Number Twelve Coffee Shop is now open

[UP2CSX]

Chris, we are getting 30 mph wind gusts here due the pressure differential between us and Ike. Unfortunately, it looks we will be on the dry, subsiding side of Ike again so just hot and dry weather for us without much hope of anything but a stray thunderstorm. Compared to being in Galveston, it's not a bad alternative though.

Ken, we had some flood zones in California that were only allowed to have RV parks so they could be quickly evacuated. I suspect living full-time in one brings up some building code issues but I'd really like to see them stop the construction of these 20 and 30 story condos 50 feet from the water in places like Miami and Fort Lauderdale. As bad as Ike will be, the real monster storm will be a direct hit on the south Florida coast by a cat 4 or 5.

Ike is still a cat 2 tonight and I doubt he will be able to get back up to an official cat 3 except for maybe an hour or two before landfall. It's almost irrelevant now since Ike is so huge he's pushing a storm surge equivalent to a cat 4 hurricane ahead of him. It's unusual with landfall less than 24 hours away for the models still to be in disagreement but there are still some that want to bring Ike to Corpus Christi and some to Galveston. At this point, Galveston is not only looking more likely, the direction of Ike making landfall and having it occur during an astronomical high tide will increase the storm search to near 25 feet, with battering waves near 45 feet. Galveston Island will be completely inundated and very little will remain after Ike passes through. The city of Galveston will be badly flooded and storm surge will destroy a large number of structures in the harbor area. Houston will also suffer a considerable amount of flooding and wind damage but it should be manageable. Flood conditions will extend all the way up to Dallas and Ike should remain a tropical depression into east Oklahoma. The interesting thing about the remnants is that they should make a curve around the high pressure ridge down here and head up toward Ohio. If the remnants of Ike can get over Lake Erie, he could become a strong extratropical storm, something rarely seen in the Midwest.

 

[vato loco]

Hey Chris - I got a lawn-mowing question for ya:

My lawn hasn't been mowed in 3 weeks, because of back-to-school schedule gridlock and rainy weather on weekends. And it's about to happen again: I planned to mow my entire lawn on Saturday, but there'll be heavy rain on Friday and intermittent showers throughout Saturday. I've reached the do-or-die point with my grass - any taller and my neighbors will all descend on us with torches and clubs. I'm thinking of just saying t'hell with it, I'll mow whether its raining or not! Will doing that be simply inconvenient/uncomfortable, or do I risk serious damage to the mower?

Ken, with out seeing the type of mower(Deck mostly) and how much grass also how tall and thick your grass is, it's a sticky moist question I some times I have to mow when it's raining, But as a rule you never mow wet grass cause it's hard on the grass and really hard on your mower If you can wait till it stops raining and you have a few clips loaded for you guns to hold off the town folk and some beer for the duration of the rain, I'd wait! But if you have a mower with 20+ HP and a Deck is fabercated not stamped and is less than 48" You might have a chance!

some tricks to mowing wet grass, not that i recommend this But if you must....Open the baffle, clean the under side of the deck real good and let dry, then spray the under side of the deck real good coating everything with pam cooking spray, And sharpen couple sets of blades, Grease and oil your deck pulleys real good! I like 3n1 on the idler pullies. Check your belts, And Mow with your deck at it's highest setting and mow SLOW! and that it.......Just don't expect a great cut! That advice will be $29.95 non refundable

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

09-12-2008

Good Morning from Tipton IN !

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

It's 77 and mostly cloudy here with isolated showers. The high is expected to be in the mid 80's with a chance of thunderstorms.

I took some time yesterday to do the initial plaster pour on the new section of the layout. It was messy but as with most messy projects, a lot of fun. I went through one carton of plaster. I still have four more cartons in the closet.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/12/2008

Heat Index: 82°F
Humidity: 87%
Dew Point: 73°F

So Far Today
High: 80°F
Low: 77°F
Rain: 0.09"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 18mph NE

Important Message

Flash flood watch in effect through Sunday morning.

