Running Bear’s May 2021 Coffee Shop


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Sirfoldalot said:
CHAD - Of course we all were wondering where you were hiding! I asked every day: Where's CHAD?
(several others did too!)
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You're a good liar 🤣

I did monitor the group on my phone for a day or two but got too far behind and the small screen sucks for this sort of thing...

Computer is working great so far. Had to reset some parameters when I got it going again last night but once done I feel at home again. Thank goodness.
 
Good morning from a nice morning in So. Central Wisconsin. 72 now heading into the 80’s and the radar shows the possible rain is moving straight north and just barely west of us.

Fredericksburg, a wonderful place. Great food, a nice older but well kept downtown and what great food. The Museum of the Pacific, was wonderful and superbly well done. I am a history buff with a interest into WWII as my dad and FIL both served in the Navy and while on Guam at the same time never met there. Not a wino but it’s always fun to hit the wineries and boy there sure are many on the trip into Fredericksburg. If you like food there are many places that are wonder and worth the trip alone. LBJ’s ranch is on the way to or back from Fredericksburg out side of Johnson City and was an ok diversion. I have a few comments on LBJ but not for here.

Next Tuesday we leave for our Spring visit to Austin after completely missing out last year due to Covid. We are not doing I35 down this year but will in October. No rush to get down to Austin and the plan till Mississippi and Louisiana flood3d this week was to go through New Orleans and come over on I10. Back highways this time. Thought about going into College Station but other then the Bush Presidential museum not much there to visit. Been there done that. While the son works in the day we day travel or do a 1 night out trip. We have been doing it for 8 of the last 9 years usually in March/April and then October/November. Missing only because of my health issues at the time.

Vaccines, Kroger and then HyVee yesterday announced masks are not required in the stores. The other 2 grocery stores now will remove the mask mandate as soon as 95% of staff are vaccinate. Those vaccines will be from the in store pharmarcy and may be completed by Sunday this week.

Thanks everyone for the pictures and conversations yesterday and this morning. It s why I am here in the diner. Outside the diner there are some great threads going on by some really good modelers.

Have a nice day
TomO
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Ugh - is it morning already?!

At the office and expecting a 10:00, so must be quick. Daughter came to dinner last night. When she does, it seems we always have too much wine. Slow start this morning.

Thanks all for the nice comments on my maille piece. Interestingly, it is not a bracelet, but an anklet. And seeing as how she sleeps with the artiste, there is no clasp. I wove it on to her ankle and it does not come off. She always gets some interesting looks when she goes for pedicures! She does have a bracelet in a different weave that also has no clasp. Now the metals are fairly soft, so not much of a tug would remove them if needed. The anklet is a gold-filled wire, the bracelet is sterling. I have made myself some cross chains out of stainless, and of course, two sporran chains for use with kilts!

No RR work yesterday, but I did post the latest track plan.

Got some much needed rain last night and continuiing this morning. Hopefully it ends before tomorrow morning tee time. Looking forward to the day on the links.

If I recover, I'll try to do some layout of the TT and RH. Cheers to all, and God bless all here -----Steve
 
chadbag said:
For Jaz

I don't know how it works in the UK, but most local municipalities get (much of) their revenue through property taxes on property owners. Usually $x per $1000 of valuation. Some municipalities also have a sales tax -- usually added to their state sales tax that also helps out. (Your state may have a base sales tax of 6% and your city may add 1% on for its needs. In Utah, some cities and counties add in extra above the standard but most just take the standard rate, which is divided by the state, county, and city/town [technically sales tax much different than VAT but the end effect is the same -- an additional amount you pay when buying something].
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Except there's no municipality in this case , its school district ,county , special this , special that. School is about 75% to 80%.
City taxes add another $500 to $2000 if your in one. Sales tax is pretty much same 6% ~ 9% depending on where you live.

Property Taxes vary wildly from state to state. It depends on how the things are funded Property tax vs Income Tax.

People usually run to Texas because it doens't have an income tax ....when they lose their job they find out why ....the tax bill keeps on coming...regardless of your financial situation...The schools are relentless in pursuit of your finacial well being...They want it for themselves.
 
