Running Bear's Coffee Shop July 2024

[bnsf971]

My Mom's had cold A/C and I never had to touch it! No power windows, it did have a nice AM/FM cassette radio with rear speakers. She listened to AM radio, so it didn't matter to her. I doubt she put 20,000 miles on it the entire time she had it. I was always waiting for my pager (remember those?) to go off. Telling me it left her stranded, somewhere, but it never did. Not bad for a car I didn't have $1000 invested in and it got good gas milage.

The cost per mile was almost as good as my $400, 1976, straight-6 with three speed column shifter, El Camino. All that ever needed was tires, brakes, and a battery in over 40,000 miles. The clutch was thin when I got it, but it held up! No A/C and AM radio with an in the dash speaker.

A couple of decades ago, one of my customers had a 1984 Reliant with the 2.2, A/C, and automatic. He bought it new in 1983, and by 2004 he had 650,000 miles on the original engine and transmission. More incredibly, he was a USPS mail contractor, and used the car to deliver mail. 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. On the third Sunday of the month, he'd bring the car in for any service or repair it needed. By 2004, the car was pretty thoroughly beat, and looked it. He finally traded it in on a Subaru Legacy wagon with right hand drive. Subaru had imported a limited number of Japanese domestic models specifically for rural mail contractor purchase.

 

[troyphoto]

Had to use some Green Stuff to get the arms right, add the jacket, shorts, and cap.

A lot of mods to this one. It's a mini-giant cyclops called a "Thunderseer" in the game. I removed the weapons and repositioned arms to hold the axe.

Anyone see just WHAT I'm doing to this Young dude?

 

[NYC_George]

This is a true story. We played golf at Mccann's Golf course in Poughkeepsie, NY yesterday. One of my friends told me a good story about the last time he tried to play the course. He said, he was only going over to the course to hit some balls but the pro there told him the driving range part of the course closes at 5 pm. The pro said take a cart and play 9 holes instead it's on me. He hit his drive on the second hole over the hill not knowing anyone was there giving golf lessons. The woman giving the lessons started cursing him out because he was wearing genes and hit into to her lesson session. He said after the verbal trashing, I better quit and went back to the club house. The pro said why are you back? He told the pro the story and the pro replied. That crazy woman out there. Don't pay attention to anything's she says. That's my wife.
Swal

 

[santafewillie]

Earlier today, I got overruled on tonight's supper; I am the normal cook in our house since I retired. I was going for charcoal grilled Rib-Eye steak and sauteed mushrooms and onions, with coleslaw and potato salad sides (all homemade of course). Wife took over and made fish tacos (even though Lent is over), a rather eclectic recipe that she came up with. Cod marinated in lime juice with ground cumin and chili powder, pickled red onions (from the garden of course), shredded cabbage, cilantro (also from the garden), a Cheddar/Monterrey Jack cheese mixture, a sauce made with mayonnaise and Adobo/Chipolte Peppers, all on low carb wheat tortillas and sprinkled with freshly squeezed lime juice. She added Avocado to hers, which I don't eat. I added the side of Caprese Salad with Tomatoes and Basil (both from the garden), Mozzarella cheese, olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. Wasn't bad at all and it will now go into my personal recipe box for the future. We'll do the steak tomorrow night.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's clear and 78.

 

[NorthBrit]

Good morning all. A day of showers and very little sunshine; if any.
Apart from taking youngest grandson home, very little is going on.
Hopefully see the train room later.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good morning! It's 68° in Tipton.

 

[santafewillie]

Maybe in France, but not here!

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet subjects.

It's Troy again.

Going to see mom soon. Leave in about half an hour. Then a 1.5 hour drive. Stop at the coffee shop and get her a coffee and a roll.

 

[NYC_George]

Somewhere out there in Indiana people are eating these delicious breakfast's but paying later on with all kinds of health issues. Just yesterday I was purchasing a gray marker for my wife and the saleswoman was telling me all about her degrading heath from eating to many fatty foods. She told me she just can't stop they all taste so good.
Swal

 

[troyphoto]

I'm in Indiana, and sugars are my issue.