Now through 06:00 AM CDT September 12, 2008

Through 6 AM...rainbands of shower associated with Hurricane ike will continue to stream westward across central and southern Louisiana. Expect wind gusts of 25 to 30 knots with these passing showers. Across the coastal waters...additional rainbands will continue to stream westward...possible wind gusts of 30 to 40 knots.

Today High: 85 Tropical storm conditions expected. Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms may produce tornadoes. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Highs in the mid 80s. East winds 30 to 35 mph. Gusts up to 45 mph in the morning increasing to 55 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight Low: 78 Tropical storm conditions expected. Showers and thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms may produce tornadoes. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Lows in the upper 70s. East winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts to around 55 mph. Chance of rain near 100 percent.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010115-1.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010116.jpg

 

[tompm]

Good morning folks

It was 68 F as I hit the streets. High today will be 78 F with some rain.

I did not make it here yesterday. My daughter wrote an essay for her school’s 9-11 remembrance ceremony and she was chosen to read the essay during the ceremony, so I spent the morning there. A video of the ceremony can be seen at: http://cbs3.com/video/[email protected] . She is the first one to read her essay right after the National Anthem.

When I finally got to work I had to go to a meeting with a State Representative, officials from a couple of townships, and local business owners regarding a bridge replacement project. The meeting was a rehash of things we have talked about for the last five years. We can’t legally do what they want and they just won’t accept it, so the project goes nowhere.

We then had my son’s football practice. I spoke with one of the coaches regarding my son’s playing time and whether he should be on Varsity or JV. I did not speak with the head coach since he was not there but one of the assistants that my son likes. Later in the practice he spoke with the head coach and both spoke with my son. Right now my son wants to wait and see if they come through on the things they told him before he decides. Of course I wanted to talk to the coaches again but we had to leave early.

We left early because we attended a local 9-11 ceremony with scouts from the surrounding area. It was a nice candlelight service at a local veterans’ park. I was pleased to see the number of scouts (over a 100) in attendance. Our pack had 7 scouts which is a third of the pack.

This weekend will be another crazy one. Saturday we have a birthday party to go to and a football game. I am not sure if we will make the football game. Sunday is up in the air right now although I know I have some yard work to do.

I need to straighten some things out on the layout and the workbench. If all goes well maybe we will run some trains.

I hope everybody has a good day.

 

[Secondhandmodeler]

Good morning folks. I just ordered our tickets for the Fall colors steam excursion in Duluth! My boss gave me the thumbs up yesterday, so I'm taking that weekend off. The trip is six hours of pure smokey bliss. I've never seen a steam locomotive run before, so I can't wait. My wife would like to know if we'll be doing anything non train related. I may have to find something that interests her as well. We were just there like six years ago, so we may have to find a few new things to do. I have to say, I'm down right giddy! The museum has a few neat pieces as well. They have a DM&IR Yellowstone there that I will try to take pictures of. I've seen it a couple of times, but never with the enthusiasm that I have now. I don't have a wide angle lens, so I may just have to make do.

I hope everyone has a great day!

 

[Steve B]

Afternoon all

The grass is still growing like springtime and were in mid(ish) September !!! for a change we have NO steam trains passing this weekend

FIRE The Channel tunnel linking England and France is closed due to a huge train fire 8 miles from France, it burned for around 24 hours and is still 800 degrees in the tunnel, that's going to take some cooling down, lots of tankers and trucks have gone up in flames with no injurys apart from a bit of smoke inhalation, good job there is a rescue tunnel alongside the main one.

 

[OldGettysk]

Good Morning ! It;s a rainy day here no the Niagara Frontier . Looks like that for most of the day also.Not much else going on . Tom a very nce video presentation on 9-11 .Prayers with all in the path of Ike also .Well have a crying dog looking for some attention so hope you all have a nice day !!!wow Steve a tunnels worst nightmares glad no one was killed or injured !

 

[rhoward]

Mornin' everyone!

