Running Bear's January 2025 Coffee Shop


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We test drove an Audi Q4 etron yesterday even though I had told the dealership I did not want an EV. Big big minus marks for the dealership. Terry of course said let’s try it and we both loved it. Until I showed her the mileage of 288 miles on a charge with the extra $$$ enhanced battery package. Called our contact at the dealership saying nicely I wanted the Q3 I was promised and we’d be there after dinner to pick it up. We will drive the same route to test drive it as we did the q4. It’s tucked away safely in the garage. Testing starts around 10am. We will drop it off at the dealership around 3. It definitely is smaller than the really nice Q4 that is way too big for our needs. The Q4 though is a better looking more updated styling compared to the q3. The q4 is a definite no but I doubt Q3 is.

As an Audi driver, I've realized that the smaller Audis are really just fancy VWs. I personally am not an SUV person so won't comment on the Q3. I've had them as loaners when mine was being serviced.
 
I think it's .8369.
I asked our AI overlords... Their numbers seem right.

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Good afternoon, it's cloudy and 68.
I am waiting for USPS to deliver the upgraded command station for my layout. The Zephyr is fine, though trying to perform some advanced DCC tasks has become something of a challenge. I'd really rather not have to push button 6 three times while rubbing my stomach and patting myself on top of my head.
You also need to be able to chew gum at the same time.
 
I think it's .8369.

well 160 is about double 87 (not quite) so the number should be closer to .5? An 87' long building would be 1ft long in H0 scale, right? That same building would be about 6.525 in N scale if I did that right. A GE ES44 is about 73 ft 2 in long and that comes out to 5.4875" long which is about right. I don't have mine handy to measure and all the online places list the box size for product dimensions, not the actual locomotive (box is 7.xxx" long


That gives a scale factor of 87/160 = 0.54375

Have I made a mistake? (besides using 87 instead of 87.1)
 
Good mornin' y'all. Clear & sunshine today, 27 with w/c 23, Forecast high today 54 low tonight 27 no precip in the forecast. Another nice winter day in East Texas. Yesterday, took a few more non-moving items to Goodwill and Family Crisis Center. Closed up another box or two for the movers. Watched last episodes of Tulsa King and Landman. Both had quirky endings so guess we have to wait for a year for either new season or cancellation... Fan of Billy Bob Thornton, not so much Stallone, but both series were entertaining. Not a big TV watcher, usually no more than a couple hours a day, but with model building stuff all packed up gotta do something.. you know the old saying - an idle mind...
Everybody's train rooms looking great. New place has a couple of areas I can fit in a shelf style layout, maybe 18" x 12' L-shape. The Pine Flat diorama was necessitated by the lack of linear space. Theme still the same - backwoods sawmill stuff, engine and repair shops on one end, sawmill on the other with stuff like pallet mill, box factory etc in between. HO standard gauge. We'll see..
Nurse Judy and Daughter #1 back tomorrow evening. Phelix the Cat is warting me for something to eat and about time for a coffee refill.
Y'all have a good day and take care.
 
Good morning all!

Its a bone chilling 10F with a real feel of -9F. Received several inches of unpredicted snow last night. Finally got to use my snow blower this year for the first time. Its not that it really need it, but I prepped it in mid October, so it was more of a test. It preformed flawlessly. We have been getting missed by the major storms coming across the country. They have all gone South of us, but I know we are due for a big one.

Other than some light laundry, not much else going on today. No games or practices tonight. There's not many days in January we have the night clear of activities.

Have a safe day everyone!
 
Good morning crew. It’s a bit nippy outside in my area of Wisconsin. Actual temperature is +2 but the real feel is -5. High for the day maybe 18 but the app and the morning weather lady says the real feel will not get above 0.

We test drove an Audi Q4 etron yesterday even though I had told the dealership I did not want an EV. Big big minus marks for the dealership. Terry of course said let’s try it and we both loved it. Until I showed her the mileage of 288 miles on a charge with the extra $$$ enhanced battery package. Called our contact at the dealership saying nicely I wanted the Q3 I was promised and we’d be there after dinner to pick it up. We will drive the same route to test drive it as we did the q4. It’s tucked away safely in the garage. Testing starts around 10am. We will drop it off at the dealership around 3. It definitely is smaller than the really nice Q4 that is way too big for our needs. The Q4 though is a better looking more updated styling compared to the q3. The q4 is a definite no but I doubt Q3 is.

Finished 2 models over the weekend and yesterday in the weathering department that have been approved. 1 more to finish over the next couple of days. Marlin39 has been extremely patient with my slow progress on his last 3 models and I appreciate that. Pictures today in both Continuous weathering threads.

