Running Bear's September 2021 Coffee Shop


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A totally lost day here. I'm currently sitting in an MRI office waiting for a scan for my wife. After a good visit to the eye doctor, things went downhill fast. I have been either in a medical facility or traveling between them since 0815 this morning. More later when I don't have to tap on the phone.
 
Good morning. the reporting weather station is offline currently. I can tell you it's cooler than the surface of the sun, there's no snow on the ground, and it's still dark.
There was more discussion about the daughter in law's condition late yesterday evening. She has been declared to have been in this condition for now 8 days. On day 30, a decision will be made, if she hasn't improved. Her prognosis is very bleak--at best. Our son is having to face the impending fact that in about 20 days, he will become a widower. And to pile even more on him, his friend, and direct supervisor at work died from covid Friday. The son is planning to take a long weekend next week, and come up here to see both us, and his wife's parents. He says he's not going to be able to stay at work, when every day all he's going to see is his boss's empty chair sitting next to him, and he's not going to be able to live where he is, all he's going to see is where his wife isn't. His current plans, which both his in laws and we have been trying to help with, is to move up here, where he still has some semblance of family. His in laws own a campground, and I'm going to take a few days off, and take the company truck down and pick up their (soon to be his) fifth wheel trailer, and take it to the campground for him to temporarily live in.
If it seems we are all being a little premature in all these decisions, we really aren't. The doctors have in so many words told us the chances of our daughter in law coming out of this in any meaningful form approach zero, and they are currently only following procedures and local laws regarding the situation. While there's a chance she can simply open her eyes, and ask everybody what they're staring at, we all know she is lost.
I am so sorry to hear this, it is literally heartbreaking, kids should not die before parents, people should not have to face this,if he has an iPod or anything with video of them he should try playing it to try and help her,but I think the chances are more none than slim,sometimes a brain can recover from a stroke but it takes months, we know the 30 day rule makes financial sense, to be honest longer left with a loved one in limbo is just torture,and the chances of a change are clinically not in her favour,I would not encourage him to throw all her stuff and move on she deserves to be remembered, they deserve to be remembered,and I think he will get comfort coming back to family rather than staying there especially with his friend dying as well, he will need support though that’s an awful lot of blows,watch out for suicidal thoughts, I hope he won’t get them,but 2 massive hits are going to hurt, man your luck is so shit right now, hopefully he will get the other side of this, I have to admit I do not prayer although I am Christian, but if I dI’d you would definitely be in them, Christ after so much bad luck you certainly deserve a bloody bit of good luck, hold strong,speak regularly to your son if you can afford it, families that stick together do better.
 
Well, howdy there internet people

It's Troy again.

Today we're going to talk about that creepy feeling.

You know how you can look at something ordinary, something you see every day and forget the little details about.

But, sometimes you look and realize something changed?

That happened this morning. I made a Target run, because the cat was letting me know the magic bowl of kibbles was about empty. When Lord Fuzzbutt is low on kitty kibbles, it's a major tragedy.

According to my video doorbell, I got back from my shopping trip about 9:13 am.

Headed back out to the garage about 20 minutes later.

Our Condo is different in that we use the backdoor for general egress. Out the backdoor is our patio, then our detached garage. So the video doorbell faces the access gate from the parking area, as well as the people door into the garage.

I could see into the garage watching the video that I had left the door open AFTER I got back from Target.

Why am I looking at video footage?

Because there are two empty hooks in the roof joists next to the trash/recycle area. My 14 speed cheap bicycle that's about 6 years old hung there daily. I don't ride much, and didn't even bother changing the tubes on it this year.

Yep. It is no longer there.

It's only a $200 bike from the big-box sports store.

Wife's bike, on the pavement, other side of the garage was still there. As was the 20# tank of propane, and my chop saw, and my portable air compressor.

So, now I'm asking whether someone snatched the bike this morning between 9:10 and 9:30, or did it disappear on Friday when we were home, and I had the garage door open to help keep it cool? We are at the end of the parking lot run, but get a lot of delivery drivers. AND we've had a work crew in for the end unit gutting the place. Could have been any of them, or none of them.

Camera is set to catch motion at the back door of the condo all the way to the garage. I can't find any action there that isn't legit. And, I don't have a camera on the front of the garage since twenty condos share our parking lot. That's a lot of traffic that would trigger the camera.

I am considering adding a cam inside the garage. One of those "Just in Case" cams, and we'd be able to see if the garage door was open at bed time.

Oh well...
Might one of the other condos have a camera tat might show you bike being helped to escape.
 
Howdy ......

Everybody .... Thanks ver much for comments and likes for my photos.

James..... Condolences regarding loss of your friend. Thanks for sharing your tribute to your aunt who was one of the 9/11 victims.

Just know all is not well in Terry’s World

Terry ..... Just know that all of us Patrons of the Coffee Shop care about you and your family. Prayers continue.

MILW Steve ..... It is good to see you switching cars on your layout.