Flo keep the coffee hot and my cup full. I have some muscles that I had forgotten about this morning. Went to the museum last night and worked on track crew. We are putting in a siding for the Empire State Express to be stored on. This is a spur off the Livonia, Avon, & Lakeville Railroad that has mainline tracks that go by the museum. Found out that you hand lay 1/1 scale track very much like 1/87 track, just requires a lot more muscle. I spent most of the time using a Gandy Dancer's tool and lifting the ties up tight to the rail so they could be spiked. Also moved a bundle of new ties to the railbed, put in place, and located the end of the tie 18.5" from the edge of the rail. Most of the time there was just 3 of us working on the project.

Of course before we could start we had to help unload a pickup truck loaded with roofing tar into a semi van we use for storage. I jumped up on the tailgate to help and put my hand on the door of the van. Right on a paper wasp nest. I removed the hand from the nest very quickly........ Lucky for me I did.... I only got stung once, right on the side of my finger. We were then buzzed by about 20 really ticked off paper wasps though. We managed to get the rest of the buckets unloaded without incident and the truck got moved away from the van to make it a bit safer for us to get off...... All in all an informative and interesting evening.

Corey have fun on the excursion. The car right behind the loco is the best to get the sound and smell of that steam loco!

Jim the District Scout Executive will be fully appraised of the situation today (he was out sick yesterday but did return an e-mail to the person I reported to). Our Health and Safety Chairman (Volunteer) is a BEAR about this kind of stuff and will go ballistic when he finds out. Our council, at least, doesn't play around with safety issues. There is an old catch phrase in Scouting, "If there is a question, there is no question!"

All of you that are in the path of Ike, stay safe. You are in my prayers!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Went to Lowe's today and picked up some items. One (1) gallon of white Elmer's glue, a three pound tub of wallboard joint compound, two packs of Super Glue Gel and a two inch plastic putty knife. Does anybody see some layout work coming on?

 

[UP2CSX]

Afternoon, everyone.

Chris, you always give such hilarious advice. I know you're right but I can just picture Ken asking the wife for a can of Pam so he can cut the lawn.

Jeffrey, you should be on the right side of Ike to get some pretty good wind and rain so make sure all your stuff outdoors is either taken in or tied down good. I think you'll probably lose power for a while too so get plenty of batteries if you haven't already.

Tom, that was a very moving ceremony.

Corey, you lucky dog. I'll bet the fall colors will be beautiful and you're in for a real treat if you've never been on a steam team train before. Is the engine coal or oil fired? If it's coal, I'd sit a few cars back if they're open or you'll end up with some burn holes in your clothes. If it's oil, get right up front like Ray said. There's something about steam engine exhaust smell that probably causes cancer but smells better than almost anything in the world. I suspect you can probably think of a few things to do to keep your wife happy that don't involve real trains.

Ray, spiking track and getting stung by a wasp - it just wasn't your day. I've helped spike a few miles of rail at the Orange Empire Trolley Museum when I was a lot younger and I was in great pain then. You're a tougher guy than me.

Well, the big show is about to begin. It's already started here, where there's a full-fledged gas panic. Prices have risen to about $4.50 a gallon, there are lines to get 10 gallons, and some stations are out. This is a classic gas panic started by morons who believe they need a full tank even though the hurricane is 500 miles away. The prices went up because of all the gas being pushed to Texas but the rumors started that we'd soon have no gas and that becomes self-fulfilling when everyone fills up. I don't think people get the idea that there over a million people on the road in Texas and their lives depend on getting gas. Just dumb.

Ike is just about 12 hours from landfall now and the winds and seas are already picking up in the Galveston area. It looks like about a 90% chance of landfall 20 miles on either side of Galveston Bay. Which side of Galveston Bay Ike goes will make a huge difference. If he goes 20 miles north of the bay, the storm surge and flooding will be bad but not catastrophic. If he makes landfall 20 mile south, the largest storm surge and waves will head directly into Galveston Bay and get much further into the Houston Ship Channel. Landfall should be within about two hours high tide, just to make things worse. As usual, I hope I'm wrong, but a southern landfall looks the most likely to me and it will be a disastrous event for the Galveston area. Ike is still a cat 2 and I don't expect it to intensify so this will be a water and flooding event more than wind. I hope everyone that needs to be out is now out and getting to safety. All we can do now is watch and pray.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeffrey, you should be on the right side of Ike to get some pretty good wind and rain so make sure all your stuff outdoors is either taken in or tied down good. I think you'll probably lose power for a while too so get plenty of batteries if you haven't already.

