Running Bear’s May 2021 Coffee Shop


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Good afternoon .

Willie: ... You are doing good work with your switch tower.

This Is my Plasticville switch tower. All I did was replace the stairs and paint it. Then I added a few minor details.

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no mow in May, agree it is crazy. But around the liberal state of Dane County that is almost normal. I agree, try to help the pollinators but most of the folks, ok 50% or so, in the city of Verona use yard services. If they hire out the service does the City really think they are going to NOT have the yard serviced for a month. There is a disconnect somewhere
I have never seen bees in grass, on dandelions in May They're busy with the fruit trees. So what happens with all the grass clippings when they finally mow.
 
in the uk you can buy inflatable balls to lift your car to change a wheel,do they have them there,if so inflate one on the land at the waters edge use the buoyancy of the. All to lift it onto the water then let the air out
Jaz- that is a good idea.
I am going to have to talk to the wrecker services. I know one service used air bags to upright some trucks that were lying on their sides.
We may have to wait for the yard to dry out some, so the wrecker does not get stuck.
More rain predicted for tonight.
 
Hi Shop Dwellers, it's 53*F and cloudy with an 8mph NW breeze where I'm at.

Thanks for all the "likes" on my posts of the last couple days. I'm in too much of a hurry now to list out names, though - more about that later.
Lots of fantastic photos being shared on here, keep 'em coming!

I was hoping that Sherrell would have posted in here by now, sure hope the docs have things under control with his condition...whatever it might be!😟

Joe - sorry to learn about your latest medical issues, I've got you back on the prayer list!

Mikey - glad to see you're getting a clearer picture on how to refloat your boat. Sorry to see they're predicting still more rain though!

* * *
My workday was short, but still I didn't get much time in the trainroom - because I was running hither-and-yon to Home Depot [to pickup the two rolls of landscape cloth for my layout skirting], then to the supermarket and back just in time for supper. After that I was out again, this time stopping at Michaels for a hot-glue gun and glue sticks - tools to aid in the installation of the layout skirting, NOT to glue the cloth itself but rather the clothespins that will hold it up. Then over to the gas station to fill two jugs for the mower, as well as the car itself.

So technically, I did put in my daily 15-minute time quota since I was getting tools and materials for the layout. Just got home ~9:20pm, so that didn't leave me much time for a long post.
 
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Jaz- that is a good idea.
I am going to have to talk to the wrecker services. I know one service used air bags to upright some trucks that were lying on their sides.
We may have to wait for the yard to dry out some, so the wrecker does not get stuck.
More rain predicted for tonight.

These guys might be for hire. Bit of a travel fee involved though.

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Good evening ...

Thank you to everybody Who liked my photos of the switch towerI posted to show to Willie.

looking back , I see I missed what Sherrell and Boris posted about their health situations. I will prayers for favorable outcomes for both of them.
 