Everybody ...... Some friends and I went to model train stores in Paducah today. I picked up miscellaneous items including some used freight cars. Have a good evening.
 
Might one of the other condos have a camera tat might show you bike being helped to escape.
unfortunately , no. We get too much traffic in the parking/driving area that motion cameras would be pinging all day long

Those with cameras watch inside their fences/patios. Here's what our doorbell camera sees. The bike was taken from the other side of the garage. My neighbors with cameras have the same view. all fence and building, no driveway.

Screen Shot 2021-09-15 at 7.24.05 PM.png
 
I want to thank everyone for the acknowledgment and condolences for my friend Bev and my Aunt Barbara. I appreciate it! ;)


I have been reading up on everyone's posts about COVID. Some really interesting comments and such. I will throw my 2 cents into this whole debacle of the virus. I broke it down to 5 points. To help better understand this ordeal. By no means am I an expert but simply an observer and unfortunately thus far I have lost 2 very good friends to COVID Bev 52 yrs old in Florida and Richard 63 yrs old in Alabama and I have 11 close friends and 4 people of varying ages who I know who had the virus and survived the ordeal. Again this is just an observation. Say whatever you want afterwards. My view has not changed since the get go when all this started. So here it goes:

Point #1: Statistically this COVID virus has a survival rate of 97% to 99.75%. This is fact. CAUTION of course this is your well being. Only you and your doctor can know whether you should or can take any of the vaccines. There are a lot of people that I know and heard of who actually cannot take the vaccine due to underlining health issues. For example a friend of mine, she has severe rheumatoid arthritis and she cannot take any of the vaccines it will kill her due to the chemical reaction in her body as she is taking other medicines to cope. Another person I know who has Parkinson's and he cannot take the vaccine same demise. So having said that we cannot punish or bash people with these type of issues. So if someone says no I didn't take the vaccine if you think it makes you uncomfortable then move on. You have no clue what their status is period.


Point #2: Having mentioned above the survival rate. Think on this for a moment. I have experienced a few losses of people in my life due to the virus as mentioned and some of you may have as well to the virus. All the viruses that we have had in the past here in the US had about the same or even worse survival rate. Zika virus, Swine Flu, West Nile, Bird Flu, and so forth the list goes on and not so far in the past either. So question yourself on this.... did you know the survival rate of any of these in the past? Did you get vaccinated for all of those viruses? What choice did you make? Do you know the total death rate in the US or world wide for those past viruses. Did you know those vaccines were an issue for many today with underlining health problems? Or even worst I know a few stories where people got the H1N1 vaccine and now they have huge medical issues triggered by the vaccine before they had none! Just a ponder on that for a bit.


Point #3: This COVID virus has had me think real hard about whether to take the vaccine or not. I was very very very angry about this notion of having to take it. I am one of those guys who very seldom takes a pill or shot for anything etc. I just don't care for the ideology. That's me. So in all of the hoopla my initial decision was NO! do not take the vaccine BUT I did anyways for one personal reason only. It was for my family. My sister who lives in UK came over to visit this past summer has Potts disease. I could not allow any chance for me to be the carrier or possibly the one to infect her. Even though we all know and have the knowledge that the vaccine is NOT 100% fool proof. Many people still got the COVID virus after taking the vaccine. Me personally I think I may have screwed up. Up here in upstate NY at the time the only vaccine available was J&J. I didn't have a whole lot of confidence in it but I did it. To protect my sister and for no other reason. If it were not for her coming I never would have done it. Again my choice your choice. So this point #3 is do as you must for yourself or for your family and hope that it is the right decision that you can live with.


Point#4: This is not something we can impose on to people or force them. This not something that we should be discriminating people for either. We do NOT have all the answers you know it and I know it. The government has lied to us more ways than one from Sunday to Sunday. They threw all kinds of jumble messages at us both this administration and last administration. I don't care what anyone says about that. The common denominator has been for decades is this crazed doctor Fauci. Think on that for a bit. So I ask you follow the money trail. Then I ask you what in the hell were those people thinking and doing with a virus like this? The worst part of this virus is yet to be discovered and not many people realize it. Why were they manufacturing this virus and why were they manipulating the strain with man made strains/genetics? For what purpose? Do you know? I don't and I am pissed off about this. I am pissed off that our US dollars were funded in this so called project. Better yet why the hell was this research soooo important being done in China of all places? Do you realize that 97% of our pharmaceuticals is produce China? That makes us dependent! That my friends is dangerous and messed up! Yet the even worst....the thing about this virus, because they were fooling around with the strains and genetic make up to make some damn cocktail. This damn virus now has the unique ability to be dormant and most alarming mutate. Fact! How messed up is that? Don't believe me then why the 2nd wave of the virus name change? Because it mutated...... on to my last point.....


