Coffee Shop Number 16

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Good morning.

It's 65 and cloudy. The high should be in the mid 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

Yesterdays layout work involved changing out a few lights and shuffling some structures around. The Lakeside Shipping building and Albert's barber shop are now where the American foundry used to be (near the north engine house). The American foundry and the Ace Hardware store are now where the Midtown Consolidators used to be (between the service spur and the park. The Midtown Consolidators building was cut in half and the front half mounted against the backdrop where Albert's barber shop and Ace hardware used to be. The building which will someday be PAK-a-Pig BBQ has been moved. It's now between Ezra's service station and the south engine house. The Freezee ice cream stand has been moved from behind the Shell station and now faces the southeast corner of the park. There were too many complaints about kids crossing the engine house spur between the park and the Shell station to get ice cream. Is everybody thoroughly confused now?

Today High: 85 Partly cloudy early in the morning then becoming mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight Low: 65 Mostly clear early in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 60s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm18/forum-2/P4230172.jpg
 
A tall strong one, Flo .

Larry, I'm diabetic myself. Thankfully pills, exercise and diet keep it under control. Daily things like stress, pain and such make the blod sugar go WHACKO. It can fluctuate either way, higher or lower. Having chronic back pain here has my blood sugar elevated on the bad days. Also, I am a BIG eater. I have to eat smaller meals more often to help regulate the diabetes. Not normal for me. The winter also sees my A1c climb. It will test lower in the summer months as will my daily tests.

I have learned to read my body's messages too. I get "shaky", time to eat. If I'm tired, the blood sugar is too high. Sure did change my lifestyle and eating habits. Also made me more aware of what my body was tellingme. I used to think I was Superman. A bit of machismo from my younger days. I had to realize that I was 56 and not 26.

Remember to get plenty of rest. That is one of the more important things, too. The body needs time to rebuild itself.

As far as dealing with stress, my best advice is the "Serenity Prayer". And remember, they may be able to kill you, but they can't eat you. That's against the rules.

Plans for the day include a bit of scenery work, painting and assembling some structures for the nursing home's layout. I need to find someplace that sells Dull Coat. I'm out. We have no hobby shops close by. I may take a trip to a craft shop and see what mischief I can find. I also need to put the finishing touches on the yard. I was looking at the module this morning and it needs a touch more "green".

I've thought about adding some "chain link fencing" to the scene. I've got GOBS of tulle. I will need to figure out what to use for fence posts. I have an inordinate amount of plastic sprue. I will probably use them, "carved down", of course, for the posts.

Well, lunch is on the table and the tapeworm is gnashing his teeth. Gotta go for now.

Bob
 


A tall strong one, Flo .

Larry, I'm diabetic myself. Thankfully pills, exercise and diet keep it under control. Daily things like stress, pain and such make the blod sugar go WHACKO. It can fluctuate either way, higher or lower. Having chronic back pain here has my blood sugar elevated on the bad days. Also, I am a BIG eater. I have to eat smaller meals more often to help regulate the diabetes. Not normal for me. The winter also sees my A1c climb. It will test lower in the summer months as will my daily tests.
How well I know about all that. I'm on insulin AND pills. My diabetes got so bad it messed up my bones in my feet. I'm still having problems with that. Don't ever think you can get away with having a little sugary treat on the side.
 
"Don't ever think you can get away with having a little sugary treat on the side" My sweet treats are usually sugar free pie's and cookies. I will splurge once in a great while and get ice cream but not as often as in the past. My wife will buy cookies and candy and I really have to try very very very hard to stay out of the cookies. Twenty years ago I would not eat sweets except at Thanksgiving and Christmas and then not that many but also during that period I did like my beer. I still love the flavor of beer but rarely drink one unless it is Killians Red my all time favorite. I only know of one place that has it on tap around here and that is the Knights of Columbus. I hardly ever get up there anymore which is a good thing in more ways than one. LOL LOL
 
Afternoon, everyone.

Corey, nothing like those big weeks to replenish the old bank account. Your river doesn't have to be deep to look good. About 1/8 of an inch is all you need. For a muddy river, you actually need mostly black paint with some muddy brown feathered in up towards the banks and a few shallows. One trick I've learned is to take some Saran wrap and stretch it over the riverbed and keep it tight with a couple of push pins. Gives you an idea if your coloring is going to work before you pour.

