Coffee Shop Part 10

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Afternoon, everyone,

Well, it's been a crummy week for me so far. We had three friends die since Sunday. One was the sister of the Dianna's best friend, who was matron of honor at our wedding. 57 years old with no known medical problems and just never woke up after going to bed. Next it was the daughter of people Dianna lived behind most of her live. She was 13 and just never woke up either. Dianna used to babysit her and I guess she was about the sweetest girl ever. Last was the husband of a woman from church. He was 37 and, unfortunately, an alcoholic. Went to some friends house to watch a boxing match, went to sleep, and never woke up. In this case, I suspect it was a case of an overdose of alcohol and pills. :( I've always heard the old saw that deaths come in threes and I sure hope that's the last of them for a long time.

As Rex, Eric, and CJ probably know, a funeral in the South isn't just a funeral. It's an event. There's visitation the night before, then the funeral, then we all go out to the cemetery for the graveside service, then we all go over to the church for food and sit around for about two hours visiting. A funeral pretty well shoots about two days and three funerals take up a whole week. I can tell you there's nothing more fun that standing around in 95 degree heat at the cemetery for an hour.

Sorry I haven't had time to read much in the Coffee Shop. I hope everyone is doing as well as they can. Some day, I may get a chance to get down to the layout and make sure someone hasn't stolen it.
 
vato loco said:
First Tropical Depression:
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/...n=5&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1
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Chris, it's Tropical Storm Alma now, likely to be Hurricane Alma by tonight. Unfotunately, we have a mission group in Honduras that's right in the path of the storm. My brother and sister in law are headed for Cancun Saturday and Alma could cause trble for them if it gets out into the Gulf of Campheche. I'm hoping it just dissipates inland and doesn't cause the usual mudslides and flash floods we see so often from hurricanes in Central America.
 


Jim my sincere condolences on the death of your friends. Gets scary when you think of the ages involved..... I shall keep you all in my prayers.

I'm off to do the concert.. Looks to a gerat one if the kids sing as good as they did today for practice!
 
Jim Thats about as bad as things can get, I'm very sorry to hear that sir, my condolences and thoughts are with you all.
 
Jim I can tell you there's nothing more fun that standing around in 95 degree heat at the cemetery for an hour.

At my Grandmothers funeral in Slema Ala about 5 years ago it was hot like you said. My car would not start when we got to the church, we jumped it and started to line up for the procession to the cemetery and we went ahead into the church, when we came out the car was running but it was really really hot inside. We rode with others to the cemetery and when we got back had to jump start it again and drove it down to the local GM dealership. H ecalled me on my cell phone about an hour later and told me the air compressor and the alternator both had died. So $1200 and one day later we were on the road home. My cousins husband told me we could take to a local guy and had it done for $800 to $900 but he recommended teh dealership for a warrenty. It did not matter much because we traded it off in about 4 months.
 
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

I can now officially relax for a couple days. The kids not only did as well as they did in practice today, they nailed it! Just about the best bunch of Middle Schoolers (6th., 7th. and 8th. graders) I have ever heard and better than any I taught in the 21 years I taught kids that age. The Jazz band accompanying them are all local folks (well within a 50 mile radius) that play professionally as Jazz performers and were they great. I'm talking some that play large venue major gigs and have cut several CDs that have sold very well nationally. Good reason for the kids to sing their best. The show opener with the 6th grade chorus was an arrangement of "Sir Duke". Absolutely Awesome! I was back at the board singing along.... "You can feel it all over......" Oh yeah! Everything came together and went well.

you might have noticed the adrenaline is still pumping....... Won't sleep much tonight, but who cares...

Hope you all have a good evening!
 
Thanks for the kind words, guys. Larry, I don't mean to laugh at your predicament but there's something abut the Alabama sun that will break any weak part on a car. I'm sure you were glad to get back to Indiana.

Ray, at least it sounds like things went well for you tonight. It's always a good feeling when all that planning comes together and everything works for once.

Alma never made it to hurricane status but came it ashore in Nicaragua as a strong tropical storm. It's supposed to turn northwest but it's still heading north, which will put the center within about 25 miles Catacamas, Honduras, where our mission is located and we have about ten teenagers down there now. No one has been able to get through to them so all I can hope is the locals know what's headed their way and the kids will stay in town and away from the hills and rivers since there's liable to be some pretty bad mudslides and flooding. :(

I see our outstanding moderators have done a good job of cleaning up after another unwelcome visitor. Good job, guys.
 