Point #5: It is a proven fact that our bodies have a unique and complex immune system. Each person has a different set of rules if you will in their immune system. Your body will react to each cold, virus, infection, cut, bone break, or any bodily harm and assess the situation and react immediately to start to mend or fight off the invasive infliction. No one person has the same reaction or make up. In theory we have similar reaction but it is not the same only because of our genetic make is different just like our finger prints etc. In the perfect world I would have elected NOT to get the vaccine and ride it out as I am fairly healthy per my doctor and my own assessment. My choice was made. I do not regret it yet only because for the sake of my sister's safety. Although, I say that now but I am still leery of the J&J vaccine. I can tell you the 1st day after injection (J&J is a one shot deal) I was fine. 12 hours later I was sick in bed for 12 hours. Sweats, cold the usual flu like symptoms. It really sucked in fact I have never felt that bad with a sickness like that in years. One thing for sure I stayed hydrated and bounced back the next day and all was well.


In closing or conclusion however you want to view this. My assessment and observation for those who got COVID and survived are as follows: all of the people I know said this: stay hydrated with water constant drinking of water. This helps flush out the bad stuff. Well you say what about juice or soda or coffee....NO! Your body is in shock with the virus and is in overdrive to process the bad stuff. Minimize the processing of fluids in your kidneys and liver by drinking water. Flush flush is what I was told. Stay moving as much as possible within your home. Stay up right as much as possible minimize laying down to keep your lungs clear. If you can sleep in a lazy boy do it don't lay down flat. Lastly eat lots of fruits and soups. Fruits like pineapples, pomegranate, raspberries etc. All have antioxidants to help do battle! Stay away from solid foods. Minimize sleeping to no more than 8 hours most of the people I know stayed up and only slept 4 hour nap intervals so that they could keep fluids going. This is all I know. It's just an observation from the 11 and 4 people I mentioned in the beginning. Again say what you will or want. I am just merely putting my 2 cents out there. Whatever you want to say have at it I do not cry or get upset over petty remarks. I just wanted to provide critical thinking if you will since the topic is on hand.


Thanks for hearing me out Peace!

Now back to our regular scheduled program......choo choo!
 
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Just stopped by and it seems like it's been a rough month so far.

My sad story, I happened by a popular train watching spot on my way to the races at the local speedway. Across the tracks from the watching area is a scrap yard and I saw a large pile of trucks and wheels.

PGEXwheels.jpg


A closer look at the debris revealed it was one of my favorite coal trains, the PGEX "Rose Train" as each car had a rose on one end. I could see the identifiable remains of PGEX 549, 681, 705, 783, x43 and 6x4.

PGEX713.jpg


For now it will continue to carry on in miniature on my railroad.
 
Morning! The Spousal Unit is still sleeping in the recliner chair and I am trying to type mostly in the dark. I have a little "plug in" light that TERRY suggested for seeing the keyboard in the dark, but it leaves a lot to be desired - I guess that I need two of them?
Anyhoo - supposed to only be 84 for a high today - still under bright sunny skies and that is 28.8C for our outside the 48 friends.
Foxie, the pup, went to the vet yesterday for removal of her injured leg bandage and had a blood test as she had not had one in three years. GOD, vets are expensive - might as well be looking at a person doctor while having no insurance.
Little things that piss me off is like $17.00 for hazard waste disposal - WHAT! A needle to give a shot with?
The owner of the alignment place for the RV was telling me that he has to pay the State a $600 fee for having an oil drum and then he has to pay for having the drum collected when it needs so!
Costs on everything is about to skyrocket - I am so glad that I am not a high schooler just starting my life -- they will never comprehend how wonderful it was when we were young.

I better shut up for the moment?
Prayers for all!
 
Good morning from Wisconsin. Cool at 54f/12c but climbing to 86f/30c.

Heading east on this very clear morning to Racine and Milwaukee on the western shores of Lake Michigan. We have a 2:15pm viewing appointment to see Beyond Van Gough Milwaukee the Immersive Experience. Lunch will be in the 3rd Ward at the Public Market. It should be a fun day. Racine is to pick up her best friend. The girls have a couple other things in mind but this is a very packed schedule but will they listen to me? Doubtful…

Our son actually called his mom last night. He wants to introduce the girlfriend to us. He is 6’2 she is 5’3” and very good looking. He has never “officially” introduced a g/f before. They will fly in late Saturday or Sunday morning. Terry handles his finances and did say last week he took out a large chunk of money. She is thinking since it was 2times what he takes as a salary that he purchased a ring!

Trains yesterday: made 80 wire armatures for trees but did not finish the branches

Slot cars: 2 hours with the g/son and SIL, marking the floor with tape and hauling cut lumber from the garage to the train room. Trying to immerse the g/son so he takes real ownership

Have a great day
TomO
 
Best made plans ........

WIfe had a rough day, so took her to dinner and then wine on the back deck enjoying a lovely fall evening. Evening meeting tonight from 1800 - ??? Still, tomorrow I'll be waiting all day for the refrigerator installation crew, so I hope to get some solid work done.

