Running Bear’s June 2025 Coffee Shop

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Good morning! It's cloudy and 64°F. ☁️
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"Four years ago, our nation and empire stood alone against an overwhelming enemy, with our backs to the wall. Now once more a supreme test has to be faced. This time the challenge is not to fight to survive but to fight to win the final victory for the good cause. At this historic moment, surely not one of us is too busy, too young, or too old to play a part in a nation-wide, perchance a worldwide vigil of prayer as the great Crusade sets forth."
— King George VI in a radio address on June 6, 1944
 
Well, howdy there internet peeps and those who tuned into Twitter last night (if you know, you know, can't say more for the Polytics rule)...

It's troy again.

Made it to 5:30 after one pee break last night.

Grocery run this morning since the wife put "Watermelon" on the list. Then it's finish cleaning the basement before the Okin Tech shows up this afternoon.

Today marks the 81st anniversary of the launch of Operation Overlord, which began with the battle of Normandy.

From what I hear, that wasn't a good day for N@zi Germany. ;)

That's it for now.
 
OK, my silly loco came in the mail. Old style Japanese toilet on wheels. It's about an inch and a half. Runs surprisingly well. It came with different eyes that you can apply. I chose this one as my friend used to say, the only strain you should have is on the toilet.
Were defiantly going to need a video of that critter running around.

This will drive all the rivet counters absolutely crazy! 🤣 🤣🤣

I love it!
 
I made it to the RG Rokko store. It’s a small store run by a really nice guy. I visited him the time before when I was here in December 2022 and have dine at least one mail order with him. Maybe more. I forget as it’s been a while since I’ve bought trains with the house project.

He’s not set up to do “tax free” for tourists in-store but he does mail order tax free. I guess it’s a different system. I bought a bunch of containers. I buy them mostly based on looks 😂

He gifted me a “Tomix 1990 commemorative” container. I assume it’s a modern reproduction but it came in a 1990 style box etc.

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We were at a beachside grill eating establishment after leaving the aquarium (I had an awesome but expensive melon soda float — pic is after I started eating it — I had forgotten to take a pic before I started on it ) and mentioned to my wife I was still planning on going to the store after we got home. She suggested that maybe I could just leave from where we were by the aquarium so I checked the map and travel time was about the same so I bid adieu to the fam and walked to the local train station and caught a train to the station near the store. About 20 minutes away. Soon after we left we stopped at a station that had a small container yard. I also saw a stopped freight container train with EF210 locomotive and some cool MOW vehicles on side tracks. But where I was sitting I wasn’t able to get my phone out and get any pics in time. I also saw one or two moving freight trains on parallel tracks. One left station right before we did and we slowly sped up and were overtaking it and then paced it at approximately the same speed and then we started slowing down for the next station and it continued. It was cool to see on up close again. (I’ve seen them on this line in previous years).


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For those who care about such things it was a mix of KoKi 104, 106, and 107 type cars. (KoKi are the type name for a container car and the current series is series 100, with the different numbers representing variations or improved models. There is also a KoKi 200 made in small number la that is made, I believe, to carry the liquid tank containers. Though I saw such a tank today in a series 100 — probably depends on what the tank has in it and style weight )


Finally, for Louis @Bruette : baseball game right now just ended. Hanson Tigers vs Orix Blue Wave. Two home teams but I guess the Tigers were home. pros used to be in Kobe but moved to Osaka some time in the past. They’re in two different leagues (equivalent to AL and NL in concept). Tigers just won after 10 innings. 1-0. They got the bases loaded including a masterful bunt. Then a guy hit a single that went up the foul line on the good side last 1st before it crossed over and that drove the only and winning run in.

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I have a feeling the "pre order to lock in price" model is going to have a credibility crisis.
Of all the model train manufacturers I’ll believe what Shane and Crew at Scaletrains have promised. The greatest thing IMO about ST is the customer service they provide. Part of the ST promise is if you don’t like the price within 2 weeks of delivery you can always cancel your pre-order. Since they don’t force down payments you are not out anything.
 


