Running Bear's February 2021 Coffee Shop.


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Good evening. Been busy plowing snow again. Didn't get much new snow but the wind did cause a lot of drifting, right at the end of my driveway. What should have been a half hour job took three because the temperatures were up into the high 40's. When you thought something was cleared, a half hour later it had melted some and had to be done again. Whooped my but yesterday. Still have some lingering virus issues.

Sherrel - Sure hoping for the best for your family. Comes in 3's?

Willie -Glad that you got the plumbing issues taken care of. What a mess down there.

Jaz Avalley - Excellent photos. Very nice looking layout. Feel free to post more photos.

Today was lunch in town Tuesday. Starting to get taste back. I understand that some of the symptoms may hang around for a while.

Tuesday our little Molly wanted outside and as I opened the door, our resident rabbit say Molly and took off clearing the snow piled along the driveway in a single bound. Molly took off but had a problem trying to climb up the snow which was piled three to four feet high. She didn't get the rabbit.
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Guess it's back to the archives for photos.

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Later
 
Good evening. Nice in Wisconsin today. I drove to Lombard Hobbies in Illinois today. Stupid trip but I feel better.

The son got an email today from his electric company. It started with, “as you know” then went on to explain that in a billing change last year that the billing system is based on a variable rate. My kid says no way would he have agreed to a variable rate on anything. He saw 2 friends lose their houses in the Wall Street fiasco on variable mortgages. But, the whole system it says has been billed that way since summer of 2020. Basically the email informed the people that the billing this month will be substantially higher but didn’t say how much. His said his HOA neighborhood email/chat/text group is going bonkers. Seems nobody remembers being notified of this change. It was easy for me to say relax as I am not living it but he isn’t thrilled with anything today. He did say just on his street he had 3 neighbors say they callEd real estate folks to put the houses up for sale per neighborhood email/chat/text lists. All 3 have been there less then a year.

TomO
 
Good evening. It's clear and 64.

Did you know if you owe a debt, and part of it is reduced or forgiven, it is considered taxable income?
Mostly true. As part of the Trump stimulus package, forgiven PPP loans are not subject to federal income tax. However they may be subject to state income taxes in some states. Several states have already decided to follow the federal procedure, but many more are still undecided.

PPP loans
 
Mostly true. As part of the Trump stimulus package, forgiven PPP loans are not subject to federal income tax. However they may be subject to state income taxes in some states. Several states have already decided to follow the federal procedure, but many more are still undecided.

PPP loans
In my case, I now have to pay Federal income taxes on $1297 in negotiated debt. I got a 1099-c in the mail today. Of course, I already filed my taxes, and my $300 refund will be in my bank tonight. I now have to wait until form 1040x is available, and amend my return.
 
Hi Shop Dwellers! 45*F and clear with a 7mph WNW wind in my central MD home town.

As always, thanks everybody who clicked the LIKE button on my Sunday post. Don't have time to name names since that is several pages back and I'm just feeling too tired to go back there at the moment.

Howdy.

Today, I received a phone call from the owner of the storage facility where we have our boat in winter storage. A thief cut off locks of several units including ours.

Items stolen from our boat include the battery, a charger, and battery cable switch. Cables were cut and need replacing.

Makes me angry.
Garry - well that just totally SUCKS! I don't suppose you have any insurance that covers that sort of loss? I guess with bolt cutters being so widely available, any ol' scumbag can obtain one and defeat a padlock.

Jaz-a: Welcome to the Shop, your photos certainly reflect a lot of talent!

Patrick - glad to hear you're still Covid-free.

Tom-O: Sorry to hear that your son is getting gouged by the electric company, that is really adding insult to injury after what he and his neighbors have had to suffer thru!

* * *
Again, no mrr news to report from yesterday or today. I'm still dealing with the aftermath of last Thursday's winter storm that was supposed to bring 8" of snow but delivered 2" of compressed sleet instead. Since plowing that crap off the long part of the driveway was so exhausting, I deferred on clearing the parking area; now I have a glacier covering it. Thanks to the higher temps, I saw water flowing underneath parts of it this afternoon - so I grabbed a short-handled gardening spade and "chiseled" it of by sliding the spade under the ice and breaking it up, then pushing off the chunks with a regular snow shovel. After ~75 minutes I was able to clear my wife's parking space. It was easy at first, but as I got further up the slight incline the was no longer runoff water flowing underneath, so the ice in that area was still glued to the asphalt and required a huge amount of effort to slide the spade under it. I'm hoping that the higher temps the NWS is predicting again for tomorrow will accelerate the melting process, so that maybe I can get all of this s**t off the parking area by Thursday...
 
