and quite a few Red tail hawks. Not bad for small town life.

 

[Jaz avalley]

Morning all,

Happy Belated Father's day to all the dads on the site.

Rainy morning in Doo-Dah. After a high yesterday of 102°, supposed to be rainy through the morning and cloudy this afternoon with a high in the upper 70's.

My father's day involved me doing laundry, getting the groceries, cutting out a stump at the daughter's house, and getting dinner at the boy's house. The wife has been wanting to replace the couch with a couple more recliners, so off we went to a furniture sale. I got me a nice new LARGER recliner. Finally one that actually fits me to where I can actually recline without the chair dumping me over. Now to have time to actually sit in it... So we moved the new chair in and the couch to the boy's house. New chair weighs more than the couch. Garden has 1 ping pong ball sized tomato at this point, on one of the 2 plants damaged earlier. They've out grown the other 2 plants to date. I've kept 3 of the volunteer tomatoes and they are blooming. We'll see what transpires. Last year the tomatoes grew tons of vine, this year I don't have a plant taller than 2' tall. Not sure exactly why, but I do have an idea. I had it pretty heavily mulched in this year and that may have kept some of the water from actually getting below the soil line. I've been watering due to the early heat we've had this year (5 days over 100° so far). The overnight and this morning's rain will help.

What did you mulch with, straw is fine, but wood clippings can use up the nutrients to break down and encourage slugs,perhaps a tomato feed maybe required if the tomatoes are in the same spot as last year as they may have taken the nutrients previously,wood chips once part decayed will give back the nutrients,crushed egg shells offers calcium on the cheap, old tea bags or coffee grounds improve the soil,a cheap tomato feed is likely a good bet,look up the ingredients,and see if any of your food waste provides the necessary,and old banana skins offer up potassium rip or cut into small pieces and drop on soil, old egg shells are good and can ward off slugs,but old / bad eggs with the yucky sulphur smell are liked by ppants,popping an egg into the soil under a new p,ant or adding beside a plant,if under let the plant penetrate if added after to the side crack the egg do it leaks out the goods making it available to the plant earlier,cover it up regardless as not only chickens ducks but other birds will scoff the inside and indeed the shell,female bird are partial to egg shell - obvious really. You can also add turned milk, not right next to the plant but near edge of the roots., I’m assuming you re tying your tomatoes loosely to help them go up, and ensuring they get enough water. If anyone in the family used mineral salts for the bath for muscle ache you can save and water with them giving magnesium etc. If there is soap in the water too it will help ward off some pests like greenfly so is not a disadvantage, also left over cooked vegetable water let it cool use on outside p,ants not recommended on house p,ants as it tends to stink - bad….I can go on but will bore you to death lol

 

[CambriaArea51]

Evening, Yesterday's rain left a nice sunset, enjoy.

 

[TrucTrain55]

Tom. What a beautiful sunset thanks for sharing.

Willie. I had the same problem in the barn lot so I got my old International McCormick rake out and took care of the problem now I have some hay for my hen boxes. Thanks for the complements and likes today. Good night everyone.

 

[MikeInHubCity]

Morning all,

In Kansas we all run out to see the tornadoes...Just like fireworks!

We haven't had any really bad ones in Kansas in nearly 10 or so years. 1991 one hit and nearly destroyed most of Andover KS, (about 10 miles form my house) and in 2007 one a mile wide took out 95% of the small town of Greensburg KS. I have seen several over the years taking the same path within a couple hundred yards. That said, I'd actually been in more when we lived in Michigan than in Kansas, and last year the area recorded no tornados at all. Hopefully we can keep that up.

Not a lot going on yet this morning. Hopefully it will stay quiet.

That do that in Wisconsin, too.

 

[MikeInHubCity]

What did you mulch with, straw is fine, but wood clippings can use up the nutrients to break down and encourage slugs,perhaps a tomato feed maybe required if the tomatoes are in the same spot as last year as they may have taken the nutrients previously,wood chips once part decayed will give back the nutrients,crushed egg shells offers calcium on the cheap, old tea bags or coffee grounds improve the soil,a cheap tomato feed is likely a good bet,look up the ingredients,and see if any of your food waste provides the necessary,and old banana skins offer up potassium rip or cut into small pieces and drop on soil, old egg shells are good and can ward off slugs,but old / bad eggs with the yucky sulphur smell are liked by ppants,popping an egg into the soil under a new p,ant or adding beside a plant,if under let the plant penetrate if added after to the side crack the egg do it leaks out the goods making it available to the plant earlier,cover it up regardless as not only chickens ducks but other birds will scoff the inside and indeed the shell,female bird are partial to egg shell - obvious really. You can also add turned milk, not right next to the plant but near edge of the roots., I’m assuming you re tying your tomatoes loosely to help them go up, and ensuring they get enough water. If anyone in the family used mineral salts for the bath for muscle ache you can save and water with them giving magnesium etc. If there is soap in the water too it will help ward off some pests like greenfly so is not a disadvantage, also left over cooked vegetable water let it cool use on outside p,ants not recommended on house p,ants as it tends to stink - bad….I can go on but will bore you to death lol

Jaz, that’s why when I lived with my parents yet, we would add eggshells, coffee grounds & old tea bags to the compost pile.