 

[NYC_George]

I'm in Indiana, and sugars are my issue.

She said cakes and donuts are her favorites. If we could only be more like Willie and grow our own food and add another 20 years to our lives.
Swal

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

73° and cloudy, sunny later with a high temp of 90°. Maybe a scattered shower later.

Got duped into switching Saturday with another employee, so here I am at work today. The plus side is I don't have to work a Saturday now for 5 weeks, so who got duped??

Health can be tricky, especially as we age. At 1 point I had an A1C over 10, smoked a pack of Marlboro reds a day, and weighed 285 lbs. Then the stroke came. Immediately stopped smoking, got my A1c under control and lost 100 lbs. I, like a lot of folks, had to have the scared out of me before I did anything about it. The best part is that you CAN do something about it!

BBL

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 72°. No change in the forecast, hot and dry!

I did do some mowing yesterday morning, as planned I got the south side and most of the east side of the yard. I'll finish the east this morning and do the area between the house, pool and train shed after that.
More of the same after mowing, I will attack the next tree that is down near the driveway.
I had to make an extra trip to the post office yesterday afternoon to pick up the new grass catcher bag for the battery-powered push mower. I can't believe that the mail-order place used USPS instead of FedEx or UPS. Of course it wouldn't fit in our rural mailbox, and since said mailbox is over a mile away, the mail carrier won't leave packages there. So 40 minutes and a gallon of gas basically wasted. At least school's out and I didn't have to deal with the school zone.
One thing that the tornado has me really bummed out about, more than all of the other things, is the lack of the shade patterns that we used to have. There were parts of the yard where I could set up a couple of sawhorses and be in the shade from 11:00 am through the entire afternoon. No more! While there is still a spot in the front yard available, I don't risk the wife's ire by leaving projects out there for more than a day! Four 40' trees near the back door are now on the ground. To add insult, the tornado stripped many leaves off the remaining lower branches that won't grow back until next spring.

Many small projects out in the train shed yesterday. I picked up my ground foam container, the Iso/water and the diluted wet glue and went around the layout fixing the washed out spots from the roof leaks following the roof removal by the tornado. Basically there are many places where the drips left 1/2" - 1" spots of bare plywood, and a small mound of ground foam forming a mini-crater. I am also looking at all structures, figures, vehicles and scenery details for any other issues that need to be fixed. There doesn't appear to be anything else major at this time except some wavy track in one spot. I have been holding off fixing it to see if the plywood would come back in line, but I may have not left enough gaps in that part of the line to begin with. It's in a passing siding and the main line that parallels it is unaffected.
No new photos today, maybe I can find something in the archives that I haven't posted before.

Swal - I have some friends with health issues, and there is one thing in common with all of them. They eat too many fatty foods from fast-food places. I personally go for the home-grown organic stuff and fresh produce from the grocery store. We rarely eat any canned stuff from the store; too much added salt and sugars, especially corn syrup. I don't go to fast food places at all. I am currently freaked out because my A1C from Tuesday's blood draw is 5.9!
Troy - Not meaning to be critical here, but most of the foods that you post would send my body into shock. Not the grilled ones of course.

Today is International Skinny Dip Day. Be careful as there are still folks out there that don't approve.
Everyone have a wonderful day.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

 

[ctclibby]

Good morning gang!

73° and cloudy, sunny later with a high temp of 90°. Maybe a scattered shower later.

Got duped into switching Saturday with another employee, so here I am at work today. The plus side is I don't have to work a Saturday now for 5 weeks, so who got duped??

Health can be tricky, especially as we age. At 1 point I had an A1C over 10, smoked a pack of Marlboro reds a day, and weighed 285 lbs. Then the stroke came. Immediately stopped smoking, got my A1c under control and lost 100 lbs. I, like a lot of folks, had to have the scared out of me before I did anything about it. The best part is that you CAN do something about it!

