Coffee Shoppe XXVIII

[tompm]

Good morning folks

It was 77 F on the way into the office this morning. High today will be 93 F with a Heat Advisory and Air Quality Alert. It looks it will be in the nineties through at least Tuesday.

We had a quiet night. Since my wife picked up my daughter from volleyball camp yesterday afternoon I had some time to just relax. I did some scout related stuff last night to get the Pack ready for the coming year and helped my daughter with a couple of responses to some coaches emails.

I did wonder down the basement and look over the layout and workbench. Somehow things down there are in disarray. Many things are out of place so I am going to have put them in their proper place before I can get back to modeling.

This weekend we are doing a campus tour at local Division I school. We are looking at this as a practice for future visits. We are hoping to get out and see the new Harry Potter movie sometime this weekend.

I hope everybody has a good day.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning (matter of opinion). It's 77 and cloudy. The high will be 91 and there's a 50% chance of rain today.

We got a little over four inches of rain in two hours yesterday. Now while I like rain I don't like the way I usually feel on rainy days and yesterday was no exception. Usually on rainy days I'll have some stiffness in the joints and minor aches in bones that were fractured or broken at some point in the past. Ordinarily it's just minor discomfort. But yesterday was a record breaker! My ankles and knees hurt so bad it was agonizing just to stand still or leaning against something. Sitting down didn't help much either as my neck, back and arms felt like they'd been thrown into a fire. I couldn't even get online much yesterday due to near constant cable internet outages. Finally around 5:30 or 6 pm I took some pain killers and went to bed. I'm not feeling good today but at least I don't have the intense pain I had yesterday.

 

[Steve B]

Patric You may have to get a custom made turnout for the junction unless you can move it to make it less severe.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Well there's no doubt that we're getting more heavy rain today. I don't even have to look outside to see what the cloud cover is like. I can hear the rain pouring down on the roof and my satellite reception is blacked out. The latter happens only in very heavy cloud cover or heavy cloud cover and rain or some dumb jerk has stopped his RV in front of the dish.

 

[Steve B]

how you feeling today Jeffrey

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

how you feeling today Jeffrey

Still feeling a little weak and stiff but I don't have all that pain I had yesterday.

 

[vato loco]

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

thank you bill fer the Eye candy! now i got's to brush my eye's!

 

[AndrewC]

We got a little over four inches of rain in two hours yesterday. Now while I like rain I don't like the way I usually feel on rainy days and yesterday was no exception. Usually on rainy days I'll have some stiffness in the joints and minor aches in bones that were fractured or broken at some point in the past.

Jeffrey, have you tried running your A/C on low when its raining? I find it takes out just enough humidity to lessen some of the aches and pains. Both my ankles act as perfect rain detectors. (what kind of muppet moves from one of the driest places to one of the wettest? D'oh.)

 

[Steve B]

Take it easy Jeff, i'm aching today from the last weeks work, been felling tree's, laying paving stones, riding to work on the bike, it's OK going as it's all down hill but coming home it's all up hill, get's you puffing and panting a bit.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeffrey, have you tried running your A/C on low when its raining? I find it takes out just enough humidity to lessen some of the aches and pains. Both my ankles act as perfect rain detectors. (what kind of muppet moves from one of the driest places to one of the wettest? D'oh.)

My AC is on low setting and energy saver all the time. Temp is set at 71. My right ankle (what's left of it), knees and neck frequently start aching when rain comes around.

Take it easy Jeff, i'm aching today from the last weeks work, been felling tree's, laying paving stones, riding to work on the bike, it's OK going as it's all down hill but coming home it's all up hill, get's you puffing and panting a bit.

Riding a bike is something I haven't been able to do for nearly 10 years. It's even difficult to handle a motorcycle any more.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 80 and partly cloudy. The high will be 94 and there's a 30% chance of thunderstorms this afternoon.