I did have some time yesterday afternoon to work - - - and got nothing done. I think I need a plan. That was one nice thing about the laying track phase - always knew what to do next for awhile. Now? Having a fork in the road with six different routes is paralyzing to this 'helper' brain!

Cat woke me up at 0230 retching on the bedroom floor, so shooshed him out onto the hardwood. Then got up to clean up the mess. Found it - - - with my right foot, yuck. Cleaned it all up and for some reason wasn't ready to go back to sleep. So I re-read the PSX manual.

I think that will be my project tomorrow. Solder the terminal onto the PSX boards and then program and set up boards. PCB standoff posts arrive today via AMazon, so I can do that entire installation. Following that, wire up the 16 VDC power to the electromagnets via the timer boards and test those. Hopefully can accomplish all that tomorrow. Saturday, wife gone most of the day, so will tackle the rough spots on the yard tracks so resolder feeders, smooth frogs, etc. to try and improve operation. Then maybe I will try to run the Light Pacific 4-6-2 again. Then I will have to start a new thread for tech consult on that locomotive and tap into collective wisdom and experience to see what can be done to improve that one's running characteristics.

CHeers all! - - - Steve J
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 68° here in North Central Texas. Once again the wind is gusting at 0 mph from the SE today, I'll do the burn trash early this morning. No change in the forecast, warm and dry for the next ten days, range 68°-92° until Tuesday night when a cool front arrives.

Yesterday was a busy day for us as I alluded to in a short post last night. Started off with a routine day after visit to the ophthalmologist who did my wife's cataract surgery Tuesday. Second eye is recovering faster than the first and all is well. However before we left the house, an ongoing swelling just under my wife's knee started oozing fluid. The swelling has been there about two weeks and she thought that it had something to do with scar tissue from her knee replacement surgery a while back. So while she was at the eye doctor, I called the orthopedic surgeons office and arranged to take her by after we were done. The nurse there was just going to take a look and re-bandage my crude attempt at medical practice. The doctor was in surgery all morning so I also set up a 1:20 appointment for the afternoon. We headed home after that. In the interim, she spoke to the doctor and described what she saw, and called us to come back immediately to pick up orders for a blood test at the lab in the hospital across the road from his office. By then we were less than five miles from home, but we turned around and went back since she indicated that it was urgent. Stopped back by his office and picked up the order and went over to the lab and experienced extreme hospital protocol, but we were done in 45 minutes time and headed back home since it was just over two hours until the appointment. Went home, ate lunch and I took a 25 minute nap. Returned to the appointment which lasted 90 minutes. He took a culture and sent us back to the lab to drop it off. No such thing! We had to wait until a lab technician could come out and take it from us. Another 30 minutes wasted. Meanwhile the doctor's office also set her up with a MRI appointment at a facility 30 miles away. It was the only one with an open slot yesterday. On the way there, another call from his office re-directed us to a different MRI facility, which was 4 miles further but was at least in the direction that we were already headed. We were there from 4:00 until 5:45. Then we headed back to Denton to pick up an antibiotic from the local Walgreens. Since my wife hadn't eaten all day, we treated ourselves to an expensive dinner at Outback. Bottom line is that there is an infection, and the MRI will tell whether it is in the bone or muscle. If it is in the muscle, it can be carved out by the orthopedic guy. If it is in the bone, a complete redo of the knee replacement by a "recovery specialist" will be needed. Her orthopedic guy has done them before, but would prefer that a specialist do it instead of him. So it looks likely that we might repeat what we went through with both of the original knee replacements once again. Downside is that they remove the old implant and you go totally immobile without a knee for 1-2 weeks while they manufacture a "custom" knee replacement. OTOH, it may just be in the muscle... So the original planned 50 mile round trip turned into a 225 mile marathon. Whatever the outcome, we're cancelling the vacation trip to Gulf Shores AL in mid October.

Meanwhile life goes on. Grocery/beer trek this morning followed by the follow up visit to the orthopedic surgeon at 11:30, at least he's less than 2 miles from the grocery store. He should have the good/bad news options by then.

Thanks for the likes yesterday for the progress update; Tom O, Patrick, Christian, James, Hughie, Sherrel, Joe, Mikey, Rick, Tom.

Just a couple of slices of French Toast this morning Flo.

No time in the train shed yesterday since I didn't get home until after 9:00. Slept late this morning and I now have no time for an archive search, so no pictures today.

Steve J - Dang, I thought that my layout surface was the only one that looked like your picture yesterday! The first place that I look for tools is the last place that I used them!;) While I advocate replacing plastic couplers as soon as needed, I have always found that the trip pins are metal and should work with uncoupling magnets.
Hughie - I like the Hernando's Hideaway reference even though I didn't see the movie (The Pajama Game).