BBL

Karl: It is funny how we get to where we are. Maybe funny is not the right word!

I have 'been there [almost] done that'. I was at 290Lbs ( 5'10 5/8" ) and my knees and hips were always hurting. Started loosing weight and got down to 225Lbs then the 3 pass happened. When we (I) started trucking my A1C was 9 and I found out I was Type2. Trucking was more or less fast food as that was the easiest when tired. Quit all of that, and smoking. Still tip a few beers and such. Now A1C is just about 6.5, I am hovering at 205Lbs and have lost almost all of my body mass. That in itself is a PITA. Arms and Legs are just sticks now with no butt. Get cold easy even in almost warm weather. It has taken a long time ( 3 pass in '18 ) but now I can actually lift my own body weight, stamina is coming back slowly. Ya, more to do.

Keep up the good work!

Later

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from 2500 miles west and south of Los Angeles. The Hawaiian version of a Wisconsin Friday fish fry was good and I was told they would tell me the names of the fish today. I nibbled on what was served last night and there was one white fish I actually enjoyed! While I prefer shrimp over anything else living in water I will eat Tilapia, cod, haddock and walleye. Terry basically will eat anything from the lakes, seas or oceans and that includes eel!

As usual with my brother the times we leave are subject to change. He and I plan to leave at 8pm Sunday night local time. The 5 hour time difference from here to Wisconsin really messes with my internal sleep clock. But I should get some good sleep on the plane. 1st stop is Mexico City, then New Orleans as we have “friends” of the brother to pick up, the local airport in Middleton, Wi. to drop me off as they advance to Wisconsin Rapids. I will drive up the 15th to Nekoosa, Wi. where a few miles south of there we will be playing golf for 3 days.

Healthy foods! Much of what I prefer is on the you shouldn’t eat list. I do love a good steak, baked potato and plenty of butter. I eat a variety of homegrown veggies, mainly tomatoes, kohlrabi, lettuce greens, asparagus, green beans and peas. Nothing tastes better to me than homegrown tomatoes, YMMV! Mainly though it’s fish, pork and chicken for the meats and veggies. Potatoes are maybe 3-4 times per month and I really miss them.

Enjoy the day, it’s time for my 4:30am nap…

 

[John from Indiana]

It's a little past 11 here in NW Indiana and my weather station says it feels like 94 outside. I'm in the basement and it is always cool down here (65 degrees); so I wear a long sleeve shirt when I down here. Finishing up on a Walther Geo Printing building, now a Lionel trains headquarters. This is going up in Joanstown. Was going to power wash the house today; but it is turning out to be too darn hot...

 

[Patrick]

Afternoon all,

101° for today, so say the weather geeks.
Got the grandkids in early to get the the yard mowed and I fixed one sprinkler head with help from the granddaughter. Had an impact unit (Think Rainbird brand) that wasn't impacting and while I could lift the head up, I couldn't get my hand under the lid, but she could. When they are stuck they shoot water in one spot. With the mud out of the hole, the sprinkler works as it should when I ran the zone test. I should see the area green back up in a few days.

Gave some tomatoes and cucumbers to some of the neighbors as I am starting to get too many. It's a nice problem to have for a change. Sent out a dozen softball sized and still have more on the plants that are green.

Monday I go back to work. It will be nice to have a schedule again. While it's been nice to be home, you can't go very far when your recovering.

BBL

 

[Grizzled]

A late check-in,

Another 4 hour sleep night. yawn

58F and sans clouds but there is enough smoke to make up for the lack of those. The forecast high for the day is 93.

Spent a couple hours pulling thistle this morning-about the maximum interval I can manage between my wife's required assistance to get to the bathroom these days. While one can bemoan the fact that time would be better spent if you weren't pulling weeds, not a particularly unpleasant experience in this location.