Running Bear's October 2022 Coffee Shop


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I doubt I'll retire until I simply can't stand to be around people any longer. That time seems to be approaching swiftly, lol.

We had a person apply for a position here. She stayed just long enough to get her first paycheck, then disappeared. We terminated due to "no call, no show" 3 days in a row. Here it is about 3 weeks later, and she's demanding a letter stating her termination date so she can give it to the Department of Jobs & Family Services so she can get all of her entitlements back from the Gov't teat.

The ONLY reason she applied for this job was to prove that she was terminated... so she can keep her food stamps and all the other free stuff she thinks is actually free. And I don't know whom to mad at... the system for allowing encouraging it, or this person for using abusing it.

This person was set to make $14 per hour just to fog a mirror and show up. Put a little effort into things, and commissions would easily push that earned wage up into the $30-$40 per hour mark... easily. But no... She'd rather sit at home and pop out a few more government support checks every 9 months or so.

Sorry for the editorial... The views expressed here are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of this forum, its owners, officers, nor its agents. 🤡
 
TLOC said:
Good morning Crew. Overnight low of 28f degrees, it’s 45 now with a wind chill number of 38, high today is supposed to be 48. I did check the temperature on Maui, it is warmer there. The girls arrived safely yesterday.

Louis, do your best to make mom happy

Jaz, great picture

Guy, thats what the photographs do for me. Gives me ideas on colors and details. Have fun on the hobby paying jobs

TrucTrain, glad it is going well for you. Sorry to say there is no loyalty either way it seems. My story below

James and George, I have threatened myself a few times to head to that show. It has always been the uncertainty of January weather that has kept me away. It is so different then Trainfest in Milwaukee in November that concentrates on layouts and the Manufacturers

Willie, had my fasting labs done this morning and I should have results starting late this afternoon and fully on Monday. 9 vials of stuff out of my arm. Your numbers are great. My wake up A1C is hovering at 122-132, bedtime at 102-110 the last 6 weeks

My job ending story. 21 years working for my brother under sometimes brutal personal conditions as I was held to a different standard even though I never knew the standard. He wanted me to avoid telling Clients I was related to him, the owner. Tough to do entertaining clients at Packer games or Bear games in Chicago with my tickets when the clients knew we had the same last names and damn, we looked very much alike. Also strange for games in GB we would join his tail gate pregame parties and not go to the suite for the game. But then show up for 1/2time food treats. Didn’t want anyone to know Terry and I had season tickets of our own for Packers, Bears or Blackhawk games. He even didn’t want any co-workers coming out to our house especially in Summer because we lived on a lake. He lost that one! He lived down the street and lake and everyone knew where he lived. But, when I was sick he and the company were great.

When he decided not to turn over day to day operations to me is when things really changed. The management team he brought in wanted me out. Heck, they wanted him gone. This was 7 years before retirement and his new head guy kept saying you should retire. Terry and I when I turned 60 decided my retirement would be at 62, she retired the year she turned 56. I told no one but 3 of my staff department heads so they would have time to find new jobs. We knew massive changes would happen in all my departments when I retired. The 3 found jobs but I still had 14 months to go. Similar to Willie but in a nicer office I then was stuffed, because 3 of 6 of my department heads left I wasn’t needed. They hired my staff replacements and gave me a new title but with no responsibilities. There was no input from me because they wanted things done the new not old money making ways. When my time was up, I left a job that for 17 of 21 years even with my brothers issues was the most enjoyable, exciting job I ever had. My retirement party, not 1 of the 7 new management members came, no texts goodbye or thank yours. But over 300 other current and former staff and employees came. 2 years after retirement the company found itself in the Me Too dilemma. The head guy along with 2 of his male cronies and 1 female crony were taking advantage of employees. My brother, in Arizona or Hawaii and semi retired begged me to help him out. He wanted he said someone he could trust as he didn’t want to come back to Wisconsin. For six months I commuted and held Skype meetings getting things back In shape. My 3 department heads came back and along with my former Personal Assistant who came back for me and are now running the company. They are in a 10 year deal buying the company.

I think a lot of us have job ending stories or in Terry’s case horror stories about his previous employer when they sold out or made changes due to death or retirements.
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TomO

Cool story on your work and retirement! I have a ways to go before I decide to retire. I think at least another 10 years we shall see. Being single and having no kids and no such responsibilities related to those things makes one have a different view on things ya know? I do however take care of my parents etc. I also have 3 nephews whom I keep an eye on and have always done that. Their father is a great man and father so they are good but in the recent event of losing their mother, my baby sister the dynamic changed a bit. Even though they are all in their early 20's they still need guidance etc. They are my boys. I also have 3 Godson too.