BOC, your nolix idea might work with the blobs and enough loops. It would be a heck of a lot easier if you could lower the rise by even a few inches.

Larry, there's an old but true saying that some money costs too much. Any job that's having the bad effects on your health like your former job is a good one to leave. Even with this crummy economy, there are still jobs out there so just keep your chin up.

If y'all want heat, head down here. It's 90 degrees right now and it looks like summer is about to begin. I talked to one of the meteorologists at the Birmingham NWS office today about that squall line that developed out of nowhere last night. He thought it was a wave traveling in the upper atmosphere that managed to mix down to the surface and set off convection. It also caused the most long lasting period of thermal ducting I've ever heard. I was able to monitor the Atlanta PD trunked system here in Prattville, about 200 air miles away. This lasted from about 1:00 am until 3:30 am and was apparently related to the effects of this same wave. None of the models picked this up and the met was at a loss to explain it. Makes me suspicious about the idea we really understand global climate change when we don't understand how one line of thunderstorms can form where there should be clear skies.
 
there's an old but true saying that some money costs too much. Any job that's having the bad effects on your health like your former job is a good one to leave.
I'll second that! Every time I go back to work at the wood shop I land in the hospital. That's happened three times in the last couple of years, two of those with bad infections. If they think I'm going back there again they better think again. My health and safety come first!
 
That job and health safety thing go hand in hand. My family owns and operates a business. We produce and sell a polyurethane concrete repair material (best in the world ;) ). We have had to probably get rid of 4-5 people in the last few years because of health reasons. We had a guy who's throat basically closed up on him, after months of working there. After that, one rash or problem, and they are done. No taking risks. Plus, insurance hates it!
 
Dan will your polyurethane concrete repair material work on an outside porch that is delaminating. This concrete was poured in 1984 or 85 and the surface started to pop about 5 years ago. I bought some type of stuff online for $100 that was supposed to stop it but it did not. I do not have the money to reconcrete this 8 X 24 foot porch and have been looking for some kind of an answer that I can do myself.
 


Dan will your polyurethane concrete repair material work on an outside porch that is delaminating. This concrete was poured in 1984 or 85 and the surface started to pop about 5 years ago. I bought some type of stuff online for $100 that was supposed to stop it but it did not. I do not have the money to reconcrete this 8 X 24 foot porch and have been looking for some kind of an answer that I can do myself.

It might work. Problem is we don't sell retail. Trained contractors only:(

Generally outdoor concrete has problems getting repaired. We have used our stuff around our own houses with varying success. Outdoor slabs like sidewalks tend to move a LOT, generally because of poor work before the pour. No amount of repair will fix the problem, as it will just crack somewhere else. I have a slab I fixed here, and it cracked an inch over because the concrete still wanted to flex.
 
Larry: The problem you're having with your concrete is called spalling. That's when the concrete seems to break apart in thin layers. The most common cause is being rewetted in the mold when it's nearly cured or too much sand in the mix. Usually the only remedy is to pull it up and do it over. You might get lucky though.
 
Good Evening people.

I'm doing this with 'Spring' curled up between my arms via the peck method.

Jim I've got enough space in that room that I might just be able to pull it off. As for dropping the height I've got the first level such that, in theory, I can drop to 11" and still have space to maneuvre.

Anyhooo--back to the trainroom and do some thinking here-----:eek::eek:
 
A tall strong one, Flo .

Larry, I'm diabetic myself. Thankfully pills, exercise and diet keep it under control.

Count me in on that group too! My little one touch meter goes bonkers if I even look at a jelly bean! :eek:

On the hobby side, we are mourning tonight :( My Hotwire Foam Factory foam cutter bit the dust this afternoon. Evidently, they run on smoke, cuz it quit right about the same time that all the smoke came out of it. :eek: Poor thing got so hot it melted the solder on the terminals that feed the tool and slightly distorted the back of the case. Its all melty and stinky inside!
Looks like I'll be finishing up with a hacksaw blade and a Surform rasp, with the shop vac running the whole time!
 