I had a couple of slices of a Pizza Hut pizza for lunch yesterday. I should have left it alone but I love pizza so much. It wasn't long before my reaction to tomatoes reared it's head and I was having to make frequent trips to the throne room for quite a while. I'm still receiving the occasional complaint this morning. I must learn to leave things with tomato or tomato paste alone. It's not the only food item I have problems with. I've had to avoid things like bananas, cherries, avocados for many years. There are others on that list but they bother me to a lesser degree and I can usually tolerate them.

For those with weak stomachs stop reading now.

Some of those are:
Apricots
Chard
Eggplant
Crimini mushrooms
Halibut
Radishes
Plantains
Artichoke
Acorn squash

The ones that cause me the most trouble:
Tomatoes and tomato products (keeps me on the throne)
*Avocado (bad cramps)
*Bananas (usually results in trip to ER)
*Dates (you don't want to know)
*Cherries (rash, cramps)
Wheat bread (blows my blood sugar through the roof)
Cottage cheese (cramps)
Oatmeal bread (I'd rather not say)
Beets (cramps)

* = Avoid at all costs

The docs have never been able to figure it out.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q186/forum-1/P1010012-4.jpg

 

[vato loco]

Good Sunday Morning Everyone!

I haven't been myself lately, kinda depressed. I try to put on a ( ) for everyone but those real close to me are worried as I'am. I've been so broke I couldn't afford to rub two nickles together in hopes to breed some extra change. Child support/IRS has started taking 50% of my B.Lowe's income, which will leave me homeless soon if they don't stop. I informed the EX if she doesn't go to the Child Support office and fix it she will be hit owing over $40k and nothing to show fer it! If I try to fight it on my own it will cost me $800 in court cost, but fer her it free! Just go to the office explain what the deal is and it's fixed! Florida is a 50/50 state and half of what we owe too and we go before the Judge finally next Friday. The Ex and I have worked out the custody OK, but the twin Mortgages and the finacial mess my EX is having a hard time understanding. And Getting her to get her ass moving on it is the problem. So either way I have been over stressed and depressed.

Either way early this morning went into the train room and ran my trains while trying to enjoy a cup of coffee. It helped some Have to work tonight 5pm-9pm at B.Lowe's! Well I got to get some errands done see ya!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Hope you get the problems worked out Chris. I know what it's like to be flat broke. Many times I don't have two pennies to rub together.


Good morning. It's 76° and sunny. The high will be 98° and there's a 30% chance of rain this afternoon.

Nothing in particular on the schedule today. I may get some layout work done later today. Any bets on if I get it done without interruption? Seems like anytime I get in the middle of something or I'm performing an assembly that can't be stopped until finished someone has the itch to call or come knocking. Fortunately there's no critical steps or complex assemblies to be done but someone will probably decide that I need to be doing this or that for them. Any work on the layout will likely be general cleanup. It's surprising how fast clutter can build up.

 

[Dollie's Dad]

Chris, I'm sorry to hear about your money problems. Looking back, I guess I've done something right. I'll be married 50 years in January, so I don't expect I'll ever have to deal with marital issues. Also, we don't have children, so we avoided that expense.

I do know that the courts are biased pretty much against the husbands/fathers these days. At some level, I suppose that's fair, but not completely so. The wives gets a lot of sympathy they don't always deserve.

On a happier note, my brother-in-law lives in London, UK, and he's there for an indeterminate amount of time. I guess he got lonesome, so he gave us tickets to fly over there later this month. We'll be there about 3 weeks, and we're looking forward to it a great deal. This came up very suddenly, and we have about 2 weeks to do 2 months of work before we leave. I don't expect I'll have much time for model railroading till after Labor Day. Oh well. It's a good problem to have.

