Running Bear’s June 2025 Coffee Shop

[Boris]

Joe - I'd love to comment

I sort of said what I feel and moved on. After all LA and SoCal is the Magic Kingdom and Fantasy Land all wrapped together. They have to live with it.

 

[migalyto]

The best cruise we went on so far was to Alaska from Vancouver BC, at the end of August. It was either Holland America or Royal Caribbean. There were no negatives. The service was amazing. It was mainly an Italian, Filipino, and Turkish crew. After the first night the lounge staff knew our names and drink preferences. At dinner the first night they had ice cream on the menu and I asked if they had pistachio. They said no, but the next night they made sure to let me know they had made some.

Its funny how they learn your preferences so quick.

After the first or second night, our table already had our drinks all set out before we even arrived. 2 glasses of iced tea for me and 2 diet cokes for my wife.

One night we went to a late show and decided to go up to our room for room service. I ordered a BLT and fries. Net morning our cabin steward ask me how my BLT was. I replied, it was good but could use a little more bacon jokingly (really it had enough). Next night we did the same but the bacon was an inch thick on the BLT and I got a extra plate with more bacon on the side.

All our cruises have had impeccable service!

 

[Boris]

Good morning gang!!!!

I survived! Double bypass and a pace maker and I’m ready to go home this afternoon!

Too much to catch up on. Thanks for the prayers and good wishes!

Great News. Wow, You got the works! Happy to hear from you. Stay Well Now.

 

[JimKrol]

Advice needed!

We are planning a trip via Amtrak from LA to Seattle. Then drive to Vancouver spending at least 2 nights in each City. Instead of flying back to LA it was brought up we could cruise to Hawaii!

1st we’ve never cruised. Is an 11 day cruise too much for our 1st cruise? What room should we get? The 4 choices are Interior, Oceanview, Balcony or Suite. Has anyone done the crossing to Hawaii from Vancouver? It says 6 days to cross, At Sea is the actual itinerary. My brother has cruised and said we’d love it but. I have heard from past friends cruising the Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean is different that the Atlantic. This would be the Pacific.

Thoughts from the experienced cruisers please. Celebrity X Cruises is the line the ship would be Celebrity Solstice.

Thanks

We did a Hawaii and back cruise. The weather was bad, with high winds. It was a little choppy. The worst part of the cruise was the "old Farts". I have never been around so many intolerant people in my life. It was a Carnivore cruise. We usually get balcony cabins. They are the best. Do not do inside cabin, they are a bit claustaphoric. If on a budget do outside. That was the only long cruise we did, Seven day cruises are usually the most enjoyable, because people are there for a good time, and have to get back to life afterwards. Long cruises are full of retired old farts, with nothing to do but complain. Thats my opinion and your welcome to it.

 

[troyphoto]

Advice needed!

We are planning a trip via Amtrak from LA to Seattle. Then drive to Vancouver spending at least 2 nights in each City. Instead of flying back to LA it was brought up we could cruise to Hawaii!

1st we’ve never cruised. Is an 11 day cruise too much for our 1st cruise? What room should we get? The 4 choices are Interior, Oceanview, Balcony or Suite. Has anyone done the crossing to Hawaii from Vancouver? It says 6 days to cross, At Sea is the actual itinerary. My brother has cruised and said we’d love it but. I have heard from past friends cruising the Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean is different that the Atlantic. This would be the Pacific.

Thoughts from the experienced cruisers please. Celebrity X Cruises is the line the ship would be Celebrity Solstice.

Thanks

If anyone has motion sickness, or might get motion sick, get a cabin in the middle of the ship. Lowest deck possible. The movement of the ship is not as noticeable at the fulcrum. The ends move a LOT>

I'd recommend a balcony cabin if you can. They have more space. BUT, wife and I travel CHEAP and do inside cabins. She likes her afternoon nap, and inside cabins don't have daylight flooding them.

Eleven day is about the max I would do.

Celebrity is not a cruise line I've travelled on, so no recommendations other than be nice to the staff. Go see the shows, and have fun trying all of the food.

