Running Bear's February 2022 Coffee Shop


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troyphoto said:
most Costco hearing centers are booked out pretty far in advance.
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Troy: Not surprising...but I'm used to that with other medical specialist. The hearing center at my go to Costco, seems under utilized, but that might not be the reality. What it's going to amount to, is which deteriorates faster, my hearing or my teeth. Its only a matter of time until i need full plates. The wait for an audience with a competent dentist is also a long one around here.
Thanks for the heads up.
 
Well, I shall continue the good news started by Terry and Ken with the new jobs.

My brother is currently single with no heirs. I am the executor of his estate and while he divided up amongst the family in his estate he has always been tight with the kids, 2 nieces and a nephew. I have chewed his ear on this for 20 years. Help them now while he can be around to see their enjoyment.

He announced at dinner tonight what he was gifting the kids (40, 38 and 37 years old)immediately and what they can expect in the trust when he passes. All 3 were pretty speechless. We had flown to Milwaukee this afternoon to sign some paperwork for this to happen. I had not told my wife or sister and they were more thrilled but not speechless like the kids were.

Finally and I figured this out, but. I emailed my Surgeon this morning asking for the a pathology report from the surgery a couple weeks ago to be posted on MyChart. That is also a subtle dig at her for not already telling me all reports of the biopsies were negative. They are negative and now posted!

Oh yeah. The weather weenies who do all the guessing were wrong again. The snow/rain mix never happened but the maybe accumulation is at least 2” of blowing sideways fluff.

TomO

Some scenes from the layout, the tree tunnel, the abandoned quarry and The east end of the layout. These plus the programming area over the work bench are the only original sections remaining of the layout started 11/2014 and moved 3 houses since.
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Boris said:
Troy: Not surprising...but I'm used to that with other medical specialist. The hearing center at my go to Costco, seems under utilized, but that might not be the reality. What it's going to amount to, is which deteriorates faster, my hearing or my teeth. Its only a matter of time until i need full plates. The wait for an audience with a competent dentist is also a long one around here.
Thanks for the heads up.
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The son in Austin cannot believe the dental wait times there. Took him 8 months to see the implant specialist and he is very sorry he ever started that process.

TomO
 
Good evening Shop Dwellers!

Well, as it turned out, I did NOT lose power...but Verizon (my ISP) had an outage starting shortly after 10:00am, while I was logged-in at work and was summarily disconnected form the VPN. The service wasn't expected to be restored until 6pm so I just took the rest of the day off and got started on building rotary dumper drive mechanism. Of course, I discovered much to my annoyance that the material I wanted to use for mounting the dowels was too flimsy, which meant yet another trip to HD. I wound up buying a 4ft x 6" sheet of quarter-inch thick birch "hobby board" (that's what they called it).

The next few hours were a series of trial-and-error attempts to cut the hobby-board sheets into sizes that would fit into the tight space under the layout, then drilling the holes that the dowels would spin in. I had to drill wider holes on one end to accommodate the motor shafts, and during my first drilling attempt with the large (9/16") drill bit, the wood split apart. That cost me another 30 minutes of cutting a new piece, and re-drilling the holes gradually using successively larger drill bits - this time spinning them backwards to prevent the cutting edge from tearing off more than I wanted it to. Took a lot longer that way, but at least I got the holes precisely where I wanted at exactly the desired diameter.

My next step was to build a jig to temporarily mount the drive onto for proof-of-concept operation. I got the mechanism partially assembled, minus the neoprene hose covering which will be fitted over the dowels once I know exactly how long I need to trim them down to. Tomorrow I'll temporarily connect the motors to an old MRC power pack that I've been using to test-run locos purchased on eBay as soon as I receive them.

DumperDriveProofOfConcept.jpg


OB Ken - really glad to hear you got that IT job, good luck with it! 👍👍

Jaz and Smudge - looks like you really got clobbered by that storm! 😮 Hopefully you both got thru it ok, I never think about the possibly that the UK can get slammed by Cat-3 hurricane force winds.

James, Troy, Willie, Joe [and whoever else was part of the hearing aids discussion] - Back in 2015, I was directed by my ENT doc to take some hearing tests after being treated for an ear infection, and I was told I have hearing loss. At that time, my medical insurance wasn't covering hearing aids, so I told the audiologist (as she tried to $ell me hearing aids) that I would only consider getting them if I habitually had to ask people to repeat themselves; haven't reached that threshold yet. The insurance company started covering hearing aids last year, so now I might consider getting a pair before I retire in ~18 months.