Sometimes it makes us feel better just to "talk" about it.
I agree, people sometimes feel they are not being heard,and the commeraderie here is one of its most attractive traits,nosing someone listens,likes,responds offers prayers,showing they consider your issues does help people without doubt, hope the wife’s trip works, hopefully the driver is used to helping the less infirm, and hopefully in the coming days,weeks,months she will be on the mend,does she see these messages? She might like to know that care,and that you get a little support,even though it is only mental and not the more important physical,must be nerve racking going to work,concerned she will be okay when you return,hopefully they have sent her home because she is on the mend,will they follow up with physical therapy to help her get better, I understand swimming or even exercise in a pool - for gods sake do not leave her alone - can be beneficial, my father had a lot of aids to make his life easier
1. A grab handle by toilet,bath,shower,front door, he could have done with one by his seat but we were lucky and had money to buy a rising chair that could lift him on his feet or if tired put him in a lying down position,
2. Surprisingly overlooked whilst not good on your feet,getting to the toilet is a major issue,incontenance pads cost,but puppy trainer liners are much cheap (sorry to be so basic but when your not working well on your feet it is a major consideration.
2a drink enough,people avoid drinking out of embarrassment then become dehydrated or get water infections and get hallucinations my dad did this several times
3 a plastic sheet on the bed,2 people (yes I know 2 people would be nice) can easier pull a person around on the bed to make them more comfortable avoiding bedsores,do not leave her directly on the sheet,you need a sheet preferably cotton,plastic can cause sweating and the bed sores you want to avoid!
4 an additional wide step for easier walking points,we added one into the shower and one into the main house, you can also get plastic/metal obstacle covers making it easier for a wheel chair or a person to negotiate
5.hospital crutches that you put your hand through, or 3 legged walking sticks make it easier,moving some furniture so she can use it to rest her hand and help support her,don’t hurt yourself moving heavy furniture!
6, a flask for warm not hot tea/coffee/soup so she gets drinks does not need to go make them
7 if she is not moving much, she might feel cleaner just for getting her hair washed,my dad liked a shave and his hair cut
hospital tends to take a lot out of you
8 and the most important thing, YOU need to look after yourself because worrying will make you ill too, and that is no good for anyone.
9 if she seems confused,check liquid and temperature,dark coloured pee means not enough water,try her with old photos familiar items to help her confidence,chatting about the good old times has serious positive vibes,and helps memory
and take help where you can get it,but if strange helpers are coming in put away valuables, I found some items missing,after my dad had helpers in,appeared someone was not above helping themselves.too many people in and out meant it was impossible to finger the culprit,don’t listen to sob stories how they cannot afford stuff either, I am afraid to say it is often the oldest con in the world.sorry to end on a cynical note,but you need to consider yourselves first and foremost.
take care.
 
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I have never seen bees in grass, on dandelions in May They're busy with the fruit trees. So what happens with all the grass clippings when they finally mow.
We allow dandelions to grow for our bees,and our birds as a food supply,I have orchard trees and ornamentals in our arboretum,but dandelions do get some attention,they help fill a hungry gap as in cold weather they are flat to the ground but as warmth and water come with warming they set them selves up,more important when frosts have killed fruit buds,I rarely get plums,pears,and apples bumper crops as weather can hit the blossom,ruining the crop,in my experience trees flower once and if frosts hit the blossom they do not try to re blossom that year. I have a few cherries but the birds always beat me even netting does not stop them. The professional bee keepers love rapeseed as it is great for a good early honey harvest,but I hate the little black bugs the smell can give me a headache and we have the genetically modified horror stuff here,plus farmers treat with pesticides and those harm the bees,so far we have not lost any to pesticides but I have missed swarming twice,luckily one swarm left their hive and moved into an empty one next door...go figure...but they do better there....then a foreign swarm took theirs,the queen was marked nd I do not mark queens so it was easy to see it was not ours. May is usually swarm season but we are getting loads of rain and thundery showers so hopefully not an issue yet,we have a spare empty new hive nearby, we did capture one swarm boxed it and put it in hive but I think it was also ours as one of the other hives had far less bees,so I missed a new queen,still 2 hives from 1 although both then had low honey production that season,we are not great bee keeper,but then we do not sell honey just use it ourselves and leave some for bees rather than offering them fondant in bad weather,although we add the fondant too as a back up,this last year most was used but we did only put out fondant once so their own honey lasted well.
 
Morning all,

Partly clear this morning with a temp of 48°, supposed to get into the mid 60's.
Time for a cup this morning, oh heck give me the blue plate as well. Thanks.

Not much today (I hope) I finally have one of my new Host servers running, but I have no control to it. The vendor changed how you talk with it, and I still have to configure the control part. In the past, you set up the master machine and then configured and attached the slave machines using the master. Now you setup the first slave, and then load and configure a virtual master on it and attach the slave and all subsequent slaves to it. A bit backwards in my opinion, but just more to learn if I want to at least attempt to keep us fairly current. See you can teach an old dog new tricks... 😄

I hate dandelions. I spray the heck out of them with a little 2-4d. Kills dandelions but leaves the grass intact. I have enough flowers with the fruit trees, blueberries and butterfly attracting stuff in the front bed. Besides, the neighbors have plenty...Dandelions that is. You'd think the y were growing them instead of grass. When I first bought the place 7 years ago, (House was empty for 2 summers at this point), the dandelion roots were over an inch in diameter. Now between spraying for dandelions and bindweed (wild morning glory) I'm seeing a nice lawn.
 
