Running Bear’s April 2026 Coffee Shop

[Kusojiji]

G'mornin' all. We've been having good weather the last few days with sunny, clear, and cool. Guessors say rain this week, so we'll see.

The case here about the 11 yo that went missing and was found dead, the step father admitted to it. The talking heads are saying that he was the kindest, most caring person type, so are very shocked that he would do something like this. Of course, being played over and over again. It would be interesting if it does come out later on why he did it.

On the camera front, I gotta give it to insta360 as they keep trying. I just got another email today from them about just having to activate the camera once with the app. I did a search and there are a lot of concerns about security with the app, that it is very heavy (large), very intrusive with asking for access to everything including contacts, and does update itself and give itself access even if you told it no. Problem is that DJI, another company that makes a similar camera also requires a phone to activate. So, mini cams are off the market and the SLR/mirrorless/big camera is back on the forefront.

You folks be safe out there with all those storms and heavy weather. Hope all goes well and all you get is your lawn watered.

 

[santafewillie]

Good Evening All. Had a bit of time, so I thought I'd drop in.
Just talked to daughter #1. She and hubby are going out to eat for their anniversary at a Dallas steakhouse called III Forks. She mentioned that it was pricey. I ate there about 15 years ago, at a wine-tasting event with a bunch of friends and it was pricey back then. So I looked up the menu online. WOW! A 16oz boneless rib-eye, which is my "go to" choice at a steakhouse, is $75, and sides are extra! An American Wagyu 16oz Strip is $139, again no sides. Japanese Wagyu is priced by the oz, from $29-$35/oz. That was expected. A salad is $16, as is the Brussels Sprouts or seasonal veggies; Asparagus is $1 more. But the thing that caught my eye the most, not necessarily the cost was Chicken-Fried Lobster appetizer, at $39! Yes, Chicken-Fried Lobster! This is Texas of course and we Chicken-Fry anything.
Y'all have a good evening.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good evening gang!

Work is over, the lawn has been trimmed and cut, dinner had, and the front lamp post out near the mailbox is functioning again. It seems a few weeks ago we had some excitement. The wife and I were both at work one day and a neighbor noticed smoke and sparks next to our front porch. She ran up to the porch to see what was happening and contacted the wife via our Ring® camera. Wife called me on the phone while the neighbor called 911. I got to see it via our garage door camera, which also can see the front porch. We both ran home, I was able to open the garage though the camera app and let the VFD in to kill the power to the front of the house. By the time we arrived the show was over. No real damage, just some shorted wiring to the lamp post that we cut. No harm/no foul. The fire chief was taken back by the size of the layout and the FCSME display modules that still survive. He's a Model Railroader too, but O scale. Come to find out the wiring was initially damaged by my weedeater when attacking an overgrown Hosta I believe. Last fall we were clearing that garden and I must have nicked it. I'm surprised it was so shallow. I pulled the wire back to where it disappeared under the sidewalk, deepened the trench and installed a subterranean splice. Ran new wire from there to the box on the house, backfilled it and connected everything. Now the lamp post shines!

Stick me with a fork, I'm done!

Amazing you found a place that still turns rotors. I thought I had heard they gave that up years ago due to liability concerns.

I guess not. I dont know of anywhere around here that still does that unless its the older shops.

We still turn rotors, when we have too. Industry wide, there has been a reduction in the quality of the steel over the years. Thanks to the great state of Crackafornia, they said Chromium will kill you, so take it out of the steel in the rotors. Now we have rotors that rust pit when the car sits, the pits get deep enough they break the bits on the lathe.
Bits aint cheap. Plus the techs hate to stand around and watch a lathe. Especially when it is sooo much faster to slap rotors on. Plus the big reason, and it has been a reason for the longest time. The more you machine off of a rotor or a drum, the thinner it gets, the easier it is to warp and vibrate. 20 years ago we rarely replaced rotors, now we dust off the lathe every few weeks.

Obligatory train pic!

 

[Kusojiji]

I guess that's one good thing to having a remote control house.

 

[Snowman]

Not sure how I got back to this one tonight, but I always liked it:

"Butch and Sundance, The Early Days." (1979).

