Coffee Shop Part VIII

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Philip, years ago I worked for a company that hired some Mennonites for a major carpentry job. Man, those fellows were hard workers and did excellent work. They were by far, some of the most kind people I have ever met.
 
Afternoon, all.
Mennonites are an amazing bunch of folks. They believe that part of their calling is to go and rebuild disaster areas. Athearn had a Mennonite Central Committee box car they issued years ago and I still have one. They used to have four boxcars spotted at different strategic points of the US and Canada loaded with building materials and tools. They use semi's now. In a major disaster, they show up and are completely self contained including food, water, and power. They go right to work clearing debris and helping people rebuild their homes. They work from dawn to dusk and never complain or seem to get tired. They stay for about two weeks to get the worst of things done and then move on. They accept no money for their work and they are about the nicest bunch of people I ever met. I've had the opportunity to work with them during several of California's semi-annual disasters and they had people's homes cleaned up and weather tight before FEMA had even started the paperwork. If there's a heaven, they are already there building the Pearly Gates. :) Phillip, I think you'll be impressed.

I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about driving in the snow or having to deal with ice storms, at least so far. Some of those poor folks in the Midwest won't get power back before Christmas. My little problems pale by comparison.

Without getting into things like Euro models and such, it looks like we may escape the worst of things down here. There's a weak front moving through today that is not very cold but just enough to scour out most of the tropical air. We may squeeze a few showers out of it but that's about it. The colder low on Saturday looks like it won't have enough instability to set of any severe storms but it also doesn't look lit has much rain. That means the moisture should be out of the area by the time the colder air arrives so the chance of snow or ice should be greatly diminished. I think the net effect is that I'll have to be wearing a jacket again by Sunday instead of wandering around in my shirt sleeves. :D
 


Second nativity play tonight, was fantastic as well, we even one first prize in the raffle which consisted of wine, jack daniels, cider, lager, chocolate and more chocolate, nice,,,
 
This came today for Matt's christmas present, got it from a gent in cyprus, it's an old model but has only sat on a display shelf most of it's life, the running gears like new underneath, it's a royal scot 4-6-0 loco with Walschaert's valve gear
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Good morning folks

It was 31 F and foggy this morning as I headed off to work. Luckily I did not encounter any icy roads but the traffic reports indicated that they were all around me. High today is supposed to be 46 F. For the weekend we are supposed to have a winter mess with snow, sleet, and rain. The weather idiots cannot agree on how much snow or rain.

I did not make here yesterday. I went on a field view to the Washington, DC area to take a look at several retractable median barrier installation on the beltways in Virginia. We are considering using them on several projects and since no one knew much about how they operated we needed to see them in the field. Going down wasn’t much of a problem but coming home we were in heavy rain from Baltimore to the Mason-Dixon Line. Along way in Chester County we saw evidence of the ice as the trees and grass were loaded with ice, but luckily not the roads.

No modeling last night. I was just too tired from all the driving.

This weekend is family Christmas pictures, grocery shopping (during another Bread and Milk Panic), and maybe some last minute Christmas shopping.

Modeling-wise I need to finish painting the railings on coil cars and then begin weathering them. On the layout there are details to add to the Farm House Area and begin some planning for the next section to be worked on.

I hope everybody has a good day.
 
Mornin' all!

Well, the weather guesser has changed his mind. He was saying snow this weekend to the tune of 4-6". Now he's upped that to 6-10". Now we're cookin'! We already have winter storm watches in effect, and it's not even supposed to start for another 24hrs.

It's all good though....I'll be holed up doing schoolwork this weekend.

So whats up with you today?
 
Good morning diners. Any way to get eggs benedict and a thermos of coffee?

I started packing away my train stuff last night. I was just going to do part of it, then finish later. Well, I started and couldn't stop. I have it torn down to the plywood and supports. The garbage man is going to be busy this week! I tried to package my supplies in a way that I could work out of a storage tub. When I continue modeling in the future, I want easy access to my old supplies.

We are about to embark on a mysterious adventure. I get to re-plan my life. Where we live, what we live in, what I do, what we spend money on. I even get to start my layout from scratch. There are so many possibilities, it's making my head spin. I can totally rethink how I want to build my big and miniature world. Scary yet exciting!

I hope everyone has a great day!
 


Mornin' Bill!

Mornin' Tom!

Mornin' Philip!

Mornin' Corey! You are going to do well with all these changes. You have a great attitude!

We are under the same Winter Storm Watch here in the Finger Lakes. We got about 5 inches of "partly Cloudy" yesterday. More snow should be arriving Saturday night and all day Sunday. Talking a foot or more. Four of the 6 people signed up to usher at church on Sunday live out in the country, so if it hits us I will be scrambling to find people to usher....... Fun!

Got to go run the snowblower and make a path out of my driveways. See you later!
 
Well, we just had to make an emergency run to the hospital. My wife was in an extreme amount of pain in the leg she recently had surgery on.