More high winds are being predicted for tomorrow, but supposedly not quite as extreme as the ones that blasted us earlier today from 4-5:30am EST.

Good night - and have a Pleasant Tomorrow!
 
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bnsf971 said:
A lot more has gone on than I've posted here.
With my departure, over a third of the staff has left.
Bills have gone unpaid to most vendors and suppliers, even the one that's arguably the most recognizable RV (caravan) in the world. They've cut off the store from further purchases. My company credit card was declined when I tried to gas up a motor home for delivery early this week. I got a pretty thorough dressing-down for allowing that to happen, even though I had zero control over when, or if, the credit card bill was paid.
The entire service department has been ordered to report to work next Saturday, and work until they make up the number of billable hours the department has fallen short of its monthly goal.
I guess the beatings will continue until morale improves.

I hope this is the last update I have on that place, though my spy network will surely keep me informed of any noteworthy events.
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I hope things start getting much better for you, quickly. Sounds like your former employer(s) are rapidly on their way out.
Karma can be a vindictive old wench.
 
bnsf971 said:
A lot more has gone on than I've posted here.
With my departure, over a third of the staff has left.
Bills have gone unpaid to most vendors and suppliers, even the one that's arguably the most recognizable RV (caravan) in the world. They've cut off the store from further purchases. My company credit card was declined when I tried to gas up a motor home for delivery early this week. I got a pretty thorough dressing-down for allowing that to happen, even though I had zero control over when, or if, the credit card bill was paid.
The entire service department has been ordered to report to work next Saturday, and work until they make up the number of billable hours the department has fallen short of its monthly goal.
I guess the beatings will continue until morale improves.

I hope this is the last update I have on that place, though my spy network will surely keep me informed of any noteworthy events.
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Poor buggers you definitely better off to have run!
 
Good morning...Got about 4 hours sleep, the wind picked up and started blowing the snow around. So from 1 this morning till 6 I've been chasing snow drifts around town. The rest came in at 6 with sideway snow to go along with the wind that's getting worse. Breakfast and a nap I'll be back at it later.
 
bnsf971 said:
Good morning. It’s raining and 55.
My paycheck was direct-deposited into my checking account, and I noticed the amount seemed a bit low.
Turns out the floating holiday I used to go job hunting is also subject to the 30 day advance rule.
I’m really leaning toward just leaving right now, but I like to think I still have a couple of ethics to rub together, and finish out my notice.
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Yeah , that’s why when Mom made her last visit up here before deciding to retire & move here, her HR person advised her to wait until after LD to give her 30 days notice, or she would lose the holiday pay.
 
Alcomotive said:
Must be this group is have come to or are coming of age......with the discussion of Hearing Aids.

I have been wearing hearing aids since 1970. I can tell I know more about them then most people including the the people who make them or sell them. I have seen the advancement over the years. In the beginning hearing aids did more harm than good as people forget what the actual principle and concept of how hearing aids actually work.

Most people have the misconception of the fact the hearing aids correct the person's hearing for example like glasses. NOT! No and NO! Hearing aid......the word "aid" should be your first clue. It does just that "aids" you in your current hearing situation.

In the 70's and even now the technology that we have it still does the primary function of aiding you to hear more or better by amplification although I do not like those terms.

Here is what is happening: No matter what your hearing status is for your ears, if you have a 10% loss or greater impairment, Hearing aids do NOT correct your hearing. Hearing aids are actually "microphones" having said that it means it amplifies the sound to a higher decibel so you can hear the sounds at a louder decibel. The end result is over time it causes and does more damage. Meaning more hearing loss. This varies from person to person activities and how they apply the use of their hearing aids.

I was born with my hearing impairment. I started with only 24% hearing in both ears. Over the years that has decreased to 17% in both ears. I am a master of facial reading, lip reading and ASL. I have many many stories on that but lets stick with the current subject.

The advancement on the hearing aids have come a long ways. In 1993 the advancement from mono to digital was a huge impact for creating proper adjustments then in 2000 the advancement of smaller telecoils then on to Bluetooth technology.