It is a sad fact of life that there are always people out there who want stuff the easy way,as in not working for it,but with covid there is more craziness than ever,and unfortunately people loosing their livelihood with all the lockdowns has resulted in people who otherwise stay the right side of the law broadening their horizons onto other peoples property,our layout is in our loft above our home stealing anything would mean getting past us, other belongings are not so safe,nearby 3 pigmy goats have disappeared,and some one took a mummy nanny goat leaving its head in the ditch the woman owner could not work out which was worse but luckily her kids did not see the decapitated head,both my dobermanns died last year from old age and the price of dogs has escalated to stupid numbers,theft is a pain,be thankful they did not trash the place as well BUT do be aware that they will know that you will now likely replace the theft will all new goodies and may cone back! So be diligent.Insurance companies never warn people of this but their statics clearly show once a thief has been and they expect up to date new kit there is every chance they will come back,I worked for a small company and we were hit 3 tines,the original and 2 new lots only at this point did the police point out this is not unusual...gee thanks for not pointing it out first time!
 
Good morning y'all. It is 34 and dark. However is is not raining and there is widely scattering light on the horizon.

Flo- Coffee and my plate of bacon please. I didn't run into Sherrel yesterday, so I ate the bacon I was saving for him. No since in letting it go to waste after all, When you see him this morning, slide him a plate on me.

Ok. down to other matters.

Troy- Good luck on your chipmunk relocation.

TomO- I have always found a good drive to be a way of clearing out the cobwebs and shaking off the cooped up funk. Sorry to hear that you son is getting taken through the ringer by his electric company. Also in my experience, rarely does anything good ever follow the phrase "as you know".

Sherrel- Congrats and prayers. It may be time to sit the girls down and explain how babies are made. 🤣

Greg- Don't they know the dangers of having an unprotected coil? 😱

Jaz a- Metaphorical donuts and coffee are fine, unless you have somehow brought Wonkavision to reality and can send real ones. 😄 That one is acceptable for now. Is that a mural on the side of a building? Sad to hear about your neighbors goats. People can be so awful.

Willie- Sounds like Texas weather is a lot like South Carolina weather: made up and WTF inducing. 😂

Garry- Sorry to hear about your boat. As I mentioned above, people can be so awful.

Terry- And they wonder why we hate them.

Chet- Glad to hear you are recovering nicely. Your picture makes me cold. Perhaps she will have better luck next time. More fantastic shots of the layout. I hope you are able to continue modeling on some scale after the move.

IBKen- Snow is bad enough, but ice just plain sucks. Have you considered investing in a flamethower? Or are there local ordinances against that?

Managed to have a productive day yesterday. Productive, but not as profitable as I would like. I did get some cash in, and am ready now to install the insulation in my MILs shed on Friday, when the rains return. 😑 Got a trailer load of trash out of the way so we can get to the walls. After the insulation will come shelves. She sees storage, I see wasted layout space, but sadly it is not my shed so 🤷‍♂️. I'd much rather have the loft in the barn anyway. So much space, so many possibilities. Waiting for the temperature to be more comfortable outside before heading to the dump and off to work. I think I'll use my time wisely and sketch out a variant for my future Crossroads additions.

Y'all have a blessed day.
 
Morning all,

Time for western omelet this morning with extra bacon and those hash browns Mel does so well.
Currently 41° this morning and windy due to a cold front coming through a few hours ago. High today of 51° Temps the remainder of the next 7 days are expected to be about average for this time of year.

I would be remiss is saying a Happy 11th birthday to my grandson.

Absolutely crazy weather. A week ago it was -2°, today it's 80°!
Yesterday was 69° in Wichita and a low of -17° a week earlier. They were playing up the 86° difference in a week on the local news last night.
 