 

[DeaconKC]

Nice day here, 86 and sunny. On the cruise issue, we love to cruise, Norwegian and Celebrity being our first choices. Avoid Carnival, they are second rate compared to others. Get the balcony room if you can. Enjoy!
On the USPS front, I have a package coming from NY, it has bounced between the distribution center here in Little Rock and Batesville for 2 days.

 

[Patrick]

Karl: Glad all went well.

Can't comment on cruises as we've never been on one and not likely to. Wife likes to see the water, but getting her even on a ferry once was a hard time.

 

[kbkchooch]

Took a Disney cruise many years ago. It would’ve been great if we wouldn’t have had to bring the kids along. For a Mickey Mouse organization it’s run pretty well.

 

[troyphoto]

Well, wow!

In case I haven't mentioned it, I'm a HUGE fan of Mythbusters. I still follow Adam Savage's channel on Youtube.

And Kari Byron and Tory Belleci have started a podcast where they relive the glory days, talk about the behind the scenes stuff. Three eps up so far, and sounds like 1/week from now on.

Mythfits Podcast

Best known for blowing things up (for science, of course) and putting wild theories to the test, best friends Kari Byron and Tory Belleci are back – armed with stories from behind-the-scenes of MythBusters…and just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

www.youtube.com

 

[Boris]

Long cruises are full of retired old farts, with nothing to do but complain. Thats my opinion and your welcome to it.

Agree...that's why we don't cruise. I cannot imagine being trapped on a ship with a group of people like myself . Except I don't complain. I just never adjusted to being old.

 

[migalyto]

Well, wow!

In case I haven't mentioned it, I'm a HUGE fan of Mythbusters. I still follow Adam Savage's channel on Youtube.

And Kari Byron and Tory Belleci have started a podcast where they relive the glory days, talk about the behind the scenes stuff. Three eps up so far, and sounds like 1/week from now on.

Mythfits Podcast

Best known for blowing things up (for science, of course) and putting wild theories to the test, best friends Kari Byron and Tory Belleci are back – armed with stories from behind-the-scenes of MythBusters…and just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

www.youtube.com

I have just gotten into Adam Savage "One Day Builds" I was sad to hear that Grant Imahara had passed away in 2020.

I didn't know that till recently. He was one of my favorites on the show.

 

[truckdad]

Good Morning All!
58F @ 59% clear. To be 90F later - better than the 94F yesterday and is to be cooler as the week progresses.

Bronco came home yesterday and I screwed around with it for a few hours. Could not duplicated the oil in the water complaint ( no water in the oil ). Will play with it some more today and watch some more. Has a couple of rust spots on lower body which should be easy to git rid off although I may need to weld in a a small piece of sheet. Other that than, only things I can find wrong ( so far ), Radio is loose in its' bracket, E Brake no workie, and radiator does not overflow into the coolant reserve. Lost about a quart when I attempted to pull the radiator cap off. Was not hot, but warm so I only took a shower, no burning. The thing has power for some stuff, all the glass goes up/down, seats forward/back. Washed off a ton of pollen and other muck.
View attachment 221763

Have no idea what those brackets are on the bumper. Maria wanted it out under the old shade tree so she can go through the interior. Pretty clean with no rips; but some small splits in the soft stuff and mold. Vinegar and water should stop the mold. Paint is in pretty good shape except oxidized. The Eddie Bauer Edition is much better than my old 87.

L8r

What model and year is your LS tractor? I have a XJ2025, 2021 model and learned just today about a “weak point” in the hydraulic system.

 

[Kusojiji]

Hybrids I like. EV's are a battery fire waiting to happen or a HazMat event in an accident.

The renters next door put 2 Tesla charging stations in. I sure hope one or both cars don't don't experience thermal runaway (bada boom). Our gas is still hovering just below $4.

Is there any savings after all that? How many tank fulls of gas for $20K? And then where are the dead batteries going? Dead solar panels? Has all that been figured out or we just add all that next to the nuclear waste?