GeeTee said:
Except there's no municipality in this case , its school district ,county , special this , special that. School is about 75% to 80%.
City taxes add another $500 to $2000 if your in one. Sales tax is pretty much same 6% ~ 9% depending on where you live.
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I used the wrong word. I meant the jurisdiction that controls the property -- municipality, unincorporated county, etc. Where I am at, the county controls the property tax and it is divided out across different "wanters" -- city, county water district, school districts, etc.

New Hampshire is similar to Texas in the way you described -- no sales tax or personal income tax (there are businesd income and other business taxes), but higher property taxes, which I think mostly go to schools IIRC. Been a while since I lived there.

Here is an example from Slat Lake County from last year showing teh different groups who get parts of the tax.

JORDAN SCHOOL DISTRICT
STATE BASIC SCHOOL LEVY
UT CHARTER SCHOOL-JORDAN
SALT LAKE COUNTY
WEST JORDAN CITY
SL COUNTY LIBRARY
SO SL VALLEY MOSQUITO
JORDAN VALLEY WATER CONS
CENTRAL UT WATER CONSERV
MULTI COUNTY ASSESS/COLL
COUNTY ASSESS/COLL LEVY

Looking at mine, the Jordan School District got the biggest share at a hair over 40%, the county next at about 16%, the city next at just under 16%, and the basic state school levy at 13.6%. The rest were drops in the bucket compared to those. The smallest was the MULTI COUNTY ASSESS at about 0.1% with the mosquito abatement program just a few pennies more.

We also have a state personal income tax (which I believe by the Constitution mostly goes to fund schools), various business taxes, and sales tax, which is split between the state, the county, and the municipality (or more for the county for unincorporated areas).
 
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Taxes, I pay. We have a outstanding example of what too high of taxes does to a school district. In September 2020 our school district opened the new palace they call a high school which included new baseball, football and soccer stadiums and fields. 1500 students and the place is way too big too modern and too expensive. But we must have the best of the best for our kids. Since it was September in Covid season it truly never saw a student enter into the buildings until March 2021. They dropped one grade school moving the students into the older but bigger middle school and moving the middle school students into the old high school. Our district now has 3 Olympic size pools, diving facilities, 2 football stadiums plus numerous practice fields, a HS soccer stadium a mile down from one of the USA greatest soccer complexes. That is per a quote from USA Soccer. Just nuts what they can do with our taxe.
By the way Terry is a former Central Wisconsin school district administrator and loves it all. I think it’s too much.

Taxes, are very different State to State and also within districts of each State. Up in Central Wisconsin I would have paid about 70% less then we do here in the liberal County of Dane outside the state capital. However, there is sooooo much more to do here, so there is that trade off.

Our son was paying a crazy amount of property taxes in east Austin. So, it is what it is. He now has property east of Austin in Manor, Texas. Just a small acreage is highly taxed. I told him to build a 30’ yourt.

TomO
 
TLOC said:
I have a few comments on LBJ but not for here.
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I think we are maybe along the same lines?
I pulled over at the turnoff for the ranch - and took a leak on the side of the road.
That's my contribution to him!

Speaking of Texas: I have been wearing out the pages of my 'KATY SOUTHWEST' book.
The M-K-T operated side by side, or close too, with the FRISCO in parts of MO, KA, TX, and OK.
Back in the hayday, It was a RR that took great pride in their steam fleet!
 
Good Afternoon all! We are getting a little break from the rain today. The old rain gauge shows just over 5 inches. Hopefully much of the water will be soaked up by the ground before our next rains.
A vanilla malted please.
Just came in from the barber shop. My last visit was Nov. 2019, a hair cut before Thanksgiving. I can't tell you how much better I feel now that my gray tresses have been trimmed.
Didn't get a lot of train time the last couple of days other than to run a switcher for about 20 minutes yesterday.

STAY SAFE

LATER
 
Chad - Our taxes are along the same line. We pay:
COOKE COUNTY
GAINESVILLE HOSPITAL
NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE
FM & LATERAL ROAD
ERA ISD
CLEAR CREEK WATER
ROAD & BRIDGE FUND