Since the conversation has continued to remain civil here regarding Covid, I will make a few more comments if I may.
First and foremost I do not begrudge anyone who does not get vaccinated due to medical reasons, but I don't believe that they are the ones who are spreading the virus. I am truly disappointed by some of the reasons given as to why some people haven't been vaccinated.
I totally disagree with mandates. The President's executive order just gives corporations cover to mandate vaccination. They still have to wait for a bureaucracy (OSHA) to come up with the rules. As many of us already know, that could take months or decades! Rules or no rules, many large companies are going forward.
Comparison to the flu is not a true comparison. The flu causes about 30,000-50,000 deaths a year in the US, Covid has already cost over 800,000 in 18 months.
A lot of the Covid numbers are suspect to begin with in my opinion. They have been and still are being manipulated by politicians and some in the medical field to their benefit. That doesn't mean that the overall numbers are too far off though. However why do we still count recoveries as cases?
Too many people are opening their mouths without true facts, Dr Fauci comes to mind. Who do we really trust any more??? The whole scenario has gotten way too politicized by both the past and present administrations. Politicians are speaking out of both sides of their mouths at the same time. Preach mask mandates and then hold fundraisers where no one has a mask! :confused:
I got both jabs in Jan-Feb this year after losing a 42 YO niece in November before vaccines were available. That's not the only reason, I am in four "at risk" groups and I also have grandchildren too young to be vaccinated. Even if it's not fatal to them, I don't want them to be unnecessarily ill. We don't really have any knowledge of any long term issues with the vaccines yet, but short term there doesn't appear to be any.
If we count the individuals who now have natural immunity from having had the virus along with those who have had the jab, I think that we are better off as a nation than we are being led to believe. I still advocate getting the vaccine if you are able. No sense in getting sick if it's something that can be avoided. At the same time, I believe it is a responsibility of all people to be cognizant of the effects on fellow citizens of not being vaccinated. Of course recently that is mainly affecting others who have made the same decision. Let's not endanger those who are not able to be vaccinated because of medical reasons.
Why is the President mandating vaccines for many Americans while ignoring the hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants who are overrunning our state down here???
Enough said.

Everybody have a great day.
 
With regards to Covid -- I've been trying to stay out of this.

The problem with the vaccine is we really don't know how much it helps. Now they say after 6 months the efficacy goes way down (at east in some cases). Israel, with about 80%+ vaccination rate, has hospitals overflowing and no more room in their hospitals -- all with Covid cases. Meanwhile Sweden, which has approximately the same population and case count etc as Israel, but has not mandated or pushed vaccination (they offer it for those who wish and are actually at 60%, but may have had a lot more cases of natural immunity due to lack of mask mandates, lockdowns, earlier in the covid cycle, and I suspect that many of the vaccinated had perviously had Covid in Sweden), are weathering their surges much better. You can go to https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ and look at (click on to get details) both Sweden and Israel. Israel deaths have spiked up. Sweden hasn't. Both have had increased case counts.

The problem is the demonization of the people who wish to not take the Covid vaccine. If the vaccine worked perfectly, like people were led to believe it does (get the jab -- stop the pandemic), then the vaccinated would not be at risk from the unvaccinated (and vice versa) since the vaccine would protect them. But that is obviously not working as a lot of the people in the hospitals now with Covid have been vaccinated (don't let the headlines that claim it is almost all unvaccinated only in the hospitals sway you -- I've seen several sets of data that shows the hospitalization rate is similar for both vaccinated and unvaccinated -- where the %-age of each in a hospital somewhat mirrors the population split -- hearsay reports by nurses making the headlines does not actually prove anything. I've also seen government health authorities admit we don't actually know as we don't have good data either way). Also, the "Covid deaths" numbers are suspect. It turns out a lot were "deaths with Covid", and not "deaths from Covid." It will probably take years of data research, number crunching, and analysis to get actual good data on what has happened.

There are a lot of hospitals where the medical staff have low vaccination rates (see news about hospitals closing due to mass resignations, or departments closing, etc). Why would the medical professionals not flock to the vaccine? There are well established scientists and doctors in the field who have come out and said that we have done the vaccination wrong -- that we should have focussed on the most vulnerable and not worried about the not-high-risk. We don't know the long term effects of mRNA (pfizer/moderna -- J&J is not mRNA based) vaccines but some scientists who were active in basic mRNA research (not specifically the covid vaccine) have voiced concerns about what they saw long term in animal testing of the basic technology.

We are told it is "safe and effective" yet the adverse reactions to the vaccine are much higher than normal/expected. And the efficacy is obviously not there with a lot of vaccinated in the hospitals and after 6 months the vaccine being a lot less effective per many sources. The fact is it normally takes years for a vaccine to go through all the trials and testing to get full approval. This one took a year approximately. I feel the approval was political. Which is why, after approval, we are seeing the problems with it that we see (low efficacy, high hospitalization rate fo Covid of the vaxxed, high adverse reaction rate including higher than normal death and permanent disability based on the vaccine), which normally would have been seen and caught before approval.