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Good Morning All. Cloudy and 57°, looks like the rain has gone away until Sunday. Yesterday was a misty/drizzly day that left 0.8" in the rain gauge. I spent part of the day processing and freezing the last of the main broccoli harvest. I'll continue to get smaller (tennis ball size) side shoots for another 2-3 weeks, but we'll eat them fresh unless overwhelmed. Total score from this years harvest, besides eating fresh broccoli for a month now, is 18-two person servings frozen for the upcoming year. I still have a full head in the fridge that we'll be enjoying this week. It's too bad that we had those 80°+ days last week that sent the lettuce plants bolting to seed, as the next ten days look like they're very favorable for lettuce growing. Some plants might have escaped and I'll check on that tomorrow after things dry out.
I'll be out and about this morning taking my wife to an ophthalmologist for cataract surgery evaluation. We both need it, but I'll let her go first and check out this doctor. She needs it worse than I do. The optometrist told me that I most likely can ditch the eyeglasses that I recently had to start wearing once mine are done. While she's in his office, I will head back to Home Depot, the self feeder thing on my weedeater broke Sunday and it is a hassle to manually unwind some string every 5-7 minutes. New part is about $6. I also need to see if they restocked the liquid pool chlorine yet. Traditionally I start to reopen the pool around May 15, although looking at the forecast right now, it may be closed to Memorial Day this year; temperature is not expected to get out of the 70's for the next ten days...after that I don't know?

Light breakfast this morning Flo, how about a soft-boiled egg and a couple of strips of bacon, no toast or biscuits.

Thanks for the likes for yesterday's post regarding the progress on my current small project; Rick, Karl, Patrick, Hughie, Tom O, Garry, Phil, Gary, Jaz, Ken, Tom, Guy, Justin, Troy.

Big day out in the train shed yesterday, Small things first, I repaired the smudged parking area and ground cover that I spoiled Monday while taking pictures. Then I opened the package that I received from fellow forum member, Brian (beiland). He is thinning out his collection of unnecessary structures, and I got two Bachmann City Scenes structures from him. Unopened with the original cellophane on the boxes. I passed on these structures when they first came out over twenty years ago and figured that they would still be manufactured later. NOT!
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Of course I couldn't wait to build one since it has been a few months since I have built any structure at all! I think that the last one was the laser-cut wood structure of the cinder block feed store. Besides, it was raining and I couldn't do anything outside. I chose the bus station because it has the larger footprint and I might have to make some adjustments to make it fit.
Windows and glass installed.
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Some walls assembled.
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Sherrel - Once again, my best wishes and prayers go out for you. While you were away yesterday, your posts received their 10,000 like (or reaction), congratulations on that milestone. It's those Frisco diesel pictures! ;)
Joe - I wish you the best with the potential pulmonary issues. July appointment? Is that your choice or are specialists in your area just really booked up? I am usually able to get specialists appointments in two weeks or less.
Karl - Best wishes for the dog's recovery. Must be tough for both of you with the other healthy doggie hanging around.
Terry - I am real surprised that the bus service does not escort patrons to the front door! I hope that Marie has recovered from that ordeal. Prayers continue for your family.
Tom O -
If they hire out the service does the City really think they are going to NOT have the yard serviced for a month. There is a disconnect somewhere.
It is lame-brained ideas that help contribute to the unemployment situation that we're in. It's a shame that folks that actually work might be forced to take unemployment anyway! I'll leave it at that for now.
I have a specific area that I devote to a wildflower meadow, and the county does not mow the road easements until July at the earliest, unless the county fire marshal forces them to mow earlier. So we're supporting bees in this area.
Garry - Thanks for the picture of your switch tower. I like your idea of switching out the stairs, as they always appeared to be a bit too bulky to me. Your picture also gave me the idea of adding a propane tank to the scene. It's now on the to-do list so I don't forget.

