Running Bear's August 2022 Coffee Shop


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Good morning. I figured that I would put my 2 cents in before I got busy.

Terry - Not only have I received numerous calls about student loans, I have also been getting almost daily calls from Spectrum, AT&T/DirecTV and a few others. All seem to be playing the same obnoxious music when someone is on hold. These calls are helpful when I misplace my phone and can't find it.

Ken - Enjoy the running session. Hope you're able to get some video to post. You are correct about many people not having a work ethic and just wanting to freeload.

Curt - I'm sure that your dad enjoyed the taller toilet. I had a taller toilet in the master bedroom but the main bath had a standard lower one. Can't count how many times I used the main bathroom and had my life pass in front of me during the few inches of free fall until my butt finally hit the seat. Now I have a proper throne.

James - Enjoyed the Utah Belt video. It was also one of my favorite roads. Liked how he upgraded the locomotives and rolling stock over the years.

Karl - Loved those photos you posted.

Chad - You're making some headway. I can remember putting my train room/basement in. Hope you can get the place dried in before winter comes.

Joe - That port area is coming along nicely. Missed a few weeks on the forum and lots of photos. Doesn't look like the same area.

Willie - It seems that you may need a boat. Liked your photos as usual. Some of the statements that you, Dave and others made hit a nerve with me. First off is Social Security being called an ENTITLEMENT. Sorry, we all had to pay in, no choice. If the money had been properly invested, many could have retired as millionaires instead of paupers.

Dave - I am not looking forward to some of the obstacles I'll be facing with my upcoming shoulder replacement. Physical therapy is one of them. In Montana there are only 2 companies that can write Medicare supplements and they are basically the same. If I had physical therapy at home, it would be paid in FULL between Medicare and Blue Cross. If I have to go to an office for PT, I will have to pay about $45 for each visit, about what I had with my right shoulder. Really??? One problem I guess is being in a small town. I checked with Medicare and Blue Cross and IF they can find someone from the Kalispell/Whitefish area (90- miles away) that would work as a traveling therapist, I could get it at home.

Hughie - I did see a number of videos about the USS Texas heading to Galveston so she can go into dry dock. Long over due.

Here are some photos from the past

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Later
 
JeffH said:
Taxes are voluntary. So is obeying the law. God gave man free will. Fortunately, most people have a moral compass that points north.
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Yep. I saw the Harry Reid interview. it was goofy, but I think what Reid was trying to say was the same thing the IRS says. They rely on voluntary compliance with the law, just like not speeding, not burning your neighbor's house down, not shoplifting, or any law you choose to name. :)

As for all those new IRS agents, before you hunker down in your basement with your Pew-Pew and your cash, you might want to consider that you aren't very likely to encounter an armed agent unless you're a drug dealer, a money launderer, or some similar unsavory character. That money recently allocated to the IRS going to the entire agency, for things like IT personnel, new equipment, and enough people to get the phones answered and your refund processed, and to replace people who are retiring. (took me a year to get my refund the year before last!)
 
Ok, I guess that my point could be: no want at all to support self or family probably tied to mommy and daddy footing the bill for some time after they should have been kicked out of the nest. Work ethic is also involved which most listed above do not have either also caused by the same as above. Note that I do know people in the 20 to 40 crowd that have very good work ethics. It took a little longer than we thought it should have for our kids to face the grindstone, but they are there now which is fine with me. Ok, off the soap box while I'ma bouncing down the road with eyes slamming shut. Wife is driving.
 
Afternoon all,

2 meetings today, both not required as I figured out the new stuff prior to the meetings. Just need to have the time in my day to get the stuff accomplished. Waiting on a DNS record change to make Microsoft happy so I can regain control over a Microsoft account no one but Microsoft and the retired boss (whose email is turned off) knew about. Internet security is a PITA!!!

Also didn't mean to start a political thing about the employment issue. So apologies to anyone offended. It was more of a rant.

Christian: Welcome back. Please hang around longer. We did miss you.
 
Good afternoon all,

Internet was out for the County servers all morning, weird to be at work and not have news running in the background.

Chet - I always love seeing your layout pics. Also, the medical thing is a bit of a mystery in America.