After we switch test cars at 3 we are heading to a supposedly top 5 in Wisconsin burger joint! Terry mentioned she’s like a good burger this weekend so we will travel 43 miles and 70 minutes to Cambria, Wi. I hope it lives up to the hype

Enjoy the day

We are in interesting times with the auto industry for sure. My parents are looking for a car this spring. This will be their last vehicle for them, they had hoped that the Buick Enclave they have would have been but nope. They used to have a Chevy 2500HD with Allison transmission but that is gone along with dad's 42-foot sailboat. So, now we are looking at small SUVs for them as they travel with their Irish setter wherever they go even if it is to the grocery store lol. Dad is looking at hybrid electric cars like the Lexus. He doesn't want all electric due to the range issues. Electric cars are great for city dwellers and non-travelers I suppose. It's my personal opinion, that electric cars are unique in its own right but not sustainable for long term and not being practical for recycle or even environmentally sound in that respect. Again, my opinion. Hydrogen cars, now that is something I can get on board to especially hybrid versions that are out now by Toyota and Hyundia. There are supposedly 7 cars out now that can be bought fueled by Hydrogen. Give it another 2 years it will be more mainstream than the electric cars. Anyways mom n pops is looking at a 2 different Lexus hybrid SUVs we shall see how that goes. Me, I haven't owned a car in 35 years for a daily driver. I am a truck guy always have been and will be. My current truck gets 22 mpg and if I behave on the pedal, I can get 26 mpg. I am looking at the new GMC AT4s this spring for a trade in or I may get a diesel 3.0L Duramax TT, not sure yet. I don't need a lot of hp to tow my boat, just a little bit of torque. Then again, I may go another 2 years on gasoline and just go with the GMC AT4 6.6L. We shall see. I do love sports cars but not practical I rather stick with my truck and boat and do it for as long as I am physically able. When I get older, I may get golf cart lol who knows. Typically, I trade in my truck every 2 to 3 years for a new used one that has 25k miles or less. Then I buy the extended warranty on it when I do. Works out well for me. This is the year I trade in so we shall see what I get this time around. I never lease and I have not bought brand new in about 16 years.
 
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I don’t think hydrogen or other clean fuel will be widespread in 2 years. In 20 years start to look for a more critical mass. My opinion only but I think EV are a mid term solution while we look for the long term solution that will last for decades. The next 20 years will be EV heavy. There are a lot of promising technologies out there but they take time to develop and also develop the infrastructure for.

BMW was the latest manufacturer I saw a headline about and new hydrogen tech. Cummins has a new engine that can be bought in several variants including hydrogen.
 
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Good afternoon everyone, just wanted to stop in and show you all what I been working on for the hobby workshop. I build a cabinet that looks kinda like a wood crate and I put my spray booth and compressor in there along with some tools for spraying. Came out pretty good I think it needs another coat of paint but it’ll work.

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Good afternoon everyone, just wanted to stop in and show you all what I been working on for the hobby workshop. I build a cabinet that looks kinda like a wood crate and I put my spray booth and compressor in there along with some tools for spraying. Came out pretty good I think it needs another coat of paint but it’ll work.

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Great looking cabinet! Is there a fan and external vent??
 
There's a fan built into the spray booth and also filters. It will exhaust out the back and either outside or in a 5 gallon water bucket to keep fumes down to a minimum. I can also roll it out in my big shop and it can vent out there. It's big enough and I usually spray with acrylics so not much smell to deal with. Even if there is, it's nothing like spraying spar varnish out of my HVLP sprayer. I'm not one to worry to much about the smells or fumes of hobby paints. Most are pretty manageable with filters and such.
 
I don’t think hydrogen or other clean fuel will be widespread in 2 years. In 20 years start to look for a more critical mass. My opinion only but I think EV are a mid term solution while we look for the long term solution that will last for decades. The next 20 years will be EV heavy. There are a lot of promising technologies out there but they take time to develop and also develop the infrastructure for.

BMW was the latest manufacturer I saw a headline about and new hydrogen tech. Cummins has a new engine that can be bought in several variants including hydrogen.
I don't think Hydrogen is the answer. Fuel cells may be great for outer space, but here on earth there are too many problems. The infrastructure will be hard to establish. Where is your local hydrogen station? Hydrogen will require special tanks to store, and there will be No Smoking, for a mile around. Hydrogen is a very volatile gas, think Hindenburg. Hydrogen will also tie us to the oil companies, they already produce hydrogen gas, from oil.

I just bought an EV. I have solar on the roof. I have not paid a dime for fuel. I do 80 mile round trips to my family in town. I have not yet tried to travel long distances yet. The future could be self-charging cars. Living in AZ, I thought why not put a solar panel on top of the car. I drove 6 miles to work and parked 8-10 hours in the hot sun. I was told by an EE that it would not be enough to charge the car. But, that would probably be the future. As I don't have that much future left, I will just have to make do.
 
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