Anyways in regards to the BIG E.............I always tell people that it is definitely on the list of the shows you should go to at least go once. I have been going since I moved back to NY in 2012. I did miss 2 years I think but that's about it. I have been to the Greenberg show, the Trainfest in Milwaukee, one in Chicago and one in Cincinnati OH. Also Little Rock AR and Branson & St Louis, Missouri. A few in Florida in Tampa and Orlando.

The Big E is really cool as it's facility is just that BIG! 5 massive buildings! I usually try to stay at one of the local hotels that is listed on their website as they do treat you right! I like going on both Saturday and Sunday. Most of the time I end up going for one day on Saturday. This coming year I will go both days and stay at the hotel due to the fact I think this show will be busting at the seams with vendors because last year was a low attendance due to "snowmagedon". I went anyways lol.

Railroad Hobby Show

Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show
www.railroadhobbyshow.com


I will probably stay at the Sheraton Hotel at One Monarch Place, Springfield, MA 01144 on one of upper floors overlooking the RR yard facing the Springfield Union Station. Nice view.



Map.jpg
 
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ctclibby said:
Good Morning All!
38F in Libby

We gave up! Ordered a new loader/backhoe @ 34K; LStractor MT240E. It is only money ... right? Reason for giving up was most of the new tractor places did NOT have everything we wanted and would have to wait weeks for it to come in. Some had the backhoe, some not. Kubota and Deer did not have anything new with a wait time of *months*. Was not really wanting a Kubota as the quality has gone down, Deer pricing was a bunch higher for pretty much the same spec's - guess that you are buying green paint; used them for price checking. Liked the Kioti but no backhoe attachment without waiting. These are established dealers too. Next, the used market is pretty much nil and if you did find something with low hours they wanted almost new prices and that usually did not come with any warranty, or the warranty was almost kaput. Couple $1000 difference in most cases so we opted for the warranty - 5 years for the one we are getting.

Pellets: Found out that I could not get a truckload ( 22 pallets - 44KLbs ) from any of the 3 mills near. They all would not sell as they have agreements with the local vendors that they will not sell to anybody living close to them and I had to be a business. So, we will pay the freight sorta speak @ $245 a ton. Getting 15 ton as we have 4 pellet stoves, 2 in house, the others in traincave. Geesh.

Later
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My Deere is supposed to show this coming November but it may be later as I am told. I wanted factory installed not dealer installed they always screw things up. We shall see.
 
ctclibby said:
Good Morning All!
38F in Libby

We gave up! Ordered a new loader/backhoe @ 34K; LStractor MT240E. It is only money ... right? Reason for giving up was most of the new tractor places did NOT have everything we wanted and would have to wait weeks for it to come in. Some had the backhoe, some not. Kubota and Deer did not have anything new with a wait time of *months*. Was not really wanting a Kubota as the quality has gone down, Deer pricing was a bunch higher for pretty much the same spec's - guess that you are buying green paint; used them for price checking. Liked the Kioti but no backhoe attachment without waiting. These are established dealers too. Next, the used market is pretty much nil and if you did find something with low hours they wanted almost new prices and that usually did not come with any warranty, or the warranty was almost kaput. Couple $1000 difference in most cases so we opted for the warranty - 5 years for the one we are getting.

Pellets: Found out that I could not get a truckload ( 22 pallets - 44KLbs ) from any of the 3 mills near. They all would not sell as they have agreements with the local vendors that they will not sell to anybody living close to them and I had to be a business. So, we will pay the freight sorta speak @ $245 a ton. Getting 15 ton as we have 4 pellet stoves, 2 in house, the others in traincave. Geesh.

Later
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Todd - have you had your pellet burners long? I know they were popular here several years ago but we do not have many sawmills, mainly those wafer board plants and lots of our dimension lumber comes from Canada so pellets were expensive,

We have lots of trees (like you) but most people put in the outdoor "boilers" which the insurance companies like. Plus, they are not as fussy many burn wood that is somewhat wet so for people that do not plan ahead they are ideal.

Curious if they use those out there?
 
ctclibby said:
Good Morning All!
38F in Libby

We gave up! Ordered a new loader/backhoe @ 34K; LStractor MT240E. It is only money ... right? Reason for giving up was most of the new tractor places did NOT have everything we wanted and would have to wait weeks for it to come in. Some had the backhoe, some not. Kubota and Deer did not have anything new with a wait time of *months*. Was not really wanting a Kubota as the quality has gone down, Deer pricing was a bunch higher for pretty much the same spec's - guess that you are buying green paint; used them for price checking. Liked the Kioti but no backhoe attachment without waiting. These are established dealers too. Next, the used market is pretty much nil and if you did find something with low hours they wanted almost new prices and that usually did not come with any warranty, or the warranty was almost kaput. Couple $1000 difference in most cases so we opted for the warranty - 5 years for the one we are getting.