I've got plenty of batteries. If the power goes out I'm going down to my parents place. They have a generator and plenty of gas.

The prices went up because of all the gas being pushed to Texas but the rumors started that we'd soon have no gas and that becomes self-fulfilling when everyone fills up. I don't think people get the idea that there over a million people on the road in Texas and their lives depend on getting gas. Just dumb.

It all come down to attitude. Me, me, me, I don't give a d**n about anybody else!

 

[RexHea]

WE need an automatic freeze on gas prices anytime there is a national/state emergency declared by the President or Governor. This crap of "supply and demand" crosses into downright price gouging and needs to be checked from the get-go.
All the gasoline going to (or back to) Texas as the cause, with all the huge storage tank farms all over that tri-state area?...I don't think so. Stations may run out, but the suppliers are filled to the brim. Oh well, as long as we are stupid enough to believe it then pay it out, why not!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Ike is coming ashore tonight. We're in an area that's likely to lose power, so if y'all don't see me on here tomorrow, you'll know what happened.

 

[Secondhandmodeler]

Here is a link to the website for the train. The music is hokey, but boy am I excited!

http://www.northshorescenicrailroad.org/home/2719home.asp

 

[vato loco]

Jim, I'm always full of advice! Some full of BS and some true wisdom hidden in jokes and some so far in left field that knowbody knows I'm there! The pam thing is a true deal, Pam is Far less harmful to the grass than using WD-40!

Steve, What does my UK Lawn service cousins make per lawn?

 

[rhoward]

So Chris, will WD-40 kill lawn grass?

Jim I never got to swing the mall...... I would have if one of the guys hadn't taken off down the road with the tape measure. We decided to call it a day, go down to the depot and have supper, and do some male bonding like passing gas, belching, talking about getting drunk when we were all younger. Things like that........

Jeffrey how much scenery can you do by candle light? Just wondering?

Rex there is a bill in the Senate, S-1263, that would do just that!

 

[UP2CSX]

Main event in progress now. Downtown Galveston is already under 8 feet of water and the eye is still about 65 miles offshore. Western Louisiana is really getting hit as well with high winds, tornados, and power outages. I doubt Jeffrey is still ablle to get on the net but I hope he and the family is safe.

This is turning intot a worst case scenario for Galveston, with a direct hit about to occur with much higher than normal tides. The devastation will be complete on Galveston Island and downtown Galveston will have about 16 feet of water and most of the rest of the town will be inundated as well. Houston will suffer some bad flooding as well as losing most of the windows in the high rise buildings. There will be several million people without power by this time tomorrow. I hope everyone who could get out has gotten out. The possibility of rescues has ended and everyone will be fending for themselves.

Rex, there has certainly been some price gouging but the major problem has been everybody in town wanting to fill their tanks at once. Most of the gas in Prattville was drained in about four hours. The suppliers do have plenty of fuel but they are having to pay triple time to drivers to refill station tanks on an emergency basis. I was out at 11 pm and all the stations that were out of gas had gas again except for being out of a few grades at some stations. The gas the stations are getting now is more expensive because of the higher cost to refill that tanks and the assumption that gas supplies will diminish over the next several weeks as all the refineries on the Texas coast get repaired and get back on line. I'm angry about having to pay more for gas but I know the market will readjust itseld if left alone. Any government intervention will simply make it worse in the long run.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

09-13-2008

Good Morning from Tipton IN !

 

[Steve B]

Chris my mate next door does lawns, he has about 13 people work for him, he's a tight arse and pays peanuts, but he does get monkeys for that, he never let's on how much he makes or charges, (like i want to do that with hay fever) no he's a tight git and always will be, you know there are NO toys for the kids in the garden, nothing at all, the only things they get are of mom and he moans about that.

Anyway i better go do the housewife thing, the CFO is working all weekend.