(caution, rant is coming) Unless you have the gold plan, you pay a fair amount for services. My wife's medicare, however, has paid for almost everything for her. My Blue Cross Blue Shield from work is fine until you need it. The only reason I am in therapy now is because Wife demanded it. She has not been responsible financially since our marriage, I am constantly reigning her in with spending, it dwarfs my model railroad aspirations. And, she hasn't had a paycheck in 12 years. I have been negligent at putting down the law throughout our marriage and that is what I am learning in my therapy.

I left the house at age 18 and have cared for myself since then. There have been years when my income was well below poverty, I lived off the grid, pumped my own water and built several log cabins that I lived in and sold. Those were some tough years but I did enjoy good old American Freedom, which I am very grateful for. Also, makes me feel for the unhoused; knowing there are well meaning people in that category that simply cannot get ahead.

Tom TLOC : That is Great for you about the offer. I am not surprised about the smug elites, I lived in Prospect Park in Minneapolis, filled with college professors. Had a hard time walking by the mansions mainly cause of the hate signs in the yard. My favorite hypocritical sign was the "unite" sign showing a fist. That one was very popular. By the way, this was during the time of the Floyd uprising and riots.

Took this pic of the layout, I find the greens soo soothing, will be filling this area in some but the burnt grass is going to be the Crex Meadow where grass is harvested.:

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havent got around to treating the steel wheels, too busy having fun!!!

Dave LASM
 
Afternoon All,

Started with a early morning walk, did some chores, and ran a couple of errands. In the train room I finished the initial dirt ground cover on the 2 sections. I think I'm going to do static grass on the 3rd section. Of course this will mean a trip to the LHS saturday.

Karl- Great scenes.

Chad- Reading your trials today I think back to what my Grandpa probably went through back after WWII when he built his house.

Mike GTW- Yikes!

Joe- Neat scene.

Christian- Welcome back.

Willie- Great scene.

Steve- Good to see you posting again.

Chet- Great scenes.

Dave- Nice scenes.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Curt If I remember right that top wire is 12,000 volts so not good to play with

Still remember when a burrow crane operator ran thru one of those in Mishawaka said he didn't see it Fried every relay in a case at that crossing So me and one other guy had to go on emergency service seems like we were out there for two days straight Had to completely rewire that case
It also burned out the electrical in the crane
 
Well, they got the Texas to the dry dock. When I last checked they were in the process of centering her in the dry dock. I took a screen shot as she passed Seawolf Park. Prior to being a park, it was a quarantine station, nick named "Ellis Island of the South". When I was in the Coast Guard, the base was directly across from the quarantine station. The buildings had thatched roofs. They are all gone now. So in the screen shot, in the back is the Boliver Lighthouse, then mid screen the Texas, at the park the submarine USS Cavalla, the destroyer escort, USS Stewart. Though not in this photo, just off to the left would be the SS Selma, the largest concrete ship ever constructed.
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To the left the Houston Ship Channel and to the right the Gulf of Mexico.

Back to you, Mel
 
Texas Hobo said:
Well, they got the Texas to the dry dock. When I last checked they were in the process of centering her in the dry dock. I took a screen shot as she passed Seawolf Park. Prior to being a park, it was a quarantine station, nick named "Ellis Island of the South". When I was in the Coast Guard, the base was directly across from the quarantine station. The buildings had thatched roofs. They are all gone now. So in the screen shot, in the back is the Boliver Lighthouse, then mid screen the Texas, at the park the submarine USS Cavalla, the destroyer escort, USS Stewart. Though not in this photo, just off to the left would be the SS Selma, the largest concrete ship ever constructed.
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To the left the Houston Ship Channel and to the right the Gulf of Mexico.

Back to you, Mel
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thanks for posting this and the earlier post. I have been checking Online for the live updates. Thankfully it made it to the dry dock, but $35 million for repairs! I sure hope folks understand the history and what this battleship stood for and achieved
 
santafewillie said:
It seems to be quite common among many of my peers, neighbors and other acquaintances of my age bracket. Why? Because they did it a lot when younger and failed to save and now get very little Social Security. One next door neighbor who is 76, only draws $1100/month and saved very little during his years of working. Between groceries, gas, utilities and medical expenses, that $1100 is not even enough. But he has an electrician's license and pays his son (off the books of course) to do the manual labor.
Many of these folks thought that SS was a consistent handout to everyone without realizing until it was too late to make a meaningful change. That realization usually came in their mid-50's when the SSA begins sending you those benefits summaries. My best man draws less than $600/mo, but he is fortunate to have started saving a little during his later years, plus his wife was a 45 year employee of ATT, with both a 401K and a pretty good SS payment each month.
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I have encountered similar individuals. I was giving the benefit of the doubt. They made their beds...
 