That's it for now, everyone have a great day. Stay safe and everyone get well.
 
Good Morning!
33°F to kick-off the day under broken cloud; the temperatures are supposed to reach the mid-sixties. I don't much like it warmer than that, so it might just be a perfect day for me.
Green-up is just starting; I murdered my first dandelion of the year yesterday. There's just not enough grass on my lot to share with the dandelions, so I am an avid dandelion hunter and possess special implements that help ensure their destruction. I am a dandelion killing 'Jedi'! The bees are going to have to find a different flower to land on my small property. - They seem to enjoy the apple blossoms more anyway.

I'm just going to settle for a couple of coffee this morning, and be on my way. The wife wants me to go pick-up a load of compost from the towns free compost pile, and I'm going to do that because the garden keeps her busy.

Before I go, I drop some photos for yu'all to look at:
The SD75 I and a C44-9W that were parked in the local yard, day before yesterday.
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Here's a-bit closer:
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Not great photos, I know. - They always park the engines in places not necessarily good for photographic work. Those are immediately beside the Home Hardware, which places me on the wrong side of the sun.

Anyway, I'd better go shovel some compost!
Thank you for the likes on my posts!
Have a good one!
 
Good morning gang!

Another sunny day here in central Absurdistan, with daytime highs expected in the mid 60s.

Big dog is now walking again, a little gingerly, but he's making it. A few more days of rest and meds, and he'll be fine. Thanks for the kind thoughts Willie. Little dog was a total spaz, daddy gave her an extra Hemp doggie treat before heading out the door this morning. I usually only give them to her at night, just before bed time.
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They really work to calm her down, makes it easier for everyone to get some rest.

Back seat of the truck is loaded with stuff going to the auction, gonna drop that off at lunch time.

Patrick, That programming method sounds like reaching around your elbow to scratch your butt!

I also wage war with dandelions. Them and chickweed. Of the 4 houses on our corner 3of the 4 lawns look like golf greens, on neighbor maintains a bumper crop of weeds, mainly dandelions. he thought of spraying them one day when he is not home has crossed our minds, but it might kill the whole yard!
For the bees, we have lots of day lilies and New Guinea impatiens, and a huge Mimosa tree.

Time to work, BBL
 
Good morning ....

Willie ... You are welcome regarding the switch tower. My propane tank is actually part of an N-scale European tank car. ..I like the Bachmann bus terminal. I have all of the Bachmann downtown kits on my layout except for the bus terminal. My downtown area includes all of the other Bachmann buildings. The kits are well made, and the instructions are very clear. I learned it is important for every tall building to be perfectly vertical. If one building is slightly tilted, it is very touchable as the tops of the buildings get closer together.

Karl .... It is good to hear the big dog is recovering .

Mikey .... Regarding your boat situation, I can't add more suggestions to those from others here. Good luck.

Everybody ..... Have a good day.
 
uly appointment? Is that your choice or are specialists in your area just really booked up? I am usually able to get specialists appointments in two weeks or less.
Willie: First available "new patient" appointment. This is a large, (ten physicians, and 4 Nurse Practitioners), with three locations. I accepted the appointment, then tried one a little closer to home ...they offered August. It comes down to limited availability of specialists, and a large aging population. Chances are I could have been seen sooner had looked in NYC. According to available information...I obtained a copy of the Radiologist's report, and did some research, I'm in for a CT Scan every three months for the next two years to monitor the nodules for change...they could be scar tissue...Hopefully that's all there is to it...Hope they can give me something for this persistent cough that caused me to open this can of worms in the first place. My Cardiologist, was more concerned with the portion of the report, that indicated a build up of calcium in the Aortic Valve. Go for an Echo next week.

Ken, Garry & Willy:
Thanks for your kind words,

Wayne Jct 5-2-1964 2712 an SW12ooM and 3 car EMY set - Hal Smith.jpg

RDG activity on 5/2/1964 at Wayne Jct. Rebuilt VO-1000, now reclassified as a SW1200M and 3 car EMU set. Hal Smith photo.
 
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