Pellets: Found out that I could not get a truckload ( 22 pallets - 44KLbs ) from any of the 3 mills near. They all would not sell as they have agreements with the local vendors that they will not sell to anybody living close to them and I had to be a business. So, we will pay the freight sorta speak @ $245 a ton. Getting 15 ton as we have 4 pellet stoves, 2 in house, the others in traincave. Geesh.

Later
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245x15?….3675……gulps……

glad we went for log burners not pellets, and after years of leaving our trees to fall on the ground we should have a bundle of donations although they will need to be treated and checked that less than 20 percent moisture, we went with wide stoves so larger logs less cuts. collecting will be fun, and we still need to buy up front to get us off to a start, I suspect as the season drops in temperature the price is going to get eye watering….SHudders …. Wtf word check put Huddersfield 😂….look look I corrected a typo….smug look.

hope we gave a cloudless winter then our solar can help out, but in the scheme of things that is not likely to be much,and the teslas will suck up and the oil radiators will be keeping part of the bungalow at minimum 14 degrees,we only plan to heat to 18 degree as we did last year and use layered clothes, and duvets to snuggle under in the evenings so the fires can burn down.

we do not plan to have them all on at once either 2 Or 3 as necessary and one cleaned and ready to start in the mornings when we get upl

I bought sone cast iron for casseroles etc to sit on top and hopefully stewed steak etc will reduce cooking.

We shall see, never had wood burners before so a learning curve, have luckily had coal fires so sone apects will not be foreign, hopefully we keep the air dust free as behind glass f]doors as opposed to the old open fires.

weave gone ott on the kwp for each room but with fans pushing heat we should be toasty, what we need is to gauge how to get best heat for cost, and not waste it.

We just need to ensure we have the log plinths topped up, extra dry in the garage, and dry in barn or polytunnel, and ensure we are not going out in the dark and cold cos we have run out.

Will be avoiding draughts , closing curtains, snuggling under duvets, using 2 duvets per bed, so tog rises.

well who would have thought I found the return button :p
 
logandsawman said:
Todd - have you had your pellet burners long? I know they were popular here several years ago but we do not have many sawmills, mainly those wafer board plants and lots of our dimension lumber comes from Canada so pellets were expensive,

We have lots of trees (like you) but most people put in the outdoor "boilers" which the insurance companies like. Plus, they are not as fussy many burn wood that is somewhat wet so for people that do not plan ahead they are ideal.

Curious if they use those out there?
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Dave: Been using pellets for about 10 years as a backup to the wood stove. Got tired of all the wood stove soot. Even though we would open the wood stove for a few seconds to [re]load there was always a puff of smoke that escaped as nobody ( including me ) would remember to open the stove up a few minutes before. 2 years ago we got rid of the wood stove, so pellets are our only source of heat. Well, still have a wood cook stove that is definitely not air tight; but it does warm stuff up when it is really cold.

Though about an outside pellet furnace for about 2 seconds - there is not any ducting in the house or train cave. I would have to just dump the heat in somewhere which probably would not keep stuff warm in the different parts of the house.

Most around here are EPA wood stoves, Electric and LPG. Pellet is gaining. Cord of Tammy or Red Fur is now $190 to $220; more to split the size we want. I am pretty sure that cord would not last the 40 days ( per stove ) that Pellets offer. Used to fetch our own wood, got too old for that. Ya, good exercise splitting. No idea of LPG price and I know Electric is *spendy*. Neighbor has a house somewhat smaller than ours and he spent almost 5 grand over last winter. Also, no idea of what a cord of dry wood weighs, but I do know we spend way less time with Pellets and we do not have the soot problem anymore.
 
Afternoon All,

It only took me about 20 minutes to get to this point on the laptop today :mad:. Started out with chores then after lunch I took a nap. Last night I had chills and body pain. Most likely from the shots I recieved earlier. Ibuprofen took care of most of the issues but I was dragging when I got up. After lunch I took a 2.5 hour nap and feel better now.

Today I recieved the electronics from LRT though I haven't opened the box. The earliest I'll get started on the project is probably Sunday and more likely Monday.

Chet- great photos of the LVRR. Hope you're getting some pain relief.

Troy- Wife, daughter and grandkids were there last year for several days (part of a larger vacation). They found the French Quarter very dirty, loud and not maintained well. The wife recommends the "Cemetary and Ghost BYOB bus tour".

George- Great job with the bracing and the flip gate looks like it would work well.

Lee- Sorry to hear what happened, but glad it worked well in the end.