This is not a simple Black/White issue. People who choose not to get the Covid vaccine are not conspiracy theorists in general, and most of them, I bet, have all their other normal vaccines (they and their kids). This is not the same group as those who rail against all vaccines. They are people who don't trust the government, who don't want foreign substances without a good track record forced into their bodies, who are scared because of all the misinformation and contradictory information about the vaccines, etc.

(IN fact one of the largest groups of non Covid vaccinated are inner city minorities, which have a much lower rate -- Maybe Biden railing about "trump made vaccines" and his inability to trust them during the election plays a role in that).

All I know is that forcing people to get something against their will only lowers trust in government and the medical establishment. We, as a country (and world), will suffer much more and much longer from the forced mandates (vaccinations, masks, lockdowns) and the lack of trust in government and medical authority, than we will from Covid. Covid is or has become endemic. Our approach to Covid has not changed to match.
 
James, WIllie, and Chad. ... Thanks for taking time to post your thoughts about Covid. ....

My 2 cents ..... To vaccinate is a personal decision and should be made only with consultation with a good physician who is is familiar with all of your health issues. The doctor can advise about risks. Your decision is a private one, and it should not be based on what is in the internet, politics, and peer pressure. You should not be compelled to tell others about about your personal health decisions such as if you are vaccinated.

More my 2 cents. ..... I'm actually tired of hearing about Coivd, the vaccine, masks, etc..... I prefer other topics such as trains.

Paul ..... That's a large quantity of railroad scrap. I hear, RR scrap is valuable.

Steve J ..... Good to hear you are getting wiring done on your layout.

This is my new power supply with a very sophisticated controller. Works very well !

Christian ..... I see everything is up to date and state of the art in France !

Everybody ........ Have a good day .
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 68° here in North Central Texas. Once again the wind is gusting at 0 mph from the SE today, I'll do the burn trash early this morning. No change in the forecast, warm and dry for the next ten days, range 68°-92° until Tuesday night when a cool front arrives.

Yesterday was a busy day for us as I alluded to in a short post last night. Started off with a routine day after visit to the ophthalmologist who did my wife's cataract surgery Tuesday. Second eye is recovering faster than the first and all is well. However before we left the house, an ongoing swelling just under my wife's knee started oozing fluid. The swelling has been there about two weeks and she thought that it had something to do with scar tissue from her knee replacement surgery a while back. So while she was at the eye doctor, I called the orthopedic surgeons office and arranged to take her by after we were done. The nurse there was just going to take a look and re-bandage my crude attempt at medical practice. The doctor was in surgery all morning so I also set up a 1:20 appointment for the afternoon. We headed home after that. In the interim, she spoke to the doctor and described what she saw, and called us to come back immediately to pick up orders for a blood test at the lab in the hospital across the road from his office. By then we were less than five miles from home, but we turned around and went back since she indicated that it was urgent. Stopped back by his office and picked up the order and went over to the lab and experienced extreme hospital protocol, but we were done in 45 minutes time and headed back home since it was just over two hours until the appointment. Went home, ate lunch and I took a 25 minute nap. Returned to the appointment which lasted 90 minutes. He took a culture and sent us back to the lab to drop it off. No such thing! We had to wait until a lab technician could come out and take it from us. Another 30 minutes wasted. Meanwhile the doctor's office also set her up with a MRI appointment at a facility 30 miles away. It was the only one with an open slot yesterday. On the way there, another call from his office re-directed us to a different MRI facility, which was 4 miles further but was at least in the direction that we were already headed. We were there from 4:00 until 5:45. Then we headed back to Denton to pick up an antibiotic from the local Walgreens. Since my wife hadn't eaten all day, we treated ourselves to an expensive dinner at Outback. Bottom line is that there is an infection, and the MRI will tell whether it is in the bone or muscle. If it is in the muscle, it can be carved out by the orthopedic guy. If it is in the bone, a complete redo of the knee replacement by a "recovery specialist" will be needed. Her orthopedic guy has done them before, but would prefer that a specialist do it instead of him. So it looks likely that we might repeat what we went through with both of the original knee replacements once again. Downside is that they remove the old implant and you go totally immobile without a knee for 1-2 weeks while they manufacture a "custom" knee replacement. OTOH, it may just be in the muscle... So the original planned 50 mile round trip turned into a 225 mile marathon. Whatever the outcome, we're cancelling the vacation trip to Gulf Shores AL in mid October.

Meanwhile life goes on. Grocery/beer trek this morning followed by the follow up visit to the orthopedic surgeon at 11:30, at least he's less than 2 miles from the grocery store. He should have the good/bad news options by then.

Thanks for the likes yesterday for the progress update; Tom O, Patrick, Christian, James, Hughie, Sherrel, Joe, Mikey, Rick, Tom.

Just a couple of slices of French Toast this morning Flo.

No time in the train shed yesterday since I didn't get home until after 9:00. Slept late this morning and I now have no time for an archive search, so no pictures today.