I get new hearing aids every 2 to 3 years and have for the last 50 years. You may wonder why do I get new ones every 2 to 3 years. Well that's when the warranties expire depending on the manufacture. You do not want to go past that and pay costly repairs etc. I speak from experience. I started wearing the BOX type when I was 4 then later when I was wearing the BTEs (behind the ear) when I was 6. At one time I tried the all in the ear mold styles and that crapped out within a year. They were extremely uncomfortable. Now I still wear BTEs. I have used 15 different manufactures over the years. The last 3 sets I have had are Phonak. I recently got my new ones for this year Phonak Naida P UP series for severe hearing impairment. It offers multiple programing and multiple Bluetooth channels, tele coil and micro processor diagnostics on the fly. I use my phone app by Phonak as well. Great technology. I can say this..... make sure if you are in the market of getting hearing aids go to an established Audiologist for full testing. I go every year like people go for eye exams. As I have to monitor my progress or rather losses. If you are still working and have insurance be sure to do this now before you go on Medicare as they do not cover much for hearing aids just cheap brands etc. I have saved and set aside for when I retire to take care this as well. My current company insurance covered the bulk of my new ones. The greater your loss/deficit in hearing the more you pay. Remember this. My hearing aids cost regularly 7k each but with insurance I was out of pocket for 950 each. Not bad considering the alternative.

Top 3 hearing aids that I have had great success with over the years are Siemens, Rexton and Phonak. If ya'll have questions I can try to answer them. Most of you may just have low percentage losses from age or some may have used machinery or around heavy noise in your careers may incurred the loss that way.

Well that was my 2 cents....
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Wow, that is some excellent information.

Thank you for taking the time with such a thoughtful post.

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By the way, it is 12 below zero but the wind stopped.

will be working on the layout most of the day, may not be checking in much

Dave LASM
 
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MilwRoader_Steve said:
Greetings all,

I found a scroll saw blade for my jig saw that I had obviously bought years ago, quite thin and a goodly TPI. So I made a test cut into foam, and worked really nice giving a clean edge. Much better than the utility knife cuts. So I used that to cut the curve of my southern extension. Nice clean cut.

Other than that, I broke out my BLI 4-6-2 Great Northern steamer now that I have a longer straight upon which to test run. Still rather hesitant and balky. Now, in my Inet travels, I had read somewhere (maybe here) that BLI steamers come out the factory with a goodly load of gunk upon their wheels and a good wheel cleaning ought be top priority. So used the CRC and paper towel trick on the tracks. Man, lots of green goobery-doo residue on the paper towel. I used the heavy duty, blue auto-shop paper towel. Then took the loco to the workbench and used a micro-brush and alcohol to clean the tender and idler wheels.

I can see wires attached to the trucks of the tender, so I'm thinking that the tender must be a power pick-up unit. But the steamer is still quite balky on unpowered frogs and dirty spots on the track. Seems odd. Is the power pick-up only for the sound speakers? ANd in reverse, the tender still cants over and will not often right itself on the rails, meaning derail.

I may have to start a unique thread seeking the collective wisdom for that steamer. I really want to run steam locomotives on my layout, but not if they are that frustrating to operate.

ANother coat of paint, and I will post a picture of the finished extension here and on my layout thread. Only a week or so behind schedule.

Funeral planning today for a dear lady. That will be Saturday.

Good news on the financial front. Wife is CEO of an Ambulatory Surgery Center. They (she) did so well last year that her bonus is awarded as 100%x but with a incentive of 40%. So her bonus is not x but 1.4*x !! Plus she is getting a rare performance bonus of $10K in company stock. Even though the company has a good record, I am tempted to sell it upon award just so I do not have to hassle with the accounting of the accruals and cost-basis, and all that CPA-speak.

We have no big house projects in mind for this year, so plan to fund fully Roth IRA contributions and pay off two revolving credit accounts and still have money to put into savings. Oh, I might just let her have a full-out spa day as a thank-you!! But those who are wondering, no, I will not requisition any of it for train hobby, tempting as it is.

<Sigh> - - - saw yesterday that our $2.99 cooking wine is now $3.49 ...... 18% jump. Thank you, Uncle Joe!!

Greyhound is on the mend, but still favoring his RR paw. Slept better, though and did eat some food this morning.

Steve J
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Steve- What is this “cooking wine” you speak of? My Dad taught me many, many moons ago(he’s been gone for the better part of 3 decades) that you never cook with any wine(or other “adult beverage”) that isn’t good enough to drink.
 
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