... My Hotwire Foam Factory foam cutter bit the dust this afternoon. ... Looks like I'll be finishing up with a hacksaw blade and a Surform rasp, ...

Karl - your welcome to borrow my Hotwire foam knife if you don't mind driving to Woodstock, I can leave it outside by the trainroom door (of course you know where that is! :D ) I also have the Woodland Scenics "slingshot" foam slicer if you think that would be of any use. Let me know...

. . .

I'd been hoping to finish up my drugstore model tonight and photograph it for WPF, but that's not gonna happen; I've been immobilized by a stomach ailment, probably stress-related. So trying to rush it to completion probably wouldn't be wise from a health standpoint.
 
Larry: The problem you're having with your concrete is called spalling. That's when the concrete seems to break apart in thin layers. The most common cause is being rewetted in the mold when it's nearly cured or too much sand in the mix. Usually the only remedy is to pull it up and do it over. You might get lucky though.

Actually, in Indiana, the spalling is caused by freeze-thaw. Sometimes too much lime as the concrete ages and the moisture removed or weeps up through the 'crete.

"Capping" the patio is not an easy task. One must clean and etch the existing layer before applying the "cap".

Bob
 
Karl - your welcome to borrow my Hotwire foam knife if you don't mind driving to Woodstock, I can leave it outside by the trainroom door (of course you know where that is! :D ) I also have the Woodland Scenics "slingshot" foam slicer if you think that would be of any use. Let me know...
.

Ken
Thanks for the offer. Tomorrow is shot, gotta take my parents to a few MD appts. Maybe Saturday if I can find a few yard sales in the area....my co-pilot demands a reason other than "play time" for me to get away on the weekend. I'll keep it in mind.
This would be different though....trying to find your house in daylight!!!:rolleyes:

Take care of that tummy! Flo might think it was something she did!
 
Ken
Thanks for the offer. ... Maybe Saturday if I can find a few yard sales in the area.....This would be different though....trying to find your house in daylight!!!:rolleyes:
OK, as long as the NWS isn't predicting rain, I can set 'em out there in case you do manage to find your way here. BTW I got my grass mowed so now you can see my house from the road!


On the G.I. front, the Pepto-Bismol caplets I swallowed seem to have done the trick. I still might use a 'sick' day on Friday anyhow...
 
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Actually, in Indiana, the spalling is caused by freeze-thaw. Sometimes too much lime as the concrete ages and the moisture removed or weeps up through the 'crete.

"Capping" the patio is not an easy task. One must clean and etch the existing layer before applying the "cap".

Bob

With the stuff we make, all you really need to do is make sure the spall or crack is clean. The stuff will penetrate right through the concrete and hold together. Pretty neat how it works.
 


Evening, everyone.

BOC, anything you can do to lower that second level is going to make it a lot easier to do a nolix to get up there. As long as you've got the space to make the loops to equal the run you need to keep the grade down to 2%, it will work but it takes up a lot of real estate.

Larry, I've used a #M Urethane repair product like the one at http://www.tapecase.com/p.193.44/3m-6702-1-3m-self-leveling-urethane-repair-kit-fast-set.aspx with some success with spalling concrete. It's not cheap and, depending on how poorly the original concrete was laid, the spalling is likely to start again after five years or so. Dan knows way more about this stuff than me but the 3M product seems to do a quick and dirty repair job that might last a while. Like Dan said though, concrete that starts moving around usually keeps it up for as long as it remains in place.

Ken, hope that stomach bug isn't too bad. I hate those kind of ailments.

Karl, I'm surprised at the number of diabetics here. I wonder what the relationship between model railroading and diabetes is? Maybe we spend not enough time exercising and keeping our weight down and too much time pigging out on sweet stuff while we work. :confused: All the hot knives I've had seem to end thier lives in a puff of smoke. I finally decided it was easier to build most of my landforms on the workbench so I didn't get debris all over the layout. A steak knife and rasp do fine there and it's a lot easier to clean up the workbench with the shop vac than the whole layout.

Beautiful clear and warm evening. Still getting that strange thermal ducting but this time I'm getting fire department traffic from Forth Walton Beach, Florida. More storms formed over in Georgia earlier this evening, which I assume is responsible for this phenomena. The storms have now died out and I'm no longer getting the Florida stations.
 
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