Running Bear's November 2022 Coffee Shop


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Afternoon all,

After fixing the acre packages for the local kids, the wife and I got guilted talked into going to our original Thanksgiving with the far daughter and her family. Got home late and I've been working on stuff ever since. Did hit 1 Black Friday deal this morning at the local meat market. Purchased 40# of ground beef (85\15) for $3.95 a pound. Cheaper than Kroger's current current price for 80\20 meat. For those who don't know, the 85\15 is the lean to fat ration in the particular type. In a bit I've got to go to Ace hardware for some Items and will go back tomorrow to get the rest as I have a couple of different coupons in the mix.

Gas is down in my area as well. While many are still at $3.14, there is one in my town at $2.99. It's off the highway, so they are usually cheaper than the other 3 stations in town. I did get it for $2.94 on my way home on Wednesday. Sadly it feels like a Saturday.
 
D&J RailRoad said:
I've had diagnosed sciatica for decades.
First time I encountered it I had no idea what it was. It got excruciating over the couple days before I finally went to the ER. No sleep possible.
They showed me a couple stretching exercises which alleviated much of the pain and burning almost immediately. Motrin settled the rest.
I've had the flare-ups over the years and can handle it now. The continued driving of that car just aggravated it yesterday. I only got about 100 miles into the 600 mile trip. I knew I wouldn't be able to tolerate it that long. I had made several stops to stretch and walk it but it eventually wasn't helping.
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If they flare up, but then "flare back down" again, if you know what to do to deal with it and if those treatments still work, then I would guess all is still good. But if things suddenly stop working, and if you don't get past an attack, then maybe keep a closer eye on it.
It sounds like your current bout is conforming to the expected pattern, so no worries.

Hope you get past it soon. :D
 
Afternoon All,

Had a great turkey day yesterday. The wife outdid herself with the meal. The grandsons brought 3 guests so we had 11 people all together. Son and I did part of the cleanup last night and I finished it today. Nothing in the train room today. Lunch was left over stuffing and gravy. Tomorrow Dad and I are going to meet up with my buddy Tom and that group of MRR friends.

Willie- Great kitbash. Very nice scenes. I hope you feel better soon.

TomO- Nice modeling.

Dave- Nice scene with the horseman in the background.

Patrick- I hope your family is Covid free quickly.

Guy- Also, look at Laserkit (American Model builders). They have a coal trestle (PRR style) in wood and they also have a complete coal yard kit. Just another option for you. It's the one on my layout. I did my own coal yard. If you want a truck dump into hoppers I believe Blairline has a kit.

Ken D&J- I'm glad you're leg is filling better.

Louis- Watching soccer is fine if you want to watch the drama of fake injuries.

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I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Bruette said:
Troy, what is Christmas blend coffee? I'm thinking peppermint or something like that.
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In other brands, yes.

but aging a Sumatra bean, then roasting it, pulls out a lot more flavor. Esp smokey earthy notes.

For Starbucks, it is specifically aged, and mixed with other beans to create a limited-run dark roast.

I'm not fancy enough to pull out all of the notes, like "Spruce Tips" but it does have a chocolatey sense to it. No, not flavored like chocolate. Think of how Wine or Whiskey connoisseurs speak of their favorite beverages. Same idea.

Here's the blurb from their product page:
Back again and filled with cheer, Starbucks® Christmas Blend is here to brighten any celebration. Our historic recipe combines perfectly aged Sumatran beans with dark-roasted beans from Guatemala, Colombia and Papua New Guinea. The rich, robust flavor complements traditions new and old, with sweet, velvety notes of spiced chocoate and spruce tips. With each cup, make the holidays all your own.
 
Espeefan said:
I've been hearing "the hobby is dying " for years. Baloney. I don't even answer the posts anymore. I've found that the people who post that stuff are mostly people who are all bent out of shape because of the costs of some models, or because they perceive that the majority of modelers aren't doing the hobby the way they think it should be done. The equivalent of "You kids get off my lawn!" 🤣🤣
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Well thought out I agree, and like you I do not waste my time on such either, they won’t listen either,but occasionally I like some of them and just ignore that aspect, as inevitably there is more to like than dislike until they drive you up the wall and you ghost them.
 
Bruette said:
Hey Everybody!

I have not said much lately. I had not felt well. My pancreas flared up; gout flared up. The good news is I feel better now!

I try to ignore pain and sickness. It's harder to ignore if I talk about it.

I did, however, keep up with the posts. Trains and the endeavors of my train buddies are a great distraction, thank you.
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Ill health is a sad leveller, glad your feeling better, I too find the coffee shop a blast of light in a sonetimes dark world
 
Bruette said:
I hope Everybody had a great Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for all my train buddies and so much more!