Steve J - Dang, I thought that my layout surface was the only one that looked like your picture yesterday! The first place that I look for tools is the last place that I used them!;) While I advocate replacing plastic couplers as soon as needed, I have always found that the trip pins are metal and should work with uncoupling magnets.
Hughie - I like the Hernando's Hideaway reference even though I didn't see the movie (The Pajama Game).

Since the conversation has continued to remain civil here regarding Covid, I will make a few more comments if I may.
First and foremost I do not begrudge anyone who does not get vaccinated due to medical reasons, but I don't believe that they are the ones who are spreading the virus. I am truly disappointed by some of the reasons given as to why some people haven't been vaccinated.
I totally disagree with mandates. The President's executive order just gives corporations cover to mandate vaccination. They still have to wait for a bureaucracy (OSHA) to come up with the rules. As many of us already know, that could take months or decades! Rules or no rules, many large companies are going forward.
Comparison to the flu is not a true comparison. The flu causes about 30,000-50,000 deaths a year in the US, Covid has already cost over 800,000 in 18 months.
A lot of the Covid numbers are suspect to begin with in my opinion. They have been and still are being manipulated by politicians and some in the medical field to their benefit. That doesn't mean that the overall numbers are too far off though. However why do we still count recoveries as cases?
Too many people are opening their mouths without true facts, Dr Fauci comes to mind. Who do we really trust any more??? The whole scenario has gotten way too politicized by both the past and present administrations. Politicians are speaking out of both sides of their mouths at the same time. Preach mask mandates and then hold fundraisers where no one has a mask! :confused:
I got both jabs in Jan-Feb this year after losing a 42 YO niece in November before vaccines were available. That's not the only reason, I am in four "at risk" groups and I also have grandchildren too young to be vaccinated. Even if it's not fatal to them, I don't want them to be unnecessarily ill. We don't really have any knowledge of any long term issues with the vaccines yet, but short term there doesn't appear to be any.
If we count the individuals who now have natural immunity from having had the virus along with those who have had the jab, I think that we are better off as a nation than we are being led to believe. I still advocate getting the vaccine if you are able. No sense in getting sick if it's something that can be avoided. At the same time, I believe it is a responsibility of all people to be cognizant of the effects on fellow citizens of not being vaccinated. Of course recently that is mainly affecting others who have made the same decision. Let's not endanger those who are not able to be vaccinated because of medical reasons.
Why is the President mandating vaccines for many Americans while ignoring the hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants who are overrunning our state down here???
Enough said.

Everybody have a great day.
"Comparison to the flu is not a true comparison. The flu causes about 30,000-50,000 deaths a year in the US, Covid has already cost over 800,000 in 18 months."


Willie I agree with some of your sentiments here. BUT to make sure everyone understands that the Flu as in influenza is a virus as is the COVID-19. If you do a quick search for the difference between a flu and virus this comes up....


"Influenza (flu) and COVID-19 are both contagious respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different viruses. COVID-19 is caused by infection with a coronavirus first identified in 2019, and flu is caused by infection with influenza viruses." Jun 7, 2021

What are some of the similarities and differences between symptoms of COVID-19 and the flu?

Similarities:
For both COVID-19 and flu, 1 or more days can pass between when a person becomes infected and when he or she starts to experience illness symptoms.

Differences:
If a person has COVID-19, it could take them longer to experience symptoms than if they had flu.
Jun 7, 2021


As for the deaths these cases are very very confusing and the data of course is distorted due a number of reasons as you have mentioned. I went on the CDC site to see the statistics on all of the past influenzas etc. Very vague and generalized. I am not saying that COVID is not a dangerous virus I am just saying as we all know at this point the statistics are way off base thanks to our politicians and other folks.

What I mentioned in my earlier post that makes me so angry is Point #4 about how they manipulated the virus strains which now mutates and can be dormant for some time. This makes noooo sense. What was their objective and why were they doing this?

These are scary times for sure with this crap. Anyways I hope everyone here talks with their doctor to make the right decisions for them/their body. It is not something to take lightly. Stay healthy and safe everyone! Peace!
 
Yeah I’d rather talk trains (or at least RVs and trucks and the weather in Texas).

Covid has been in my mind a lot this week however as the company is I work for has now mandated vaccination, and my daughter also had an exposure at school by a stupid kid who came knowing they had symptoms and had been tested (without getting results yet).

not a lot to report on the house build this week. Tuesday I went to Lowe’s and bought 6 sheets 1/2” OSB and 6 sheets 1/2” sheathing ply (not sanded) to make my own mini bracing joists with to screw to the foam blocks and help keep them straight. Lowe’s told me they normally don’t cut this much but they cut al the OSB and 4 of the 6 ply sheets into 4” tall by 8’ strips for me and the other two ply into 16” strips that I can manage in my portable table saw. Have not yet tried to build the bracing as yesterday I was not feeling well in the morning and didn’t take a long lunch to go spend an hour or two working on it since I missed the day job morning hours to get some extra rest. We’ll see about today. Some day job emergency work has come up for a sensitive customer.
 