Louis- I am very sorry to hear about what happened to your Mom again. As you know I was in this situation with my Mom for 7.5 months, and she was unable to ambulate for 7 months of that. I wouldn't of traded the time, but be aware of what mobility issues mean when taking care of someone. Hospice was a godsend and made an impossible situation possible. I was lucky that Dad took care of Mom in the evenings so I didn't have to move in with them (and thankfully I was retired) but I wouldn't of traded the time I had with her at the end for anything. You are a good and loving son. If you have any questions feel free to message or email me.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Alcomotive said:
Well....I did it again. I went back to the LHS to get more supplies at 50% off cash only buys.

Yup but this time I took another page out of Willie's book and bought more items that add details & life to the layout. So thank you Willie for the inspiration.

I will post pictures later tonight when I get home.

I did buy 3 boxcars also.

Here's the tally sheet..

View attachment 153525
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Jaz avalley said:
245x15?….3675……gulps……

glad we went for log burners not pellets, and after years of leaving our trees to fall on the ground we should have a bundle of donations although they will need to be treated and checked that less than 20 percent moisture, we went with wide stoves so larger logs less cuts. collecting will be fun, and we still need to buy up front to get us off to a start, I suspect as the season drops in temperature the price is going to get eye watering….SHudders …. Wtf word check put Huddersfield 😂….look look I corrected a typo….smug look.

hope we gave a cloudless winter then our solar can help out, but in the scheme of things that is not likely to be much,and the teslas will suck up and the oil radiators will be keeping part of the bungalow at minimum 14 degrees,we only plan to heat to 18 degree as we did last year and use layered clothes, and duvets to snuggle under in the evenings so the fires can burn down.

we do not plan to have them all on at once either 2 Or 3 as necessary and one cleaned and ready to start in the mornings when we get upl

I bought sone cast iron for casseroles etc to sit on top and hopefully stewed steak etc will reduce cooking.

We shall see, never had wood burners before so a learning curve, have luckily had coal fires so sone apects will not be foreign, hopefully we keep the air dust free as behind glass f]doors as opposed to the old open fires.

weave gone ott on the kwp for each room but with fans pushing heat we should be toasty, what we need is to gauge how to get best heat for cost, and not waste it.

We just need to ensure we have the log plinths topped up, extra dry in the garage, and dry in barn or polytunnel, and ensure we are not going out in the dark and cold cos we have run out.

Will be avoiding draughts , closing curtains, snuggling under duvets, using 2 duvets per bed, so tog rises.

well who would have thought I found the return button :p
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Return key found and operated by JazA

Wtf is this world coming to

Troy has influence

congrats Jaz and you know it’s in good fun, or not
 
New Orleans. 1st time there was on a road trip between college graduation and my 1st job outside the golf course in 1974. Just loved it. When I got married we honeymooned there and have gone back every few years.

Since Katrina, the French Quarter while never spic and span has IMO and Terry’s gone downhill severely. Very dirty, smelly as written about and not maintained very well. The best tours IMO are the carriage rides and the Steamboat.

Even with its issues the French Quarter is a great time for someone younger then us. Especially after a Saints/Packer game, Super duper Bowl or a NO funeral. SB #20 in 1986 the Bears/Patriots was the wildest after game football party I have ever been part of. SB #31 in NO when Farve and the Pack won in 97 was lame in comparison but still fun. Hit up Mardi Gras once in my 30’s and never again, not our scene!

We did one funeral. Mom maybe in her 70’s and Terry and I in our 40’s went to one. Mom’s best friend in Catholic grade school and high schools was a New Orleans escort during WW2 and the 50’s and plowed her earnings into the stock market and property. Very wealthy from hooking but a very nice women when we met her. That funeral parade was epically awesome
 
JeffH said:
I doubt I'll retire until I simply can't stand to be around people any longer. That time seems to be approaching swiftly, lol.

We had a person apply for a position here. She stayed just long enough to get her first paycheck, then disappeared. We terminated due to "no call, no show" 3 days in a row. Here it is about 3 weeks later, and she's demanding a letter stating her termination date so she can give it to the Department of Jobs & Family Services so she can get all of her entitlements back from the Gov't teat.

The ONLY reason she applied for this job was to prove that she was terminated... so she can keep her food stamps and all the other free stuff she thinks is actually free. And I don't know whom to mad at... the system for allowing encouraging it, or this person for using abusing it.

This person was set to make $14 per hour just to fog a mirror and show up. Put a little effort into things, and commissions would easily push that earned wage up into the $30-$40 per hour mark... easily. But no... She'd rather sit at home and pop out a few more government support checks every 9 months or so.

Sorry for the editorial... The views expressed here are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of this forum, its owners, officers, nor its agents. 🤡
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Where do I sign up?
IMG_5188.JPG
 
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