Jeff, I have to thank you for posting the Alton Brown videos. I incorporated some of his tips for brining and used his method of baking the turkey. My 23lb fresh butterball turkey was maybe the best we ever had! Thanks again!
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I'm an Alton Brown fan myself. His scrambled egg recipie is excellent. His baby back ribs are to die for. We've done several other recipes from his shows too. He's a cross between The Galloping Gourmet and Mr. Wizard. 😁
 
troyphoto said:
Here's the blurb from their product page:
Back again and filled with cheer, Starbucks® Christmas Blend is here to brighten any celebration. Our historic recipe combines perfectly aged Sumatran beans with dark-roasted beans from Guatemala, Colombia and Papua New Guinea. The rich, robust flavor complements traditions new and old, with sweet, velvety notes of spiced chocoate and spruce tips. With each cup, make the holidays all your own.
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In other words, Folger's Gourmet Blend with chocolate and spruce flavorings added.
 
TLOC said:
They are nice cars. I agree $50 seems to be the price point. Above that I have trouble pulling the trigger. I like Exactrail because while they are greatly detailed they seemed to be IMO more ruggedly applied then the Tangent car details that seem to come off if you just look at them. I have no Athearn Genesis cars having sold them off. IMO the Walther Mainline line of cars are just as detailed and almost 1/2 the price.

Most of my purchases except pulp and wood chip hoppers have trended since 2019 towards Exactrail, Tangent, Walthers Proto line and Mainline. I believe most of my Athearn BB and Roundhouse cars have been weathered and if not sold off already are going to be. Most of my Scaletrains.com equipment has been weathered and sold. ST is by far my easiest car when weathered to sell online. The majority of my covered grain hopper fleet is Accurarail. For my layout size I want to keep it between 60 and 70 cars. But now as I buy I am leaning toward 2 eras, 2005 where I can also run some WIsconsin Central locomotives and 2015 where those locomotives are gone but where my really modern stuff fits in.

My goal is 30 cars specifically each for an era. Then 20-30 box cars and grain cars that can operate within both getting to an operating session of the 50-60 cars.
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You have more will power than I. I was piddling in the den of iniquity (my basement workshop and train room) and at a glance have some 250 freight cars (not counting the two dozen or so blue box models to be sold off. Most are Red Caboose, Intermountain, Tangent, Bowser, a few Exactrail, Kadee, and some Accurail. many were built from kits, many more were bought, weathered, and placed in service. Since I don't have a layout and run exclusively at the club, I'm sort of doing two eras as well. Mostly transition era but also some seventies. The most modern locos I have are a pair of tunnel motors. It all just sort of snuck up on me, accumulating stuff since the early 1990's. I've pretty much plateaued when it comes to buying. it has to be something that really catches my eye.
 
Evening all,

Well, I finally got off my duff and did it.

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Daughter bought it when they had to move from a rental that had one to one without. When their barnaminium was complete and they moved in, they didn't need this year old one anymore and our 23 year old one had a leaking door seal. They gave us this one and it's been in my garage for nearly a year.
At some point, a previous owner put the 1\4" wood look laminate over the original sheet vinyl. I had been reluctant to deal with it thinking I'd have to get it over the new flooring, so I finally got a chance to check. It has 1\4" runners where the legs of the dishwasher are, so it was at the raised floor level! An hour later, I had it in. I got the old one out, cleaned the 23 years worth of crude out from under it a now it's running a cleaning run. Trying to make sure it isn't leaking before I put the toe kick panel and floor vent back.
 
Espeefan said:
You have more will power than I. I was piddling in the den of iniquity (my basement workshop and train room) and at a glance have some 250 freight cars (not counting the two dozen or so blue box models to be sold off. Most are Red Caboose, Intermountain, Tangent, Bowser, a few Exactrail, Kadee, and some Accurail. many were built from kits, many more were bought, weathered, and placed in service. Since I don't have a layout and run exclusively at the club, I'm sort of doing two eras as well. Mostly transition era but also some seventies. The most modern locos I have are a pair of tunnel motors. It all just sort of snuck up on me, accumulating stuff since the early 1990's. I've pretty much plateaued when it comes to buying. it has to be something that really catches my eye.
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I went from over 300 rail cars at retirement in 2014 along with over 105 diesel locomotives and 20 brass steam engines. When we moved from North Central to South Central Wisconsin I knew my needs would change. The 2000 sq feet double deck layout planned to fill some of the basement turned into newly planned 84’ switching layout. I didn’t need the 300 rail cars, the goal was 50 rail cars and 7 locomotives. That goal was achieved in 2021 but keeps changing in 2022. By selling the old it funded and still does for the new. I am constantly churning my rolling stock because I enjoy it.
 
Bruette said:
Good morning, Everybody!

Black Friday retail numbers are huge! This could be a record-setting weekend. Maybe Chicken little was wrong again, I hope!
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Don't mean to rain on anyones parade, but it's because everything costs more due to inflation and greater shipping costs. Unit volume is probably the same or less. But I am sure that some politician will claim credit for a recovering economy.
 
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