Tom Berenger, William Katt, Brian Dennehey It was a very well done prequel, IMO, but only if you've seen the original Newman-Redford film. Otherwise it won't make a lot of sense.

Favorite part @35:00. They are still trying to come up with an "outlaw name" for Harry (Longebow). As I recall it: "Hey, help me out here! Haven't you ever done anything interesting?"

"Well...I was arrested once."

"Yeah? Where?"

"Sundance Wyoming."

"Ok then. Kid Sundance!.....(it falls flat though)....Sundance Kid!"

---------

Katt stops. "Yeah, I like that."

"Yeah, I like it too. You can be Butch Cassidy if you want."

"Hey! I'm the one who was arrested there!"

"Yeah, ok."

And quietly. "Sundance Kid," (just to himself).

------------

Fun stuff.

 

[Bruette]

Have a Blessed Sunday!

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's partly cloudy and 66.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good morning Coffee Shop, it's Sunday! The temperature is 37°F (3°C) and clear.

Have a great day!

 

[Kusojiji]

We attended my brother-in-law's 1 year service. It was a bit warm in the temple, so I was dying a bit. Since I don't understand a word the monk was saying (buddhist), I was thinking how I was going to fix my headlight issue on my C44-9W. I remembered that I drew up that circuit, but couldn't remember under what circumstance I needed to do that.

After about 30 minutes, we finished the ceremony and went outside to offer incense at the tomb. I think we have another ceremony at the 2 year and 3 year anniversary.

Got home and had to cook dinner, wash all the pans that I used and figured out my C44-9W. That service did take a lot out of me as I feel like cr@p right now.

 

[NYC_George]

For the last 3 out of 5 morning I walked west with my rescue dog Murphy over 1 1/2 mile stretch of the New Haven rail trail near my home. Two of the morning I walked east. Yesterday I started at 8:27am and finished the walk at 9:27am. That's 1 hour for a little over a 3-mile round trip walk. The map's straight line from the Rail Trail starting point to Mooney Hill Rd. distance is 1.46 miles. X 2 is 2.92 miles, but the tracks are not a straight line between the 2 points. So the distance is a little over 3 miles. I haven't mapped out the distance west yet. I plan on continuing walking this every day, so I'll see how that goes how that goes. That's works out to a steady everyday walk at 3 mph. Swal

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet peeps and those who shower.

It's Troy, squeaky clean again.

Slept in until 6 am today. Heading to the game store in a few hours for a game. I did go through my list vs painted models, and I've only got one big model to paint. Everything else is up and ready to do battle. Poorly, but they'll do battle. They always blame the guy rolling the dice for their performance on the battlefield.

Need to head to the big box store for more 2x2s this morning. Going to work on garage shelving this week, and I need some supports for all the scavenged OSB i've got left from the MRR remodel.

Wife knocked out a few of the skirt panels for the Ghoulstone Asylum railway:

BBL!

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 45°, that's our cold spell for now. Back to normal weather today. Chance of rain Tuesday, Saturday and the following Monday.

A rather dull boring day around here yesterday, things dried out quickly in the steady north wind; but not enough to tackle any more mowing yet. I'll get to it after Mass today. Laundry is also on tap.

A bit of work on two fronts yesterday out in the train shed. I'm getting further along on the neighborhood and I am happy with the LH side (south on the RR).

I still need to add trees, more figures and some bushes. This looks like a good place to use some of the LED streetlights that I have stashed somewhere. Progress continues on the RH side.

I also started on the quarterly cleaning project on another section, the forgotten project. I examined the main line and a passing siding along approximately 65' of layout. No lost parts found. I did find a "W" (whistle) sign that needs to be reinstalled and some loose grade crossing timbers that need to be refastened. I'll be examining the industry spurs next before vacuuming all of the track.
Here are a couple of views of the area involved:

Todd - Yes, upgraded hearing aids are a wonderful thing. While my tinnitus hasn't gone away, the aids do a pretty good job of masking it.
Swal - 3 mph is a good pace, that was my goal whenever I walked.

Everybody have a wonderful Sunday.

 

[RhB Michael]

48°F this morning. A little warmer than yesterday morning, but not by much.