We called her surgeon and he met us there. we did the x-ray thing and it looks to him like one of the screws holding her bones in place has come loose a little and it's allowing the two bones it's pinning together to move and scrape against each other. It's not a lot of movement, but it's painful.

They gave her some pain meds thast are stronger then the percocet 10's that she's on now and they're scheduling another surgery for Tuesday.

For now they have her comfortable and immobile.

Just hate that she has to go through all of this pain. Wish I could do it for her!
 
Ray, there may not be anybody TO usher if it gets too bad!

LOL, you may be right. I can only remember once in the last 20 years that they actually canceled a Sunday service. I have seen Sundays when the Chior outnumbered the congregation though......

Philip, that is awful news for your wife. Sure hope they get things tightened up and she can begin to heal up from all this. Know that both of you are in my prayers!
 
Afternoon, all. It's sunny and down to only 72 here after our dry "cold" front went through last night.

Phillip, I'm sorry to hear about your wife and especially about her pain. Hopefully the pain pills will keep her comfortable until the surgery, Unfortunately, it's not unusual for a screw to come a little loose when a patient starts bearing weight. They only tighten them up so much because of the problem of promoting fractures if they are too tight. The good thing is that surgery should be relatively quick and painless. Small incision, a little adjustment, add some of that red Loctite that stops screws from coming out and she'll be done. Just kidding about the Loctite but they actually do use a form of medical grade super glue that should solve the problem.

Corey, this history of my life has been one amazing event after another, some of them good, some of them tragic, and none of them planned. Things will work out for you in ways you can't even understand now.

Steve, looks like you're joining all the rest of our northern friends with plenty of cold weather. Cute little girl who happened to wander into you photo. :)

Tom, all I can say is YUCK! I hope you have a better weekend after the bread and milk panic is over.

Ray, I have the feeling the only way you're going to get people to church is if you go and use the snowblower on all their driveways. Looks like you guys are really going to get a load of the white stuff.

Bit the bullet today and ordered 12 decoders from Tony's Train Exchange. This will bring 90% of my fleet up to DCC standards. Some will be easy to convert and some sound like they will be tough but I'll get a good chance to practice my soldering skills, that's for sure. I got all 12 for $210, about $18 each. A little more than if I went the cheapest route possible but the guys at Tony's really know their stuff. I talked to three different guys there and they are all model railroaders and have installed tons of decoders. If you get stuck, you can call them and they'll walk you through the install. Try that on e-bay. :) First time I've dealt with them, on the recommendation of a lot of fellows here, and they are both courteous and knowledgeable. Seems like a really good operation.
 
The weather MASTERS keep changing the forecast, Now 8 to 12 inches of that lovely white stuff by sunday evening. Winds wikk be in the 30MPH tomorrow wioth 20MPH for sunday with gusts to 40MPH. Looks like all of our Christmas parties scheduled for Sunday will be canceled or the vey least dated. I know the family one is already been delayed and the work one is up in the air. I may not even stay at work all day tomorrow if it gets as bad as the forecasters are saying. Sure do hope they are way off on this one. There is no milk or bread in the stores the idiots have went all out crazy as usual. They buy enough stuff to last a month and the snow will be gone or at least we will get out in a day or two. Oh well I just hope my wife found us a gallon of milk to tide us over.
 
Good News! The Winter Storm Watch for this area has been discontinued!

Bad News! It has been upgraded to a major Warning. Talking 16 to 20 inches of snow and lots of wind to pile it up real high. I am supposed to do another recording in Honeoye on Monday......... Oh well, I'll role with the punches and do what I can. Might have to spend a lot of time getting my Christmas Cards done and in the mail instead of playing with my recording equipment....

This song keeps running through my head tonight:

"Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me"

My Holiday Shirt arrived today from Despair.com. On the front it says, Twas the Night Before Christmas. On the back is a picture of Santa and the Sleigh being sucked into a Jet Engine........ But the best was the invoice that came with it. On the invoice in big letters it says: INSPECTED BY: and directly underneath that in childish scribbling is written: billy thompson, i am 6. I laughed so hard I almost had to change my clothes! They claim it wasn't made in China..............:eek: ;) :D
 
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Phillip, I'm sorry to hear about your wife and especially about her pain. Hopefully the pain pills will keep her comfortable until the surgery, Unfortunately, it's not unusual for a screw to come a little loose when a patient starts bearing weight. They only tighten them up so much because of the problem of promoting fractures if they are too tight. The good thing is that surgery should be relatively quick and painless. Small incision, a little adjustment, add some of that red Loctite that stops screws from coming out and she'll be done. Just kidding about the Loctite but they actually do use a form of medical grade super glue that should solve the problem.

Sounds like you've been down this road before Jim. Thats almost word for word what the doc said.
 


I'm at my parents place this weekend, and its dipping down to 7 degrees at night. Gotta plug in the block heater to keep my car from going to the great scrap yard in the sky.
 
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