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Good Morning All. Clear and 52°, the cool front has hit since Patrick didn't lasso it up in Doo-Dah.
Late yesterday, we were notified that our second Covid shot is now scheduled for today, just 19 1/2 hours notice! They were waiting for this week's delayed vaccine shipment to arrive. Wife is going to have to reschedule a couple of her tax appointments, but we're going so we don't have to hassle with rescheduling the vaccine.
Finally began planting this spring's garden yesterday, three weeks later than normal. Lettuce and arugula seed went in first. This morning it will be a dozen broccoli plants, some Italian Parsley plants and six already started lettuce plants. The garlic plants that I planted last fall are looking good after the deep freeze. Since it snowed first, the snow cover insulated them from the frigid temperatures. Same with the oregano, sage, mint and rosemary that are in pots on the porch.

A pair of over easy eggs and a large helping of bacon this morning Flo.

Thanks for the reactions and other comments on my shortened posts from yesterday; Patrick, Guy, Chad, Rick, Tom O, James, Tom, Hughie, Karl, Sherrel.

I did manage to spend some time in the train shed yesterday. While I mostly ran trains, I did do a little more work on the cardstock warehouse. I filled in the cardboard gaps on the roof with Testor's Putty.
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And I installed the windows and overhead doors throughout.
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I am going to mull over the doors for a few days, as they just don't look quite right to me.
A couple of days ago I posted some older cardstock structures including a pawn shop. Here's a better view of the front window contents.
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I might be back later with some comments regarding various posts, but for now, I have a few things to attend to.

Everybody have a great day and be safe.
 
Morning!
Just a fly-by to let you know I'm still breathing.

Every day, I work a bit on the new layout room renovation. It's a huge job to clean up a basement area that's been my workshop for the past 25 years.
I'm finding all that stuff that I put away, and then had to go down to the hardware to re-purchase because I couldn't find it. I'm also having issues relocating everything so I don't have to keep moving it during construction. Throwing a-lot of stuff out. - What a mess I have, down in the basement of this small house. - I absolutely hate not having a garage.

Anyway, I haven't been doing any modeling; just re-modeling.

The weather has been very nice, aside from the high winds. Today, we have 17°F and it will be sunshine. Supposed to head into the 30's later.

I have been keeping my eye on the forum every now and then. The last few pages seem to be a bit short on photos; hope that's just a result of the ice storms that have been bothering so many. - Hang in there, the birds will be chirping out the window soon enough.

Jerry - I enjoyed the photos of the car mover. Very nice, indeed; and I wanted to thank you for posting them.

Chet - Another outstanding run of layout photos yesterday. Thank you for posting the before and after. I'm using these type of photos to find my way, as I'm not real good at reading the instructions. - Willie has been a bit short on photos these past days, but with good reason that I fully understand.

I usually don't post myself unless I have a photo. Today's photo just happens to be another re-run from one year ago.
This is an SD40-2 that was involved in an accident at some point in it's history. I heard it was side-swiped by another train somehow; thus the different number boards an exchanged door:
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The other side:
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Those darn power-poles keep getting in the way.

Well, it's back to the reno work for me. Have a good one!
 
Howdy.

Today, I received a phone call from the owner of the storage facility where we have our boat in winter storage. A thief cut off locks of several units including ours.

Items stolen from our boat include the battery, a charger, and battery cable switch. Cables were cut and need replacing.

Makes me angry.


The storage unit should have insurance to replace that and all damage?
 
Mornin' folks!

After getting 6 inches of snow Monday nite.......today we are having a heat wave of 37 degrees or higher hopefully higher. I am so done with o'l man winter. Still burning wood to keep from burning oil when I am home. Prices as you all know are going up and up. Gas here is now 2.78 It will make it 3 bucks before end of the month which is in 4 days. It's like a race who gets there first. :mad:

Well I am hoping to work on the LEDs this weekend for the layout. Then follow-up with the valance.

I have not heard back from Jerome after reaching out to him a few times. I am sure he is doing fine just busy. I did see he posted last week or so ago on one of the Buy/sell/trade FB account looking for 40' High Cubes cars in good condition. He probably just laying low. I do that time after time too.

I did order a few cars on FB got 4 cars for $25 including shipping so I did good there. Still looking for the elusive transfer caboose by Bluford. I will find it.

24 more days until Spring......and 36 days until I launch my boat to kick off my fishing season rain or shine.

Flo & Mel I will take a chicken biscuit with bacon and a tall OJ to go!

Later gang!
 
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