Jim I don't mean to laugh at your predicament but there's something abut the Alabama sun that will break any weak part on a car. I'm sure you were glad to get back to Indiana.
We laughed about it at the time and still do because everyone thinks my Grandmother had something to do with the problems. After she passed away two of my aunts were sitting in the kitchen at one of their houses talking about grandma and grandpa and a picture fell off of the wall behind them. The nail was still in the wall and the hanger still on the picture. As they and the Pastor were talking at the church about some of the arraignments for grandma with all of the windows closed and no one else around his office door slammed shut. The Pastor got all shuck up and ended the meeting very quickly. Grandma was telling them she did not want that done at her funeral, she wanted what she had requested and nothing extra. Oh and she was 98 yrs old when she died.
 
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Gooooooooooooood Morning From Dry Sunny Florida!

Weather:

8 AM 74 °F Fair Sunny and very mild.
2 PM 88 °F Fair Partly cloudy and hot. HIgh in the lower 90s.
10 PM 77 °F Clear Starry skies; mild and muggy.

Local News:

Gas prices fuel financial crisis
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/...n=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
"This is Getting STUPID!":mad:

Personal Note:

Yesterday, I checked my trucks(Chevy 2500HD) motor just before the long ride home and found a coolent very small leak:mad: I figured it just might be a hose. looked all over could find whih hose, so I took it to my mech. He put it under pressure and very very small amount of water looked to be coming from the water pump! I got's to leave the truck to day after work so they can look at it Saturday when it's cooled off.......Hope it's just a $10 seal:) and not the $80-$120 pump it's self:( ! O'well!:rolleyes: Up side, I start my one week vacation at 3:30pm this afternoon:D
 


Good morning.

It's 72 and clear at the present time. It will however become partly cloudy as the temp climbs to a high in the lower 90's.

I'll be helping my father take the old vinyl liner out of the pool today. The plan is to cut it up into sections so it can be easily hauled out.

Today's Weather for: Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 5/30/2008

Wind Chill: 69°F
Humidity: 84%
Dew Point: 64°F

So Far Today
High: 72°F
Low: 69°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 92 Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 90s. South winds up to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 68 Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 60s. South winds around 10 mph in the evening becoming light and variable.
 
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05-30-2008

Good Morning from Tipton IN ! :D

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We are paying the equivalent of $7.10 a gallon here in sunny Australia.

Our new PM Kevin Rudd, has proposed a scheme that will "save" 1-2c a litre on the total price. a saving of 50c-$1 a week, and this guy is supposedly about helping the battlers! :rolleyes:
The opposition (John Howards former party) are proposing a cut in the fuel excise tax of 5-10cpl which equates to a few dollars of savings.

At the moment we pay 39c fuel excise per litre, plus 40c for making the fuel, 3-5c for margins/profits and on top of that 10% GST on the entire price of the fuel. Ie, we get double taxed... :mad:

Funny you should mention car troubles. My gearbox in my car has been playing up, and had been slipping, fearing the worst i took it to an auto transmission specialist, and the found a fault with their diagnostic computer. The "Throttle position actuator" was faulty, and when at a certain point accellerating and braking there would be a "dead spot" on the chip causing the PCM to tell the gearbox the speed is at zero making the gearbox unsure of which gear to be in.

Cost? $150-$200. Much cheaper than a full transmission recon which is about $1900. :eek:
 
Good morning folks

It is 59 F right now. High will be 81 F.

I am home. The “Check Engine” light came on in the van last night so I will be heading down to the auto repair shop in a little while. Hopefully they will be able to fix it today. The light came on about two months ago and some oxygen sensors had to be replaced. My wife needs her car today so I have an unexpected day off.

No modeling last night. My daughter had her last Girl Scout meeting of the year.

Tonight is guitar lesson for my son. We have the bi-weekly grocery shopping torture to do this weekend.

I have some photos I would like to take of a boxcar that is visiting the layout. Also I may attempt to assemble another P2K Mather Stock Car. I have some cars to weather sitting on the workbench.

Deepest sympathies for you and the families.

I hope everybody has a good day.
 
Jim, my prayers for your family and the families of those who lost loved ones. It's always hard.

A friend of mine wrote a song once that may help. Here it is.



You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times
And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you
But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry
Is how long must I wait to be with you

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

Help me Lord cause I don't understand your ways
The reason why I wonder if I'll ever know
But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
Cause I'm still here so far away from home

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

In Christ, there are no goodbye
And in Christ, there is no end
So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again

And I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow

I've never been more homesick than now



Maybe that will help just a little.
 