 

[bnsf971]

Good evening.
We are back, with only two more or less minor incidents to report on. First, one of the remaining 3 tires I bought new for the trailer a couple of years ago let go in Pennsylvania. Both tires on that side of the trailer have now been replaced twice in a couple of years. I wouldn't gripe if they were old, used, or El Cheapo tires, but these are top of the line stuff, and I (and most of the people I know that have RVs) can't get them to last without disintegrating. I caught the tire going bad before it caused a bunch of damage from the steel belts flailing around at 65mph. When e got where we were going, I found out the campground has not been improved at all in the 30+ years since the last time I was there. There is electricity, but no water, and of course no sewer hookups if you have no water. There was no wifi (not that i really expected it), there are no broadcast television stations within 50 miles of the place, and the nearest cell tower is 40 miles away. I've been in the middle of the desert and gotten a cell signal, but the mountains block any reception of almost everything. Of course, this weekend was some kind of kid's camp there, so there was what seemed like a thousand screaming 8 year olds running amuck.
The party went as planned, and everyone had a great time.
Then we got home, and like a moron I didn't check the moisture content of the back yard before I tried backing the trailer onto it. It seems it rained several inches the last several days. The trailer is now sunk up to its axles in mud, and I got the truck stuck trying to get it out. So, right now, the trailer, the truck, and me are all liberally coated with red mud. I got the truck out, the trailer is sitting right where it is until the yard dries out, then I'll move it.
I'm going to go fill the bathtub with mud now--I mean, a shower! Yeah! I'm going to take a shower...

 

[Littlefoot14]

Chris- Sorry to hear about the troubles. Hope things work out for you. I hate when im broke, and i dont even have the stress of paying the bills! Sometimes i wonder how adults do it, and then i think how glad i am that ive got a few more years until i have to deal with anything like that.

Jeff- Sounds like your getting to feelin better, good to hear. Keep posting those pictures, they look great!

Terry- I can relate to the "dark side" of travel trailers, weve only owned one for a few years and weve already had a few trips/campgrounds from hell . Seems like everyone else weve talked to has a few battle stories to tell of Ma and Pa campgrounds gone wrong . The last campground we went to advertised as full hookups. We got there and didnt have enough juice to run the electricty. We could either run the AC or an appliance, and god forbid someone tried to microwave something. If you were lucky it would get luke warm. Coming back we had a bit of a moment with the camper too. We were traveling back with another family when their truck ran out of gas. Not quite the same as a blown tire, but they were towing a travel trailer too. The cops just laughed at us as we had to drive down an exit, grab a gas can and gas, and then drive back up the northway with the trailer. My dad was going to park our camper at my grandparents last winter instead of next to the garage. He was worried about snow and ice falling off of the eaves and damaging the siding. The only reason he didnt was to avoid the same thing that happened to you, and ours is only like 4200lbs dry. Around here the ground doesnt dry out til the end of April, and it could be mid-May if your property has clay, so it sat by the garage

Tom- Enjoy your trip across the pond! Last minute trips can be lots of fun, ive had a few and theyre been a blast.

Went to camp this weekend. Great weather all weekend, a bit chilly in the early evenings though. Me and my buddy fished every night. The bears really need to move on. Where we were fishing on friday night is a dam with a bridge over it. On the one side of the bridge is an open area maybe 30yds long where we park the four wheelers. The other side is a goat path of a trail, its a footpath at best. Anyways, i stepped across the bridge to relieve myself when i hear a "huffing" sounds. 75ft up the freaking trail is a bear! Ive been fishing there for 2 years and never had a problem. I did fine with it, backed around the corner and onto the bridge and told my buddy. He heard it huffing too. We crossed the bridge and sat on the wheelers to deliberate for a moment. At the closest time it was probably 15ft off the bridge, meaning it was probably 40ft from where we were talking. I was about to yell "Go away bear!" but didnt, there were kayakers and a rowboat out on the same body of water, and they were staying at the cabins 300yds down the lake. If they hadnt of been there i wouldve yelled and thrown some rocks, but i didnt know how they would react. The last thing we wouldve needed and some jackwagon from New Jersey to grab his flashlight and his kids and go look for the bear. As far as me and my buddy were concerned, well let the bear be, the bear will let us be, and the city folk can stay completely oblivious to the whole thing.