TLOC said:
I have always thought the job reports open and filled were political propaganda!

Remember that when unemployment runs out for out of work folks those numbers drop off any reporting mechanism. We have many more unemployed folks in the USA then the official numbers tell us. We also have the undocumented (not saying illegals) worker who barters for his/her services or gets paid cash. I am personally am aware of 2 Veterinarians who officially retired but now work for cash only and come to where they are needed. Terry will no longer use them in the stables. There are Combine Operators in our County who only work for a percentage of the harvest, no paperwork, no cash, no checks. Say they harvest 10,000 bushels, a portion of that is taken by the combine folks with no records. Lots of that happens and is therefore skewing our “OFFICAL” numbers. Artists are notorious for off the book stuff. Unknowingly years ago I had a trio of 🦕 dinosaurs fabricated for off the entrance to the driveway. I like whimsical and when he delivered and installed them he said I only take cash! I knew he didn’t take credit cards but also no checks, no invoices, nothing just cash!

Some States have also adjusted the hours that qualify a worker as full time or part time.

I truly do not believe any government reported numbers.
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Very valid point that people that either exhaust their unemployment bennies or outright get denied(that happened to me when I moved to WI with the promise of a job transfer awaiting me, which vanished & I was denied UI, because NJ said that, since I didn’t have documentation of the transfer, it was considered job abandonment), drop out of the job market numbers. I had to prove 8 weeks of bonafied employment before they would entertain a new claim. Once I got laid off from my winter merchandising job, I was able to reopen my original NJ claim. I shortly found PT work, which let me stretch out my claim longer than 26 weeks(didn’t need to, as I moved up to FT within 3-4 months & didn’t need UI).
 
logandsawman said:
(This was a response to Boris' reply earlier on homelessness and "lack of workers. Somehow reply did not show up)


I know there are other issues, however I believe some of these are symptoms of a broken economic system.

Mental health counseling on the scale apparently necessary is unimaginable.

It took me 4 months to get into therapy, and it cost me $525 for a referral and evaluation of which insurance covered less than $40. Subsequent visits are $175, insurance covers $15. That is because I work and earn over $12,000 per year. My employer Employee Assistance Program was unable to provide any counseling.

Developing a positive work ethic can and will fill the need that is currently filled with drug use and distribution.

However, the rewards, or remuneration offered by capitalism in this day and age is soooo out of whack that many come out far ahead financially by doing nothing, plus they are not getting dumped on by co workers.

The current incentive is to not work, for many.

In my opinion.

Dave LASM
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Help is expensive. Mental Illness carries a lot of unwarranted stigma, and doesn't resonate in voter focus groups, so it is low priority. Meanwhile, numerous human lives are wasted.
 
Espeefan said:
Yep. I saw the Harry Reid interview. it was goofy, but I think what Reid was trying to say was the same thing the IRS says. They rely on voluntary compliance with the law, just like not speeding, not burning your neighbor's house down, not shoplifting, or any law you choose to name. :)

As for all those new IRS agents, before you hunker down in your basement with your Pew-Pew and your cash, you might want to consider that you aren't very likely to encounter an armed agent unless you're a drug dealer, a money launderer, or some similar unsavory character. That money recently allocated to the IRS going to the entire agency, for things like IT personnel, new equipment, and enough people to get the phones answered and your refund processed, and to replace people who are retiring. (took me a year to get my refund the year before last!)
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Alan: Having dealt with the IRS, I'm inclined to agree with you that you probably will never see an agent face to face. The unnerving part of this is that the intentof these new employees is to go after non compliance from affluent types, (per the Times, the over $400K club). Again acording to the NY Times, the target for compliance is more likely to employ tax attorneys and accountants who "may" overwhelm these agents. The pressure to get tangible results will force these people to seek out non compliance in earners of less than $400K, who are less likely to employ professional help, and are more likely to acquiesce to IRS inquires...
 
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