Like your county, the school gets the biggest share, 41% followed by the county at 24% and the hospital at 14%.
Clear Creek Water is for maintenance of the Corps of Engineers lake and dam across the road (and 21 others like it) which are part of a flood control district. The FM & Lateral road tax supports maintenance on state highways in our county. I currently pay 6¢ a year! The other road tax pays for my 1100' of county road out front. I am divided into two separate parcels, the house and one acre for which I get a Homestead exemption and also an over age 65 freeze (since 2015 when my wife hit that magic age) on all taxes except the hospital and flood control district. The other 14 acres have an agriculture exemption, but no freeze. The train shed gets slammed because it doesn't qualify for any exemptions or freezes.
I posted this morning $900, it's actually $822 since a couple of evaluations went down for 2021. Heck, my brother pays that much every month in Dallas for a bigger home and 3/4 acre, and he's a year away from the senior freeze. Our county is one of the most conservative in Texas, and we don't pay for Performing Arts centers, we use "show barns" that local ranchers rent out for events, or high school gyms. A mile south of me over the county line in Denton County, a comparable piece of property pays about $1700/year.
 
TLOC said:
Fredericksburg, a wonderful place. Great food, a nice older but well kept downtown and what great food. The Museum of the Pacific, was wonderful and superbly well done. I am a history buff with a interest into WWII as my dad and FIL both served in the Navy and while on Guam at the same time never met there.
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If you like wine or peaches or outdoor shopping , that's the place to go. Downtown is basically an open air shopping mall. Personally I,m not into that , if I do go I usually take the River Rd ->FM1623/1888/1376 (Blanco to Lukenbach highway) its a nicer drive than 290 it comes just east of Fredricksburg.

For scenery I go south on TX16 to Medina and W on FM337 Vanderpool , Leakey , Camp Wood. Up the Medina ,Frio and Nueces , and return via the Guadalupe . its been a while since I've been out that way . You just don't go if the rivers are in any signifcant flood especially the Guadalupe. I've been thinking about heading out that way but the weather right now is crap.
 
Sirfoldalot said:
TOM - Every day with me is Friday ... I love it! There is never enough time to get everything done, I don't know how I once did more when I was working?
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You had more energy then, thats why.

Patrick- You can water out of the hose all you want, it's not going to hurt anything. I do it all the time with pretty good results.
 

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Good evening Shop Dwellers! 67*F, clear, calm. And thanks to those of you who left "likes" & comments - Gary, Hughie, Garry, Steve, GT, Willie, Patrick, Guy, Karl, Tom (Cambria), Sherrell, Tom-O, Joe .

Gotta make this a quick drive-by....

First, I could say a lot about taxes and school funding in the State of Maryland - but I'm going to avoid that, because it would reek of politics!:eek:

...so instead, I'll just mention what I managed to get done on my quest to install cloth clips inside the fascia. Finished another ~10 linear feet (shown in blue on the diagram), continuing from where I left off on Wednesday (green):

CLW_Fascia_Schematic_04.gif

...so now, all that remains is the west wall fascia. Then, it'll be time to cut the cloth pieces to the needed dimensions and hang 'em up! :cool:

Good night - and have a pleasant tomorrow!
 
IronBeltKen said:
First, I could say a lot about taxes and school funding in the State of Maryland - but I'm going to avoid that, because <snip>
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We don't call this state Absurdistan for nothing!

The Lottery was supposed to help fund schools, then the Casinos were, but the tax payers have not seen a break. So where is all the $$$$ going?

Today, Colonel Hogan announced that everyone who gets or has gotten a Covid vaccination is now automatically registered for a daily cash drawing. The DAILY prize is $40,000 and this runs til mid June, at the end one lucky winner will win $400,000.
Where did that money come from??

MRR wise I was remiss in posting headlight pics I mentioned several days ago.
20210123_164931.jpg

This is the factory Bachmann headlamp on DCC

20210520_214448.jpg

This is the improved version
LED, with a larger fiber optic rod and lens.

Thats all for now, nite all.
 
Morning all,

Currently mostly cloudy and 67° this morning in Doo-Dah. Some light drizzle earlier on my way to work, but appears to have stopped. Going to try to mow when I get home and get the fertilizer spread.

Got a family thing over the weekend. It's been 18 months since the wife has seen her remaining siblings and now that we're all vaccinated I gotta go.

Tom: I've already heard about the water bill being up because I'd already run the sprinkler system (not since last Thursday though). I do run the sprinklers, but I've noticed the rain is better as the garden and grass do better, but I think it's because it gets watered more evenly and rain tends to be slightly acidic. Our city has hard water due to all the limestone in the area. I spread about 10# of sulfur over the yard in the fall (1# per 1000sq. ft. ) to make the yard better.
 
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