*Rant*

I know exactly why the bear was there. A few thousand feet through the woods is/was a bear bait station that someone set up. Someone found it and reported it a few years ago while hunting, and apparently it was never removed or it was put right back. Baiting in NY is illegal. Very illegal. Not a slap on the wrist kind of punishment either. The idea that some assclown would set up something like this a few thousand feet from some rental cabins that are routinely used by people who are right at home in a high rise office building is completely and utterly irresponsible. The idea of someone breaking the law to harvest an animal is bad enough, but to do it where someone could really get hurt is simply disgraceful. The worst part is, they arent endangering themselves, theyre endangering the families who stay nearby, many of whom have little kids, not to mention that theyre endangering the bears. Bears are animals of oppurtinity by nature, if they smell something good theyre going to check it out. Taking advantage of their natural instincts is extremely unethical. Hunting is a privilidge, and it needs to be treated and respected in such as way as to uphold and perform the sport in the most honorable of ways. A privilidge is not something that can be taken for granted, thats how you lose it. Hunting is also a sport, meaning you can either play by the rules or sit the bench, but dont do assinine things that could potentially kill someone.

Rant over.

Ive got some more to share but ill do it tommorow, have a nice night.

 

[tompm]

Good morning folks

It was 80 F as I left the house this morning. Humidity seemed to be down. I wonder if that will change. High today will be 93 F with a chance of thunderstorms and we are under an Air Quality Alert.

I dropped my daughter off at her last volleyball camp of the summer. It is right around the corner from work. This camp is run by one of the club teams she wants to try out for this coming club season.

We saw the last Harry Potter movie yesterday and were somewhat underwhelmed. To us the series kind of ended with a movie that the plot seemed rushed and predictable. None of has read the book so we did not really know what to expect.

The kids are getting a little antsy now. My daughter can’t wait until high school volleyball practice starts on the 15th. My son is even beginning to talk about the upcoming middle school football season.

Nothing happening in the way of modeling. I need to get over the inertia and star straightening up the basement so I can get to things.

I hope everybody has a good day.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's very foggy and 66 here.
Matt, I was very surprised about the lack of upgrades to the campground, since it's owned by the state of Pennsylvania. Had I known it was "frozen in time", I would have stayed at the Corps of Engineers campground on the other side of the mountain. Full electric, water, sewer, cable, and wifi, for the same price we paid for electrified primitive camping.
This is the time of year they have their "swim camp", where they teach kids to swim at the beach. I learned to swim there. For some reason, I forgot this until the screaming hordes showed up. It all came back to me then...
Later today, if the weather doesn't rain on us again, I'll try pulling the trailer back out of the yard, and park it in the driveway. If it works, I have some mean ruts to fill in. If not, I'll have a couple more holes to fill...

When I was up in the area, I stopped by English's Model Railroad supply. I picked up a custom painted Kato SD45, in WC, along with a new Bowser ALCo C630, painted and lettered for Conrail. So far, the big ALCo performs and looks very good,, and came equipped with a factory sound decoder. I haven't even had the SD45 out of the box yet, other than to look at the parts sheet and make sure it has an 8 pin DCC plug.

 

[tompm]

Good morning. It's very foggy and 66 here.
Matt, I was very surprised about the lack of upgrades to the campground, since it's owned by the state of Pennsylvania. Had I known it was "frozen in time", I would have stayed at the Corps of Engineers campground on the other side of the mountain. Full electric, water, sewer, cable, and wifi, for the same price we paid for electrified primitive camping.

You are lucky the campground was even open. The past administration cut DCNR’s budget so much that many of the parks now share rangers. None of the campgrounds are open in the winter which has made it tough for my son’s Boy Scout troop to go camping. We have to go out of state or to a more distant Boy Scout owned campground. We took our Cub Scouts camping to a state park in Lancaster County and over the new two days we were there we did not see any rangers or maintenance folks. Lucky thing we brought extra toilet paper.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 81° and sunny. The high will be 100° but will feel like 113°. There's a 40% chance of rain.

More layout work today if I can get the time to do it. So many little things seem to get in the way.