Good Morning Everyone ! Looks like another nice day here on the Niagara Frontier. Going up to 71 and no rain . Have been a bit busy last couple days so have some catching up to do. Jim condolences to you and your friend's families. Dying is never easy to those left behind. Only hope that the Lord can give you all peace .Ray looks like you've been busy also . Hope that all your work pays off big time .James I think our gas prices will match yours also before long ! Well gotta make the wife's breakfast so hope all have a nice day !!!!!!!
 
Good morning, everyone.

Philip, thanks for the song lyrics. All very true.

Larry, I'm convinced that the dead sometimes do communicate in ways we don't understand. We were having the memorial service for my oldest son, Patrick, who was killed in a traffic accident. Boy, it will be 20 years ago this year...doesn't seem that long ago. Patrick had his "difficult" moments in life and I was describing one to the congregation when there was a huge clap of thunder. Now, we don't get thunderstorms very often in California, so it was a shock for everyone. I got the feeling Patrick was telling me he was still causing trouble, just somewhere else doing it now. :)

Sure sounds like the day for car troubles. Chris, I hope that water leak doesn't turn out to be a bad pump. James, that's the downside of all the computer control in cars now. You have something like your transmission functioning perfectly but the computer goes bad and it gets all wonky. Tom, the check engine light comes on in Dianna's Miata once every few months. Took it in once and the Mazda mechanic said the oxygen sensor was seeing moisture in the fuel line that really wasn't there, just the high humidity we have down here. The computer is programmed to reset after six starts with no fault codes and, sure enough, the light goes out after six starts. I don't worry about now unless the refuses to go out in a reasonable period of time. Number one daughter's Cavalier has developed a small oil leak somewhere and now you guys are making me nervous.

Jeffrey, take it easy with that pool liner. I had to help my dad take one of those out also and I couldn't believe how heavy that thing was and how much of it we had to drag six feet straight up the sides.

Gas prices are getting to be a real problem everywhere in the world. That's what will lead to a fall in gas prices at some point because demand is dropping so rapidly. Oil took a big dip yesterday and is starting to slide on the spot market again today. I think the long term trend is going to be down, not up, but it will be a while before we see it at the pumps. I guess I should feel lucky compared to most parts of the US and the world. I filled up yesterday for $3.70 per gallon for unleaded. My friends in California tell me they are paying $4.50. :eek:

What is now Tropical Depression Alma passes within about 25 miles of Catacamas, Honduras earlier this morning. The weather station at the airport is back on line after being off since about 6:00 pm yesterday so the power must be back on. It doesn't look the rain is as bad as feared so I'm hoping all our church members are OK although we haven't heard anything yet.

It's going to be another blazing hot day down here in the Heart of Dixie. The high yesterday was 98 and it looks like that's about what we can expect for at least the next four or five days. There's just enough instability in the atmosphere to set off afternoon thunderstorms but we are about the only area that hasn't had any. Our last rain was about two weeks ago and things are starting look dry again so we are all hoping for some rain.
 
UP2CSX said:
Jeffrey, take it easy with that pool liner. I had to help my dad take one of those out also and I couldn't believe how heavy that thing was and how much of it we had to drag six feet straight up the sides.
Click to expand...
Actually, we didn't have much of a prob;em with it. It had degraded so badly that it tore apart into big chunks. It was about as brittle as plastic that has been out in the sun for a long time.

My list of things to do today:

Get two new tires for the car.
Get aforementioned car inspected.
Renew driver's license.
Pay bills.
Get groceries.
Make trip to HJobby Lobby in Alexandria.
 
Jim just read your post . I don't know about gas prices falling to far . The oil companies always find something to keep them up. We're paying $4.08 a gallon right now. I live 11 miles from a Native American Reservation so you can get gas cheaper without paying the local or state taxes. But even they keep their's up to make bigger profits . Isn't free enterprise grand ? As long as you have shares in Oil !!! Jeffrey I'm sure glad my pool went down a few years ago. Too much upkeep and to short a swimming season . Seems like I just opened it up and it was time to winterize it .
 
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The wife made me laugh today,,, she said a pig was in our lane,, no ordinary pig the mother of all pigs, this bugger was about 7ft long and four ft tall and wide,,, phewwwweee,,, what a laugh that was, the guy next door pushed it down the road with his truck and locked it in the farmers front garden,,,he's gonne be happy to find his pig eating his flowers :) it may be bacon by morning
 
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