The aquarium has been interesting. We watched the Orca show and then the dolphin show. It’s amazing how they work with the animals to learn the routines. Pretty impressive.

We then walked through the four floors of exhibit area which mainly focuses on the fresh and later salt water fauna and flora of the local area (Japan) more or less. They do have California Sea Lions, penguins, sea turtles, seals, etc that aren’t local but most of the exhibits I think focused on more local stuff I could be wrong. The English signage is a bit thin compared to what I assume the Japanese is saying.

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It looks like PETA isn't as active or powerful there as it is in the US.
 
Good morning,

56 and light rain in eastcentral Minnesota. It was getting pretty dry here, the .42 inch we got overnight will really charge the lawn grass.

Spent a fair amount of time on the layout yesterday, put up several more signs and almost finished the shingles on the new depot building.

We have a nasty weed wanting to take over our tall grass prarie, I spent a couple hours yesterday spot applying herbicide, no other way to tackle it...

More of the same for today

Dave LASM
 
Another good early morning of 6am from the desert. 73f degrees now and 96 later.

My brother certainly lives in a different world than Terry and I. He has an agreement with his friend and next door neighbor pending an inspection to buy the house next door. AirBnB’s are not allowed in his community so he plans to move into it. No decision on the beautiful place he is in now.

His recovery is going well after only 8 days his regular PT is thrilled with his progress and was much more complimentary than his doctor was the other day. She had taken a couple days off so had not seen him since Sunday.

The 3 ladies are flying this morning ( plus 4 paying customers) with the son and going to pick up my sister at the Burbank airport. The son’s charter group are here till Sunday when he’ll fly them home to Austin. He said he could accept just about daily trips from Texas, mainly Austin (home), San Antonio and Dallas to either LA or Vegas. He does a lot of flying for a local to him University for recruitment of basketball, volleyball, and baseball players. Football players he said are flown on the University jet. He has cut back on his own flying time to concentrate on his other interests but still has 3 other pilots who rotate assignments and he says it works for all 4 of them. Any other hired crew ( including co-pilot) is done through the booking company that he uses for getting assignments. He is down to 2 planes for chartering and he said this morning it’s very sustainable where when he had 5 for charter is wasn’t. Selling the 1st 3 planes he said was easy but the last 2 wasn’t. So he made deals with his 4 pilots and they kept them. When the son had to stop playing hockey in high school due to too many concussions he learned to fly. He enjoys it and I still dread getting in a plane! Go figure

Enjoy the day
 
OK, my silly loco came in the mail. Old style Japanese toilet on wheels. It's about an inch and a half. Runs surprisingly well. It came with different eyes that you can apply. I chose this one as my friend used to say, the only strain you should have is on the toilet.
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That is an accurate representation of a GE locomotive...
 
Watermelon achievement has been unlocked! Wife is happy.

WILLIE: She's going to make bullionaise sauce this weekend that she'll use in her zucchini noodles "pasta" dish. So, her itty-bitty mini-bell peppers, fingerling carrots and such will be used in the sauce.

Now I have to keep on the pile of laundry, and start clearing under the train table, and in the utility room so the Orkin tech can do their job.
 
Good Morning All. Mostly cloudy and a warm 76°. Into the 90's for the next 3 days until our next forecast rain on Monday. Yes, it did finally rain here yesterday, but most of the storm dissipated before it actually rained. I didn't even record a tenth of an inch in my rain gauge; the lowest that I can actually read in it. However there were some very heavy outbursts in Denton just as I was driving through to the grocery store.