 

[Kusojiji]

Well, wow!

In case I haven't mentioned it, I'm a HUGE fan of Mythbusters. I still follow Adam Savage's channel on Youtube.

And Kari Byron and Tory Belleci have started a podcast where they relive the glory days, talk about the behind the scenes stuff. Three eps up so far, and sounds like 1/week from now on.

Mythfits Podcast

Best known for blowing things up (for science, of course) and putting wild theories to the test, best friends Kari Byron and Tory Belleci are back – armed with stories from behind-the-scenes of MythBusters…and just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

www.youtube.com

Yeah, I think they did date... haha

 

[Kusojiji]

Those brackets are for using the Bronco as a toad. A towbar connects there, and goes to a ball on the tow vehicle or motor home.

If a vehicle is towed like that, does the mileage still get recorded on the odometer? Not sure where the odometer gets the reading from.

 

[chadbag]

We're home. I'll report in tomorrow. We got here maybe 45 min ago. Had to change filters on our ERV to get the air circulation volume back up. I had left it on vacation mode but when I moved it out the volume wouldn't go up and it was flagging a "resistance" error. The Filters were pretty dirty. They're set for 180 days right now (the machine tracks it and reminds you to order new ones etc to meet the schedule). We were 8 days away from the 180. I may have to set it down to 140 or 160 as we get a lot of dust in the air when the wind blows and that gets sucked into the filters.

 

[NorthBrit]

Good morning all. A dry, cloudy day. A Full English please, Flo.

Cruises. I did four cruises in the 1970s before I met Dawn. The majority of people on board were aged around 20-30 years old.
As mentioned it took me 25 years to get Dawn on a cruise. She has booked everyone we have been on since; plus four cruises without me. (She went with friends.)

Our daughter's first cruise was with us sailing on QM2 from New York. On the cruise she met a young man from Norway. On return she had a four month 'romance'. Distance was the 'killer'.
The second time she was on QM2 she met another young man who she married.
Their honeymoon was on the new Queen Elizabeth.

Long cruises - Short cruises. I prefer longer ones.. On short cruises I seem to be unpacking suitcases, then soon packing them again. Dawn does not travel light.
Most of our cruises have been around 14 days. We have done longer ones. Being on QM2 when she did a World Cruise I really enjoyed. (A bit too long for Dawn.)

Cabins/staterooms
Inside if you are 'up and about' type of people and just want a room to sleep in.
Outside if you want a view before venturing around the ship.
Balcony If you want to watch the world go by. Have room service and watch the scenery. Just to chill out away from things.
Suite A little luxury on the balcony. You deserve it.
Whatever you choose, choose the best you can afford for the type of room you require. It is a holiday.

With Dawn being disabled room with a balcony is a must. She spends the morning in the room. We now upgrade to having a Suite. Dawn deserves it.

Being on cruises is not for everyone (like other types of holidays) I always say try a weeks cruise. If you do not like it, it is soon over. If you do like it you want to go again.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good morning! It's 63°F and clear.

 

[troyphoto]

Yeah, I think they did date... haha

According to the podcast, no.

I agree with what Kari said on the pod, it would have been like dating her brother. And, if you follow the comments on various appearances by the hosts over the years, Kari was engaged, then married as the show progressed.

 

[traiNscale]

good morning

i would not say no to a english breakfast like shown above.

i have a question for the group. as you know iam from switzerland and i dont know everything about US/Canada Railroad stuff, so here is my question: How do i have to understand those Sub Divisions? If i would take for example the Feather River Canyon (yes this again), as i did understand this line is split in 3? Subdivisions? How does that work and why are they?

on the other side:

- airport ZRH is running smooth after the vacation weekend
- sun is out and its around 18 Celsius but will climb a bit today and the coming days
- the 3 cats at home are living the best life

tomorrow i have a video call with a construction company that will build my undertable for my Feather River Canyon project. iam excited and looking forward.

wish you all a great day.

cheers
Marco