Good morning! It is sunny today, and will be the next four days, but cool today and tomorrow before reaching 80°F again on Tuesday. I thought my furnace was off for good this year, but nope. I guess it will run until Tuesday.

Have a great Sunday. Servus!

 

[migalyto]

Good morning all!

A cool April morning but the sun is out. Currently its 39F with an expected high of 49F. No rain in the forecast for the next few days.
I went down to pick up dinner last night and most of the fields have standing water in them from all the rain we have had over the
last several weeks. Farmers wont be in them for a while so it will be good to get a dry stretch to let some of this dry out.

Only thing planned for today is mowing and trimming. I just didn't feel like doing it yesterday so today is a must. I probably let it go
a day or 2 longer than I should.

Have a safe day everyone!

 

[bnsf971]

Currently dealing with an issue on my laptop. It is stuck in the middle of an OS update, and even an hour of remote help from Crapple doesn't seem to be doing anything. I have an appointment for 11:15 to take it in to let them look at it in person.

 

[migalyto]

I thought my furnace was off for good this year, but nope. I guess it will run until Tuesday.

Me too!

Friday I had the AC on due too it being a very humid 83F. The storms rolled thru and dropped the temps 40 degrees overnight
and had to turn the furnace on Saturday morning for a while to take the chill out.

Got to love the Midwest Spring roller coaster!

 

[NYC_George]

Swal - 3 mph is a good pace, that was my goal whenever I walked.

Then you walk fast Willie. My dog pulls me along at that pace. On the first mile 1 /1/2 he stops to smell everything along the way. When we hit the bridge the mile 1 1/2 turn around point, I tell him we're headed home and he doesn't stop too small anything. I don't know how fast we're walking on the return trip but it's as fast as I can walk.
You meet someone on the Rail Trail every 2 minutes. Biker's, Jogger's, dog walkers, women trying to lose weight, I haven't talked to any of them, but it looks what their trying to accomplish. Swal

 

[TLOC]

Good morning Crew. The winds I thought might help yesterday dry out the grass so I could cut today! No good fortune as I walked the grass this morning and the water just squishes out. We should hit 45f degrees this afternoon, 5 degrees warmer than yesterday

HomeDeport! How they make money is beyond me? Free shipping yesterday only. Terry orders her potting soil as it’s on sale this week and we were going to buy it Monday if we are home. Free shipping, why not. She orders it and asks me if I want anything. The mulch we buy every year is on sale and free shipping plus they unload where you want it, within reason. So yeah, that and 2 large tubes of Loctite Power Grab and 1 bottle of Gorilla blue label CA. Guys delivering can’t or won’t speak a speck of English and I terribly butcher Spanish but we did ok, tipped a few $$$ because the guy delivered only the garden soil. He gave me the packing slip, he delivered what was on the list. Hour later Terry says HD is on way. My mulch, 10 bags, placed in Garage, gave guy $5.00 tip. Where’s my Loctite and Gorilla Ca, why it’s in the next delivery that showed up a few minutes after the mulch was dropped off. Same guy who delivered the potting soil. Tried to give him a couple $$$ but he said no I already did in almost perfect English, he ended up taking it. Student at UW says it’s easier on deliveries to pretend he doesn’t speak English, less hassles. 3 deliveries for under $100 in merchandise. Can’t be any profit in that!

Enjoy the day

 

[Rubicon]

Foggy drizzly start to the day here so far. Not supposed to warm up at all, and there is a potential for snow on Wed. Should be the same tomorrow which mean runners in the Boston Marathon should have a great day. Have to leave the house at 4:30am Eastern to get to my assigned station.

 

[bnsf971]

Good afternoon. Today was an expensive day. First, the trip to the Genius bar didn’t go well. The geniuses decided my laptop was going to cost nearly as much as a new model in order to repair. I called BS, but they were pretty firm about it. So, you have a trade-in program, right? Only if the device being traded in is in perfect condition, otherwise, it’s just recycled.
After a significant amount of back-and-forth, I now am the proud (?) owner of a new M5 model. They did give me a $100 discount, since they consider being an instructor where I work to be “educational”.
I’ll play with the old one, and see if I can do something with it.