While the weekly grocery trek itself went well, the trip to and from was interesting due to the weather. At one point at the base of a small hill, there was at least 4" of water draining down the freeway. Traffic was having to crawl through the 250" or so of Interstate, all while a heavy downpour was still happening. Although it had quit raining on the way home, I had to abruptly stop headed north of the same road. I was fortunate enough to be able to exit in about a quarter mile and take a back road that runs parallel to the freeway; between 1/4 and 1/2 mile to the east. I eventually saw where the accident was, creating a backup of about 2 miles. Bad location because it's on a bridge in a place where the frontage roads do not cross a creek, thus no relief. Unless you are a local and know about the back road, which trivially was the path of the original US highway 77 more than 60 years ago, you'd be stuck for at least 30 minutes.
Pool chemicals are not too far out of whack according to the test yesterday. Despite the mostly cloudy days recently, there's been enough sun to keep the temperature at 80°. The water is still murky, but that's normal SOP here. Should be clear sometime this weekend.
Spent over 30 minutes tending to Tomato plants yesterday, tucking their errant vines and stems back into their cages. All seem to be doing well so far. Saw more grasshoppers in the brush surrounding the garden than I thought were there, that means more frequent mowing to make grasshopper mash.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I nearly completed the cardstock structure, all but the sign.
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The sign is not the greatest.
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I trimmed it as best as I could while maintaining it's stability.
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I'm not satisfied right now, so I didn't glue it in. Here is the completed structure in it's place on the layout.
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Looks like the street department needs to get moving!
Most of the time that I was out there was spent running trains since it had been a few days.

Mike - So far, only one of my four ScaleTrains orders did not arrive when promised. And it was during the great West Coast supply chain issue during 2020-2021. I have 6 engines on pre-order with them now, and intend to accept them, regardless of the tariff situation. I know that it's not their fault and I intend to do my part to keep them in business.

Everyone have a fabulous Friday
 
We've got our first mini heat wave coming this weekend. High 80's today and tomorrow, then near 100 Sunday and mid 90's Monday. It's not that big of a deal since our humidity is so low.

I may have a part time retirement job. The owner of a local gun shop asked me if I wanted to take over the auction site part of their business for used stuff. He is a master distributor for several manufacturers and has most if not all the OR/WA LEO business on top of regular customers. He's doing very well.

They have a ton of trade-in vintage stuff, more than he can put out on display. None of his employees really know anything about the older stuff. It's not their fault. They were brought up with polymer pistols and AR's. He needs someone that knows how to post accurate information & photos and answer questions on-line. He showed me a mint FN 1922 Waffen marked pistol, with matching holster. He thought it was a WW2 bring back until I pointed out the import mark. ;)

I would just come in to take the photos, post the photos, and write up the detailed descriptions on their Gunbroker account at home. We're discussing a percentage of every sale, with a minimum, or something similar for payment. I would do it on my schedule, not theirs, pretty much as an independent contractor. They would handle the shipping and collecting payment. My wife wants me to do it so I'm not messing with her routine as much. I think it will be fun and when it's not I'll stop.

I know someone locally who is the #1 online dealer on Gunauction.com. People consign to him and he acts as the consignee. I've used him in the past. He really only takes high end, collector grade, firearms. He starts everything at .01, no reserve, and runs it for 2 weeks. Several years ago he was consigned one of the few remaining Singer 1911's and it closed just over $120,000. He is way out of my league with photo skills and descriptions. He has a library of reference books to make sure there's no mistakes. He probably does $3-$5 million per year in consignment sales. The real bidders come out in the last hour.
 
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Good afternoon all. Afternoon Tea please, Flo.

Aircraft
I dislike them. To me they are purely a means to get from A to B.
Yet my mother was pilot during WW2 and my son a pilot during the Falklands War
When my granddaughters visit the Aircraft Museum they sit in the cockpit of aircraft and have to be 'prised out' when it is time to go home.

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Of all the ships I have been on it is funny how the first one is the favourite. 'SS Uganda'

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Out in the Garden

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Good morning folks, 77 here today with rain forecast most of the weekend. Family coming in tonight and will be here for about the next 10 days or so. @Marlin39 I too am the "weird old gun guy" where I work part time [I hope they are talking about the guns]. We do quite a lot of consignment work to and use gunbroker as well. We tell our customers if we put it on GB and sell it through there, that there is an extra 5% fee added, This is not quite enough to cover the fees but close enough.
Praying for Karl.
 
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