With regards to Covid -- I've been trying to stay out of this.

The problem with the vaccine is we really don't know how much it helps. Now they say after 6 months the efficacy goes way down (at east in some cases). Israel, with about 80%+ vaccination rate, has hospitals overflowing and no more room in their hospitals -- all with Covid cases. Meanwhile Sweden, which has approximately the same population and case count etc as Israel, but has not mandated or pushed vaccination (they offer it for those who wish and are actually at 60%, but may have had a lot more cases of natural immunity due to lack of mask mandates, lockdowns, earlier in the covid cycle, and I suspect that many of the vaccinated had perviously had Covid in Sweden), are weathering their surges much better. You can go to https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ and look at (click on to get details) both Sweden and Israel. Israel deaths have spiked up. Sweden hasn't. Both have had increased case counts.

The problem is the demonization of the people who wish to not take the Covid vaccine. If the vaccine worked perfectly, like people were led to believe it does (get the jab -- stop the pandemic), then the vaccinated would not be at risk from the unvaccinated (and vice versa) since the vaccine would protect them. But that is obviously not working as a lot of the people in the hospitals now with Covid have been vaccinated (don't let the headlines that claim it is almost all unvaccinated only in the hospitals sway you -- I've seen several sets of data that shows the hospitalization rate is similar for both vaccinated and unvaccinated -- where the %-age of each in a hospital somewhat mirrors the population split -- hearsay reports by nurses making the headlines does not actually prove anything. I've also seen government health authorities admit we don't actually know as we don't have good data either way). Also, the "Covid deaths" numbers are suspect. It turns out a lot were "deaths with Covid", and not "deaths from Covid." It will probably take years of data research, number crunching, and analysis to get actual good data on what has happened.

There are a lot of hospitals where the medical staff have low vaccination rates (see news about hospitals closing due to mass resignations, or departments closing, etc). Why would the medical professionals not flock to the vaccine? There are well established scientists and doctors in the field who have come out and said that we have done the vaccination wrong -- that we should have focussed on the most vulnerable and not worried about the not-high-risk. We don't know the long term effects of mRNA (pfizer/moderna -- J&J is not mRNA based) vaccines but some scientists who were active in basic mRNA research (not specifically the covid vaccine) have voiced concerns about what they saw long term in animal testing of the basic technology.

We are told it is "safe and effective" yet the adverse reactions to the vaccine are much higher than normal/expected. And the efficacy is obviously not there with a lot of vaccinated in the hospitals and after 6 months the vaccine being a lot less effective per many sources. The fact is it normally takes years for a vaccine to go through all the trials and testing to get full approval. This one took a year approximately. I feel the approval was political. Which is why, after approval, we are seeing the problems with it that we see (low efficacy, high hospitalization rate fo Covid of the vaxxed, high adverse reaction rate including higher than normal death and permanent disability based on the vaccine), which normally would have been seen and caught before approval.

This is not a simple Black/White issue. People who choose not to get the Covid vaccine are not conspiracy theorists in general, and most of them, I bet, have all their other normal vaccines (they and their kids). This is not the same group as those who rail against all vaccines. They are people who don't trust the government, who don't want foreign substances without a good track record forced into their bodies, who are scared because of all the misinformation and contradictory information about the vaccines, etc.

(IN fact one of the largest groups of non Covid vaccinated are inner city minorities, which have a much lower rate -- Maybe Biden railing about "trump made vaccines" and his inability to trust them during the election plays a role in that).

All I know is that forcing people to get something against their will only lowers trust in government and the medical establishment. We, as a country (and world), will suffer much more and much longer from the forced mandates (vaccinations, masks, lockdowns) and the lack of trust in government and medical authority, than we will from Covid. Covid is or has become endemic. Our approach to Covid has not changed to match.

Very well put. I want to mention that there are a lot of Hospitals that are experiencing medical staff not wanting to do the vaccines as well. With the mandate this will create a huge influx of problems. This is definitely a terrible crisis to have if our health care takers walk away from their positions. I do not blame them either. As you said the information is out there is jumbled and who do you trust and what of the vaccine differences and why are people still getting COVID when they have been vaccinated? The questions a numerous.

Thanks for you view point and thoughts Chadbag I appreciate critical thinking and reviewing other view points. You can learn a thing or two without creating conflict in the conversation. It's nice and civil. I also thank Willie too! ;)

Funny thing we all know it could be us or someone we know to get infected regardless of the decisions we make. Vaccinated or not you can still get it. Just stay safe and learn from one another......
 
Ya know I have been itching to go to a train show.....I miss going to the Big E in Amherst MA

I hope to go in 2022


The 2022 Show is on! (January 29th and 30th) Watch for our special video PREVIEW of "Who's Who," including where and how to find them, how to organize your trip, best places to stay, our shuttle service, clinics and more, all coming in early December!


I hope so!
 
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